Corpus Christi-made drone may get into tight spaces

Chris Ramirez

Han Solo made it look easy on the big screen. But the concept of flying on multiple axes takes quite a bit of brain power.

Researchers at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi believe they are months away from launching a new type of unmanned aircraft capable of doing just that.

They hope their technology can become a vital tool for first responders after a major disaster.

In December, the university was one of six test sites selected by the Federal Aviation Administration to study the uses of unmanned aircraft. In that time, its researchers have come up with devices that can drive and fly programmed routes, and even track targets without a pilot.

One limitation they discovered with its airborne devices had always been they could only fly horizontally. Luis Rodolfo Garcia Carrillo thinks that may change. Soon.

Garcia Carrillo is an assistant professor mechanical engineering and engineering technology at the university. He hopes to have a prototype ready by April.

Most small conventional UAS rotorcrafts have four helicopter-like rotors, enabling it to fly horizontally. And only horizontally.

Think of how smoothly the Millennium Falcon zipped and rolled between asteroids and other obstacles in the Star Wars movies. That’s the same philosophy at play behind the research Garcia Carrillo and several of his undergraduate students are working on. Their Corpus Christi-made devices would have eight rotors, making it able to rotate its body into a vertical flying mode.

“This type of technology could be used for search and rescue in environments considered to be too complicated to access by means of conventional UAS,” Garcia Carrillo said. “There’s so many civilian uses … that can really help a lot of people.”

The FAA wants to safely integrate unmanned aircraft, commonly referred to as drones, into the national airspace by 2015.

Garcia Carrillo said the university’s new device also would have a camera, a wireless communication link and a proximity sensor. Its ability to flex on multiple axes would allow it to wind its way through a narrow window of a burning building to search for victims or to identify hazards to firefighters.

A study last year by the Association of Unmanned Vehicles International projected that, once airspace is opened to drones, the economic impact would be $8 billion statewide and $260 million in South Texas over the next 10 years. As many as 1,200 jobs are expected to be created for the area in that time.

“This is not only a great research gain, but also a great boost for economic development for the Coastal Bend area,” said state Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi. “It’s a positive start for job growth and opportunity.”

Last summer, the FAA also approved a request by the university to use different unmanned aircraft to map its main Island University and Momentum Campus. Those flights use smaller, less-expensive unmanned aircraft and are conducted on Sunday mornings when there are few, if any, students or faculty on campus.

U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold, a member of the Congressional Unmanned Systems Caucus and the Congressional Bi-Partisan Privacy Caucus, said the university is emerging as a worldwide leader in the UAS-development industry.

“I understand the significant role (they) play, in defense of our Country, in support of our efforts to secure the border, in commerce, and in … myriad other ways such as fighting forest fires and weather research,” said Farenthold, R-Corpus Christi. “Our geography and our talented people helped win (the university’s) selection, and I look forward to continuing to support them in my role on the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee and the Unmanned Systems Caucus.”

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