UAVs – UCVision

UC Vision at the Smart Christchurch Innovation Expo 2024

Our UC Vision Team had a big presence at the Smart Christchurch Innovation Expo which was held at Te Pae, the Christchurch Convention Centre from 27 to 28 September. We had several of our team manning the UC stand which included a drone display, both underwater drones and flying drones.

Rory Clifford, who is on our team, did a talk about how he is constantly seeking and applying the latest technologies to real world applications. He talked about virtual, extended and augmented reality, digital story telling and digital twins, to unmanned aerial vehicles and underwater robotics. He has adapted these systems to a variety of applications such as fire and emergency training, helping hapū and iwi to digitally retell stories and mātauranga for current and future generations, to providing insight into underwater farming of mussels and scanning the seabed. His driving force is enabling our people to upskill and apply new technologies for our sustainable future.

UAV Expo Las Vegas 2024

From 3-5 September 2024 the [Commercial UAV Expo](https://www.expouav.com) was held in Las Vegas, and had 4000+ attendees and exhibitors from over 75 countries.

As part of the [KiwiNet Emerging Innovator program](https://kiwinet.org.nz/EmergingInnovatorProgramme), UC Vision researchers Dr Sam Schofield and Bradley Scott attended the expo to see the latest innovations in UAV development and commercial use.

Among the many exhibitors were a variety of AI-related products ranging from [AI-powered infrastructure inspection software](https://buzzsolutions.co), to products for [enabling fully autonomous UAV navigation](https://www.vivum.ai).

Drone meeting in Auckland September 2023

The University of Canterbury research team from the $10mil MBIE funded Drones with tools project, flew to Auckland on 4 September to have an in-person meeting with the University of Auckland team. These meetings are crucial for integration of all the different parts of the drone project.

The day started with talks given by key researchers from the drone project plus some presentations by project students from the University of Auckland. There was then discussion over the drone design which is a planetary hex drone design by Associate Professor Karl Stol’s team.

The day concluded with two drone presentations including one peg in hole demo.

We are in an exciting phase of the project with the final drone design for prototype one being ready by 1 October.

ROV Development Field Trip April 2023

The UC Computer Vision Lab’s project, headed by Professor Richard Green, is working on autonomously recording stereo vision of mussel lines. This footage is then post-processed, using advanced computer vision algorithms, to determine the mussel sizes and quantities, allowing for better crop forecasting. Tim Rensen, Ori Ganoni, and Timothy Manning spent a week in Marlborough sounds and Tasman Bay testing and rapidly prototyping new control and automation software. Some of the highlights of the trip were successfully scanning sections of the mussel farm autonomously and removing mussels from the line using a prototype gripper.

Drone fieldtrip to Amberley – August

The drone team had a trip on 23 August to Proseed in Amberley who kindly allowed us to test our drone onsite. Our final year project team with some industry support had made a cutting tool which comes out in front of the drone to cut pine catkins.

Testing Mathematical Modelling

Today Sam Schofield and two researchers from Victoria University, Professor Peter Smith and Ikram Singh were collecting data to test the use of stochastic differential equations to model the motion of a drone during flight.

The drone was configured to fly autonomously along a specified flight path, while a motion capture system was used to measure its precise position and orientation.

This testing is part of the Drones Project funded by MBIE.

Drone project wins MBIE bid

UC Vision Researcher and Professor in Computer Science Richard Green as well as Professor Dan Zhao in Mechanical Engineering are collaborating on a project using drones which will change the way drones are used in different industries, over and above current uses such as surveying.

The research is focusing on UAVs using precision tools in changing dynamic environments, such as outdoors with hazards such as wind. The project is investigating drones which can be used around hazardous structures such as power pylons or in the construction and forestry industries.

The biggest challenge will be coordinating different research fields into one project. They will be looking at turbulent flow rotor-to-rotor interactions prediction, precise control of a hovering UAV, force trajectory control, and robust estimate of a UAV’s position and orientation in a wide range of dynamic environments

Others involved in the project include Senior Research Engineer and UAV expert Kelvin Barnsdale as well as a team of NZ experts in UAV, data and aerodynamics research. They will also be collaborating with international researchers and UAV manufacturers and users.

The research will benefit different industries where there are jobs that are inaccessible and hazardous for humans. This includes arboriculture, silviculture, electricity infrastructure industry, civil construction etc. The research team are also working with Maori stakeholders and government and regulation bodies.

The benefits will be making hazardous tasks safer, easier and more cost-effective and efficient.

They recently won a $10 million grant from MBIE to undertake this research over five years.

For more information on this research visit the University of Canterbury website or the page on UC Computer Vision Website