Grant: Applied Research and Development Grants - Level 1

The College of New Caledonia and J.R. Canadian Mapping Ltd. are collaborating on an applied researchproject to improve onboard electronics and camera gimbal systems in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). J.R.Canadian Mapping deploys UAVs to collect high-resolution geospatial information such as digital elevationmodels and biomass attribute predictions for clients in forestry, mining, energy, agriculture industries, as wellas municipalities. UAV technology is important to remote sensing and mapping industries in Canada as theyallow geospatial data to be collected at a much lower cost than traditional conventional data collection methodsinvolving airplanes and helicopters.This project will focus on incremental improvements to existing UAV onboard electronics and camera gimbalsystems. Improvements in these two areas are required to use UAVs effectively in the remote and mountainousterrain of central British Columbia. This project will benefit J.R. Canadian Mapping Ltd. by helping themdevelop UAV technology that will allow them to deliver innovative mapping services to their clients. Collegestudents will benefit through training in UAV technology, as well as prototype design, development andtesting.