Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), What’s the Big Deal?

Florida Tech January 17, 2016

We asked five faculty members, one heavy question: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, What’s the Big Deal?

“There are so many applications even yet to be discovered (or there are near unlimited number of applications for unmanned aerial vehicles), and the technology is only going to improve. People haven’t really cracked the code on the best practices for different applications, what the challenges are, how to mitigate risk-and were’ excited about exploring these areas and leading the way in this important research and discovery.”

~Julie Moore, Assistant Professor of Aviation Science

“Highway bridge inspections directly relates to people’s quality of life by promoting public safety. The current inspection process involves heavy machinery to carry inspectors under bridges to visually inspect hard-to-reach components. This process is expensive and often results in lane closures and traffic delays. Engineering a small unmanned aerial vehicle for underside bridge inspections presents a unique opportunity –within the Transportation Systems Engineering field –of high positive impact to society.”

~Daniel Otero, Associate Professor of Engineering Systems

“Remotely operated uncrewed vehicles have been a staple of space exploration for decades. unmanned aerial vehicles on Earth can now be bought off-the-shelf for less than $100. There are still many environments on Earth that are too dangerous, or too expensive, to investigate directly, like electrified clouds. UAVs are an excellent choice for getting sensors up close to the heart of these problem.”

~Daniel Batcheldor, Department Head of Physics and Space Sciences

“Unmanned aerial vehicles represent a breed of technological advancements that will usher in a drastic change in business models and ultimately change how firms compete in the era of the Internet of Things. UAVs will provide product and service enhancements in current business models as well as open up entirely new frontiers and markets. Firms that are willing and quick to embrace these new capabilities will be able to capitalize on the first-mover advantage and create significant competitive advantage.”

~Abram Walton, Associate Professor of Management

“The academic study of unmanned aerial flight is essential to pursuing future technologies that will provide safety and security to our warfighters while collecting critical intelligence on the battlefield.”