Kevin Yu, Virginia Tech PhD candidate in Computer Engineering (from left), Mark Goodwin, VT Hume Center Deputy Director, Spencer Buebel, VT Freshman, and Yoon Sung, EE and CE PhD candidate, discuss the contribution of the new Drone Park to their research project on locating chemical spills using drones and artificial intelligence.
Henry Bass
Contributing writer
What is bigger than a football field and 85 feet high? It is the new Virginia Tech Drone Park with 2.8 million cubic feet of airspace for the largest drone flying area in the nation.
The Valley and Ridge chapter of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, AUVSI, held its quarterly meeting Thursday in the shadow of Virginia Tech’s newest, and largest, laboratory according to Craig Woolsey, the chapter secretary and treasurer, as well as VT aerospace and ocean engineering professor.
Thursday’s meeting was held in a doublewide trailer office, just feet away from the giant netting visible between highway 460 and Lane Stadium.
Earlier in the day, VT President Timothy Sands cut the ribbon officially opening the Drone Park.
Five hours later, 27 aviation enthusiasts, autonomous pilots, students, faculty and business leaders heard first-hand from the leaders responsible for overseeing the park, construction and drone safety.
Greg Calvert just started his position as Virginia Tech’s Unmanned Autonomous System (UAS) Safety Manager four weeks ago, after flying Airbus A321s and test piloting for the US Army.
Calvert sees this as perfect background for encouraging students and faculty to make maximum use of the drone park and 12 other VT areas where drones could potentially be flown from the tech campus to Kentland Farms and the VT Carillion Research Center.
“The unique quality of the drone park is that pilots can try things in outside conditions, but without restriction by FAA regulations for drone use,” Calvert said.
AUVSI students immediately asked if that meant drones could be over five pounds (yes), or 50 pounds (yes) or over 100 miles per hour (yes), and less than a mile away from the Virginia Tech Montgomery County Regional Airport (yes).
Calvert says users only needs to schedule their experiment, then attend a quick initial orientation, dubbed the “pool rules” for the drone park. Calvert says his job is 20 percent UAS safety, 80 percent student and faculty facilitation.
Eight New River Community College students and faculty attended the meeting as well, interested in drone design, piloting, racing, repair and photography. NRCC is rolling out new programs in both UAV piloting and UAV repair.
Virginia has identified UAVs as one of six key economic development areas. Students of Virginia Tech and New River Community College are poised to accelerate drone technology and applications in everything from agriculture to energy management.
Participants of the AUVSI chapter meeting spent time brainstorming industry-leading speakers and autonomous-related activities for the upcoming conference, planned for Oct. 9-10 at the Inn at Virginia Tech.
Last year’s conference included policy leaders from the FAA, and the Project Wing Co-leader James Ryan Burges, noted for bringing drone delivery to Blacksburg.
At the drone park, experiments are already taking place, including an unmanned ground vehicle that roves around with a charging station, serving as a landing and recharging platform for an unmanned aerial vehicle, and another experiment in aerial surveying for the telltale plume of a hazardous chemical spill in water.
Freshman Spencer Boebel demonstrated drone flight on Thursday. He came to VT this past fall from his home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Boebel said he intended to become a mechanical engineer.
Instead, he was lucky enough to be selected for a paid internship with Computer Engineering PhD candidates Yoon Sung and Kevin Yu, working on some of the drone park experiments in autonomous flight.
“After building 3 or 4 quads, and working on programming for the Robot Operating System, I’m now pursuing Computer Engineering,” Spencer said.
But has he crashed?
“Definitely! A lot. I went through a lot of propellers, and I learned a lot,” he said.
Spencer said he’s always loved robotics, but had no experience prior to coming to Virginia Tech. And what of the future?
Spencer, Sung and Yu agreed, “Blacksburg has a a lot going on academically, but we would probably go to northern Virginia for autonomous flight employment.”
Several AUVSI members told them about autonomous vehicle and flight employment opportunities in the New River Valley, including TORC Robotics and Autonomous Flight Technologies (AFT).
Paul Stoutamire and Josh May of AFT said that their appointment book is extremely busy with a wide variety of drone work. The future looks bright for autonomous vehicles, on the ground, air and water, and the new drone park will help students prepare for these careers.
The Ridge and Valley Chapter of the AUVSI is online at auvsiridgeandvalley.org
Bass is the owner of Automation Creations, a custom software development company in the Corporate Research Center, and a drone enthusiast.
