Grant: Department of National Defence / NSERC Research Partnership

The project develops the signal processing and control technologies required for small (less than 35 kg) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to satisfy new Transport Canada regulations to operate in non-segregated (civilian) airspace. The end product is a sense-and-avoid payload based on optical and infra-red sensors for the deconfliction of non-cooperative general aviation (GA) traffic under visual meteorological condition (VMC). With the assistance of Provincial Aerospace Limited, the project makes the transition from experimental deployments into full mission flight testing at the newly-established UAV test centres in Clarenville in Central Newfoundland and Goose Bay in Labrador. It builds on the capacities, created under RAVEN I, an existing UAV R&D program at Memorial University, in software simulation, mission management, data communications, and sensor systems. It will also leverage on RAVEN II, a recently funded $3 million project supported under Round 5 of the Atlantic Innovation Funds, providing the vital air vehicle test platforms, engineering support and UAV test facilities to ensure the success of the research components under proposed the DND-RPA program. The project addresses DND priority areas in air vehicle, surveillance system and human-system interaction and will provide an end-to-end dual-use solution for enhancing safety and reliability in deploying small UAVs for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions. It will also position Canada as a global leader in the integration of small UAVs into non-segregated airspace.