UK research grant for unmanned air vehicles

Bangalore, Jan 18 (UNI) The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and the National Aerospace Laboratory (NAL) will work with UK aviation major BAE Systems research partner Leicester University on unmanned air vehicles (UAV).

Apart from the two city-based institutes, Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, would also be involved in the research under a Pound sterling 500,000 grant by the UK announced by British Chancellor of Exchequer Gordon Brown, currently in India, a BAE Systems release here said today.

The grant was awarded by the UK India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI), coordinated by the British Council. BAE Systems was one of four ''corporate champions'' helping to sponsor the UKIERI's collaborative education projects between the UK and India, along with BP, GlaxoSmithKline and Shell.

The project would draw upon the research capabilities of two countries, establishing stronger links between the research communities which would be important for future collaboration. BAE Systems would be bringing its skills in successfully applying knowledge in a commercial environment to contribute to the innovative, cutting-edge research that Leicester University and its Indian partners would produce, the release said.

The project, titled 'Towards Reliable and Smart Air Vehicles', was aimed at developing control technologies for UAVs and micro-satellites to be used in search and rescue scenarios. The research objectives would involve the design of robust, reconfigurable control systems for UAVs, especially light-weight UAVs, fault-tolerant, reconfigurable control systems for micro-satellites, distributed coordination strategies for multiple UAVs, optimal software and hardware for light-weight UAVs and smart structures for airborne actuators and sensors, the release said.

The project would also be developing control technologies for high performance piloted aircraft to reduce Pilot Induced Oscillations (PIOs), the release said.

A key benefit of this project was that it would help develop autonomous systems vital for UAVs. The research would be beneficial in natural disaster situations where, due to potential hazards, it was desirable to deploy UAVs which could identify dangers and then provide full details to command centres for a response, it added.

UNI