I/UCRC: University of Michigan Planning Grant: I/UCRC for the Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (C-UAS)

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Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) or "drones" have captured our attention as a means to collect aerial sensor data and carry small payloads. Agriculture, newsgathering, and small package delivery are some of the numerous emerging applications. Numerous research challenges in safety, airspace integration, and complex or large-scale deployments remain. The Center for UAS (C-UAS) is an NSF-supported I/UCRC supporting a wide range of research topics in UAS sensing and control, vehicle and payload management, and multi-vehicle cooperation. C-UAS (https://c-uas.byu.edu/) has recently grown to include Virginia Tech, and the University of Michigan (UM) was recently invited by the C-UAS team to become a new C-UAS university site pending NSF approval. This planning grant will help the University of Michigan secure industrial partners and plan projects that both complement and extend the C-UAS team and ongoing C-UAS projects. As a new site for an existing I/UCRC, the University of Michigan will adopt policies, guidelines, and an organizational structure consistent with C-UAS and UM practices. UM site operational procedures and personnel have been defined. A set of possible projects are summarized with connection to other C-UAS projects and industry members, twelve of which have provided letters of interest for this planning grant proposal. Education, outreach, and involvement of underrepresented groups are keys to success that complement research project activity. The planning grant will be used to support travel by the UM team to key companies and a 1.5 day UM site planning workshop hosted at UM. A comprehensive report on the workshop and industry visits will be prepared and shared with C-UAS, potential and committed industry partners, workshop attendees, and NSF. Throughout the site planning effort, the UM site team will maintain close contact with C-UAS leadership to ensure UM will be an effective new university site.