University of Canterbury taking part in Wings Over Wairarapa

University of Canterbury taking part in Wings Over Wairarapa 2015 air show

January 14, 2015

As the New Zealand centre of excellence for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) engineering, the University of Canterbury will take part in the Wings Over Wairarapa 2015 air show which opens in Masterton on Friday.

The university’s Spatial Engineering Research Centre (SERC) has been developing UAV technology since 2006.

The last two years have seen a massive increase in demand for their skills from many sectors of industry and this is predicted to grow even faster in the future, with high tech agriculture leading the way, University of Canterbury’s senior spatial research engineer Kelvin Barnsdale says.

“There are thousands of applications where UAV technology can benefit not only New Zealand industry but the general public as well and many of these are areas where a conventional pilot would be in extreme danger such as high voltage power line inspections, forest fire monitoring and poor visibility operations.

“For emergency management and search and rescue applications, this technology has the obvious benefits of fast response times and low cost, allowing more countries to deliver aid in times of natural disasters. Fuel economy is a benefit in many applications and we will probably see rural courier package deliveries by UAV in the next decade.

“We are also seeing UAVs at sports events such cricket and they will be prominent during the 2015 Cricket World Cup which opens in Christchurch on February 14.

“Every year, SERC also co-ordinates undergraduate and postgraduate engineering students with industrial UAV research projects. Students build, test and fly new designs of airframes and control systems, as well as develop a variety of airborne sensors for the agricultural industry.

“This work will be expanding in 2015 with a dedicated computer science UAV research group, building a swarm of UAV test platforms to service the needs of their industrial partners. In this way, the University of Canterbury centre will not only create UAV engineering specialists, but develop UAV technology to benefit both New Zealand industry and emergency services.

“New technology can sometimes bring legislation challenges and this is no exception. To maintain the highest national safety standards, the University of Canterbury has been working with the Civil Aviation Authority to develop new operating rules for UAVs and their operators in New Zealand. In addition, SERC holds a monthly UAV forum to co-ordinate those interested in operating UAVs commercially.”

The University of Canterbury is the only institution in the Southern Hemisphere with restricted UAV flight test areas which will help the New Zealand industry and research community, as well as international partners, to develop leading edge UAV technology.

View a YouTube clip of the University of Canterbury final year mechanical engineering students working with unmanned aerial vehicles: http://youtu.be/ZzZNltOUWDE

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