University of Memphis to construct new facility for testing drones in adverse weather

Eddie Jacobs, professor of electrical and computer engineering in the Herff College of Engineering (photo by University of Memphis)

A University of Memphis researcher is looking to develop unmanned aerial systems for the U.S. Navy that can work in adverse weather conditions, with the help of a new $9.2 million facility designed to test drones in windy and rainy weather.

According to a recent announcement, the Office of Naval Research and the Naval Surface Warfare Center – Carderock Division is sponsoring the new state-of-the-art facility. It said the facility, which is still in its early planning stages, will be located on President’s Island at the William Morgan Large Cavitation Channel.

"This project is the latest in an ongoing effort by the University of Memphis to develop intentional research-focused collaborations with the Naval Surface Warfare Center – Carderock,” Cody Behles, executive director of research and innovation development at the UofM’s Division of Research & Innovation, said in the announcement. “The Memphis Institute for National Defense Sciences at the UofM helps coordinate opportunities in partnership with the offices of the Tennessee Congressional Delegation. Their collaboration and continued support are vital to get projects such as this off the ground.” 

The announcement said the project is being led by Eddie Jacobs, a senior researcher at the Center for Applied Earth Science and Engineering Research (CAESER) and professor of electrical and computer engineering in the University of Memphis’ Herff College of Engineering. The university will collaborate with fellow researchers at the University of Arizona, the University of Central Florida and the University of Missouri-Kansas City, according to the announcement.

Jacobs said the facility will expand the Navy’s ability to develop and test unmanned aerial systems.

“When flying drones, we are often restricted to days that have calm winds and no rain. We will be able to accurately control the wind and generate rain in this new facility,” Jacobs said. “This will help us design and test drones that can operate under more challenging conditions.” 

Jacobs told the Tennessee Firefly that the facility may look into finding ways to replicate snowy conditions as well.

“The central feature of this facility will be something that we've come to call a ‘wind wall.’ It is a large array of computer-controlled fans, roughly 40 feet by 40 feet in dimension, and by controlling these fans, we can generate any type of wind pattern we'd like. Each fan is individually controllable, so we can vary the wind patterns,” he said. “The other piece will be a rain-making system to generate rain indoors. We'll be able to send it from a light drizzle through to some sort of moderately heavy rain.”

Jacobs said testing drones in conditions that they normally don’t operate in will lead to the development of better drone systems in the years to come.

“Right now, for most people, if you spend money on a drone, you're not going to fly it when it's really windy or when it's raining, or other [adverse] conditions,” he said. “So, what we want to do is be able to test drones and how they do in those conditions in very controlled circumstances so that we can better design drones that can better accommodate those circumstances.”