Students brainstorm real-world applications for future drone use
Drones can be used to monitor climate change, track electricity and water use and inspect corrosion in pipelines, according to UAE students.
Six university teams, finalists in the UAE Unmanned Aerial System Payload Design Challenge, identified areas of deployment for drones.
Launched in March, the yearlong initiative by Lockheed Martin and Mubadala Investment Company asks students to design and develop civilian and industrial applications for Lockheed Martin’s Indago, an unmanned aerial system known for its endurance and adaptability in sectors such as emergency response, national security, agriculture and commercial inspection.
“Drones are very mobile and user-friendly so anyone can use them for any personal purpose,” said Tayammum Alkatheeri, a 20-year-old from Abu Dhabi working on developing a drone for corrosion inspection.
“There are a lot of fields wherein drones can be employed. They make things safer and faster for people.”
He said safety was what any industry strives for.
“It is safer for whoever is doing the inspection, instead of being personally in the area of inspection. They can manipulate the drone up to 12 kilometres away from the area,” said the graduate in petroleum geophysics from the Petroleum Institute.
“We are focusing on the oil and gas industry but we can expand to wind turbines as well as bridges and dams. The possibilities are almost limitless.”
He hopes to work in a related field in the future.
“I would like to develop a drone to perform magnetic surveying of the Earth to detect hydrocarbons,” Mr Alkatheeri said. “Instead of having people taking equipment into remote areas in the desert, we can just send a drone with the equipment – it can be done faster and with less effort. My professor said it needs development but it is a good start.”
For Mariam Al Nuaimi, a 21-year-old from Al Ain, finding a viable service for the UAE community was key. “We plan to collect water and electricity data from meters in houses,” said the graduate in aeronautical engineering from HCT.
“Usually, a technician visits the place to get a reading but we are developing a payload that will collect the data without the need for a technician.”
The idea stemmed from one of the team members whose father waited each month at his villa for a technician.
“It was not practical,” Ms Al Nuaimi said. “Drones are the upcoming technology in the United States and in Europe – they use it in so many applications. It is easier, you just send the drone and it gets the job done.”
The system will take two to three months to be developed and Al Ain Distribution Company is already a potential customer.
“The only thing that matters on any UAV is the payload,” said Shawn Racz, who heads Lockheed Martin’s Innovation Centre at Masdar City and runs the programme on its end.
He said the market was in need of such systems. “The purpose of a UAV is to carry something and do a mission,” he said.
“We provide the students with access to our lab in Masdar, an additive manufacturing machine, which is a 3D printer and [the ability] to draw, design and print them out immediately. They also have access to our 40 engineers to get suggestions and advice and Lockheed’s entire network. What we want to do is foster real innovation.”
The students were shortlisted from 63 projects.
“Once they build it, the final stage will be to activate it during the innovation month next February,” said Fatima Al Marzouqi, Mubadala’s head of education and training in aerospace, renewables and ICT. “We will try to find a partner from the Government, like the police, to be able to implement it on the challenges they face.”
She said the initiative was part of the Abu Dhabi 2020 Vision to create a knowledge-based economy. “We saw a bit of a gap in the area of innovation so this project will lead in this,” she said.