Facilities and Research Capabilities

  • Small Multirotor UAS
    • *NEW as of March 2023* DJI M30T and DJI Mavic Mini 3 Pro 
    • Five 3DR Iris+ and one 3DR Solo
    • One DJI Mavic 2 Pro
    • One Parrot ARDrone 2.0 and one Parrot Bepop UAS
  • Fixed wing UAS
    • Flex Innovations 170 (1-2 kg payload)
    • Modified Piper Pawnee 1/3 Scale (8 kg payload)
    • Smaller (500 g payload) fixed-wing testbeds
  • Sensors and Payloads
    • Samsung 360 camera
    • GoPro and Garmin Virb cameras
    • Two Garmin LiDAR-Lite V3
    • Hypersen Solid-State Scanning LiDAR
    • Lightware SF11 LiDAR
    • Fluxgate magnetometer
    • Numerous Pixhawk, Ardupliot, Pixhawk light and MicroPilot autopilot and telemetry systems
  • Training and Pilot Certificates
    • Members of my group hold Basic or Advanced RPAS Pilot Certificates from Transport Canada as well as Restricted Operator Certificates – Aeronautical to operate aviation voice radios.  We have also obtained Special Flight Operations Certificates (SFOCs) for more complex operations as needed.

Current UAS Research Projects (updated March 2023)

  • NSERC CREATE Uninhabited aircraft systems Training, Innovation and Leadership Initiative with partners at ETS, Sherbrooke, University of Ottawa, Queen’s University, Clarkson and the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
  • Rideau Canal Skateway Climate Change Resilience support by the National Capital Commission (Pro. Shawn Kenny – PI, Prof Derek Mueller, Prof. Murray Richardson)
  • Social acceptance and public perception of advanced air mobility systems supported by ISED and Bell Helicopter Textron Canada Ltd (with Dr Nick Tepylo PDF) 
  • Canadian Domestic Airspace Model with the National Research Council and Transport Canada (with Dr. Iryna Borschchova)
  • Biologically-inspired micro aerial vehicles (with Profs. Dawson and Khouli)
  • Automated migratory bird detection and counting supported by the Kenneth M Molson Foundation (with Profs Dawson, Steele, Schramm, Joslin, and Dr. Bruins)
  • Cross-border infrastructure monitoring (with Clarkson University)