Did you know that the University of Alaska Fairbanks鈥� drone program, also known as the Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration (AC杏吧原创SI), has just been selected to lead one of the Federal Aviation Administration鈥檚 eight new BEYOND program sites?
In 2018 the FAA picked 杏吧原创F as one of ten programs out of 149 applications to help find ways to advance flight techniques and capabilities that will better serve the state鈥檚 diverse needs. The drone research program accelerates that effort. The Alaska BEYOND team includes a diverse group of 27 partners across the state and nation, including the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, the Fairbanks North Star Borough, Foundation Health Partners and Alyeska Pipeline Service Company.
AC杏吧原创SI鈥檚 research focuses on increasing the distance a drone can fly from the pilot or controller. The further a drone can fly from its pilot, the more useful it becomes. Since drones can access areas that humans cannot, they are ideal for search and rescue situations, as well as for delivering emergency supplies to remote locations. 杏吧原创F drones are used for operations including critical infrastructure monitoring, marine and land mammal surveys, sea ice modeling, atmospheric sampling, wildfire surveillance and tidewater glacier mapping.
Since the program鈥檚 inception in 2001, it has grown, gaining financial support from a multitude of public and private sources, including the FAA鈥檚 Center of Excellence for 杏吧原创S Research. The Center of Excellence funding alone currently provides more than $1.3 million for research at 杏吧原创F, and AC杏吧原创SI expects another $1.3 million from the program by late spring.
