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CUE 2004

RESEARCH NEWS
Unmanned Vehicles Center Takes Flight

A CU engineering team led by Timothy Brown of Electrical and Computer Engineering is conducting communcations experiments with this UAV.

From the farthest reaches of the Arctic Ocean to the tornado-prone plains of the United States, unmanned aerial vehicles are doing the dirty work. UAVs play an important role in the collection of scientific data in remote and hazardous environments where flying a manned vehicle would be difficult, if not completely out of the question.

CU engineering students and faculty are working on a variety of projects to design or extend the use of unmanned vehicles. In one project, a team is developing de-icing controls for Aerosonde planes, which are being used to make remote observations of arctic sea ice. In another, students and faculty are developing a remotely piloted "Tornado Chaser" aircraft to investigate the atmospheric conditions that lead to severe storms.

Military applications of unmanned vehicles are also plentiful, as shown by the successful use of UAVs in Afghanistan and Iraq. With sponsorship from the U.S. Air Force, CU faculty and students are conducting experiments with UAVs acting as flying radio towers for communication with fixed and mobile ground radios as well as other UAVs.

Last fall, the college established a new Research and Engineering Center for Unmanned Vehicles (RECUV) to further build on these activities. The center, directed by Brian Argrow, associate professor of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, focuses on the design, build, and test of unmanned vehicles for scientific, industrial, and military applications.

The interdisciplinary center brings together faculty and students from Aerospace Engineering Sciences, Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and the Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program.

For more information on RECUV, contact Brian Argrow at 303-492-5312.