Unmanned Systems

Housed at Virginia Tech, MAAP is an FAA-designated test site for unmanned aircraft systems. MAAP focuses on foundational technologies and high-value operations that will enable the efficient use of unmanned aircraft for a broad range of applications. Key areas of focus include:

• Fundamental and applied research on key topics including detect and avoid, UAS traffic management, UAS communications, and impact risk
• Advanced testing and evaluation of technology and systems, including testing against new and emerging industry standards
• Safety case development

Virginia Tech is also home to the Virginia Tech Drone Park, where students, researchers, faculty, staff, or university affiliates can safely operate UAS without the constraints of registrations, certifications, or specialized training. The Drone Park is one of the tallest netted facilities of its kind and features nearly 3 million cubic feet of flight space.

NASA Langley is focused on the safe incorporation of drones into the airspace and has conducted testing to assess how well autonomous craft avoid structures, each other, and other hazards at low altitudes. Testing is being performed on a small flight range on Langley’s property, not far from CERTAIN - City Environment for Range Testing of Autonomous Integrated Navigation - which mimics an urban environment where drones can be monitored while safely flying between buildings and over streets with pedestrian and vehicle traffic.

NASA Langley also houses the Autonomy Incubator — a group of multi-disciplinary scientists, engineers, and student interns that study and research autonomy skills that will contribute expertise across NASA missions and other applications where autonomous systems can be applied.

Home to NASA Wallops Flight Facility and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS), Wallops Island on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, is also home to the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems (MARS UAS) Airfield, which features:

• Runway that measures 3,000 feet long x 75 feet wide
• Concrete pad that measures 130 feet by 120 feet and is rated to 5,000 psi for vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) operations
• Airfield surrounded by 75 square nautical miles of restricted airspace available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to unlimited altitude.
• Hangar planned for construction will be 90 feet by 50 feet, with a 70-foot-tall rollup door, lab space, and communications and broadband connectivity

• The Volgenau School of Engineering research centers include the Center for Air Transportation Systems Research and the Center for Configuration Analytics and Automation.
• The Autonomous Robotics Laboratory is a collective effort among seven faculty in the department of computer science for collaborative research in a variety of topics involving robotics, computer vision, and networks.

• The JMU Drone Challenge project was created as an interdisciplinary collaborative effort  between seven majors, four professors, and a variety of off-campus organizations. The group hopes to use design thinking and drone technology to come up with innovative solutions to complex global problems.
• JMU X-Labs studies issues in emerging technologies with students from over 35 different majors working directly with client partners. In spring 2015, JMU X-Labs offered the first undergraduate drone course in Virginia. This has continued into multiple iterations of collaborative interdisciplinary programs and events shared across the Commonwealth, including the Unmanned Systems for Virginia Project focusing on ecological research.

Liberty University’s School of Aeronautics trains students for employment as UAS operators or mechanics by offering a Bachelor of Science in aviation maintenance: unmanned aerial systems and a Bachelor of Science in aeronautics: unmanned aerial systems degree programs.

ODU’s Frank Batten College of Engineering and Technology houses the Unmanned and Autonomous Vehicle Laboratory that was created in fall 2015 to support ongoing work in ground and flight-based unmanned and autonomous vehicle design.

At the Virginia Modeling Analysis & Simulation Center, a research focus is virtual environments and robotics and has included work with the Naval Surface Warfare Center to partner in the Navy's unmanned surface vehicle (USV) research.

• The Link Lab, a Center of Excellence in cyber-physical systems (CPS) conducts research into autonomous vehicles and robotics.
• UVA Engineering enrolled nearly 2,850 undergraduate students and 1,050 graduate students in 2018-2019. Thirty-three percent are women, compared to 21% nationally, making it the top university in the country among states' flagship universities in terms of the proportion of women earning engineering degrees.
• UVA Engineering is focusing on the intersection of cyber-physical systems, including research into the security of unmanned systems from cyber threats.

• The VCU UAV lab is conducting cutting-edge research on flight control systems (autopilots) and data payload systems for these types of applications.
• The VCU School of Engineering enrolls over 1,700 undergraduate and nearly 250 graduate students and offers degrees in biomedical engineering, chemical and life science engineering, computer engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, mechanical and nuclear engineering, mechanical engineering, and, in conjunction with the School of Business, a master’s degree in computer and information systems security.

• The Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (C-UAS) was established in 2012 and is an Industry/University Cooperative Research Center involving Brigham Young University, the University of Colorado at Boulder, Virginia Tech, and the University of Michigan. The Center is the only National Science Foundation-funded unmanned aircraft research center.
• Autonomous Systems and Control Laboratory.
• Virginia Tech Transportation Institute.
• The Virginia Tech College of Engineering offers 14 undergraduate degree-granting engineering majors, 16 doctoral, and 19 master's programs in 18 areas of study. During the fall of 2019 11,185 undergraduate and graduate students were enrolled.

At the community college level, a number of colleges offer UMS programs:

• Mountain Empire Community College has coursework available in UAS operations and is developing the Virginia Community College System’s first unmanned aerial systems (UAS) associate degree program.
• New River Community College offers an sUAS Remote Pilot Ground School course.
• Piedmont Virginia Community College has courses designed for sUAS for emergency services and public safety use.
• Germanna Community College offers a drone-UAV FAA pilot class.