EECS Researchers Land $800,000 NASA Grant for Development of Anti-Collision Radar for Small UAVs

EECS Professor Chris Allen is leading an effort to develop a multichannel radar suitable for installation on small unmanned aerial vehicles (sUAVs). Guanghui Wang and Heechul Yun, assistant professors of electrical engineering and computer science, are also contributing to this effort. The radar will provide information regarding the relative position and velocities of nearby objects (mobile and fixed) that may pose a collision risk. With this knowledge, the sUAV’s onboard flight director can reduce the possibility of collisions, thus reducing the potential hazards to society. By increasing the safety of autonomous UAV operations, various commercial and industrial flight services may become economically viable. The EECS effort involves collaboration with KU’s Aerospace Engineering department, University of Oklahoma Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Nathan Goodman, , as well Lawrence-based startup company UAVradars, LLC., led by Ph.D. candidate Lei Shi. The effort will involve flight tests aboard manned surrogate aircraft as well as free-flying UAVs.

Conceptual view of a small UAV sensing obstacles in a cluttered environment.