[UAS] Update on CALS UAS efforts

[Ward, Richard - (rickw)]

Hi Robert,
As you know, MAC is 90 minutes from main campus, so is accessible to UA-Tucson students and instructors.  I welcome opportunities to host training/educational activities, and can, in principle, make building space available for educators.  Our 90 person Multi-Purpose room now has enhanced AV capacity, and we can host small groups for overnight stays in our dorm facilities.  The AMA RC clubs have a strong emphasis on education- focused primarily at teens.  I imagine the community colleges in central Arizona would be interested in a site that could complement or enable sUAS classes for both flight skills and engineering aspects.   Our phenomics interests include an NSF-funded subcontract through which 30-50 participants are trained in modern high through put phenotyping.  We have talked of rendering that experience into a credit earning short course.    The flight-based phenotyping/precision ag work we aspire to (and the ground based) is heavily dependent on the collection and use geo-spatial information, thus GPS is a vital element of a future flight capacity.

Best Regards

Rick

Rick Ward, Director
Maricopa Agricultural Center
Bud Antle Endowed Chair
University of Arizona
37860 W Smith-Enke Rd
Maricopa AZ 85138

Cell: +1 (520) 510-5785 / Fax: +1 (520) 374-6394 / Skype: wheatbreeder /rickw at email.arizona.edu<mailto:rickw at email.arizona.edu>

From: Robert Macarthur <robmac at ag.arizona.edu<mailto:robmac at ag.arizona.edu>>
Date: Friday, August 28, 2015 at 8:47 AM
To: Richard Ward <rickw at email.arizona.edu<mailto:rickw at email.arizona.edu>>, UAS Interest Group <uas at list.cals.arizona.edu<mailto:uas at list.cals.arizona.edu>>
Subject: RE: [UAS] Update on CALS UAS efforts

Richard, et al,

The specific group making the information request in UITS is academic technologies, so any apps that can be tied back into learning are of special interest…..

From: UAS [mailto:uas-bounces at list.cals.arizona.edu] On Behalf Of Ward, Richard - (rickw)
Sent: Friday, August 28, 2015 8:41 AM
To: UAS Interest Group (uas at list.cals.arizona.edu<mailto:uas at list.cals.arizona.edu>)
Subject: Re: [UAS] Update on CALS UAS efforts

Greetings sUAS interest group members,
I am writing in follow-up to Matt’s message below.

As Director of MAC, I aspire to host a sUAS flight center that supports future drone-borne image/sensing data capture for high throughput phenomics, adds to Central Arizona’s sUAS training capacities, and serves as a testing site for precision ag applications in partnerships with industry .   MAC is 2,100 contiguous acres (>3 sq miles), 1,700 of which is cultivated land.   We have a decommissioned 1 mile runway and other potential launch sites.  USDA-APHIS, through a sub-contractor, has been flying a sUAS at MAC under an FAA issued COA to conduct insect management experiments.

Recently, I was approached by a local AMA affiliated (see http://www.modelaircraft.org<http://www.modelaircraft.org/>) RC flight club about permissions to fly at MAC.   I wonder if partnership with an AMA club might be a way for MAC to take first steps towards my aspiration of a flight center.  Any thoughts?

I also wonder if NAU would be interested in partnering with MAC to create a flight center that could expand flight capacity of NAU faculty/students during the winter months.  I welcome input/contacts from any NAU members on this list or others.

Finally, I want to share that MAC is occasionally a launch site for the Arizona Near Space Research (ANSR) program (http://www.ansr.org<http://www.ansr.org/>/).    A different flight ‘space’, but perhaps some opportunities for synergies with sUAS flights.

Rick

Rick Ward, Director
Maricopa Agricultural Center
Bud Antle Endowed Chair
University of Arizona
37860 W Smith-Enke Rd
Maricopa AZ 85138

Cell: +1 (520) 510-5785 / Fax: +1 (520) 374-6394 / Skype: wheatbreeder /rickw at email.arizona.edu<mailto:rickw at email.arizona.edu>

From: UAS <uas-bounces at list.cals.arizona.edu<mailto:uas-bounces at list.cals.arizona.edu>> on behalf of Matt Rahr <rahr at ag.arizona.edu<mailto:rahr at ag.arizona.edu>>
Date: Thursday, August 27, 2015 at 7:49 AM
To: UAS Interest Group <uas at list.cals.arizona.edu<mailto:uas at list.cals.arizona.edu>>
Subject: [UAS] Update on CALS UAS efforts

Hello,

I was asked by UITS yesterday if CALS was doing anything exciting with UAS/UAVs. I’ve been loosely keeping tabs on varying activities, but have been out of the loop with a few units, especially ABE. If you have anything to add to the summary below, would you mind responding to the list?

Thanks,
Matt

Hi Nik,

We are loosely building a UAS interest group in CALS, although its meant to be as inclusive as possible. In fact, CALS has partnered with USDA, Arizona Western College, NAU and a few private firms, including Raytheon and M3 Consulting. We have about a dozen drones throughout CALS and Cooperative Extension. Most are flown under the “recreational users” hat for use in remote sensing, but our department’s (CCT<http://cct.cals.arizona.edu/>) usage of drones in high value video production pushes us out of that category. We’ve been in touch with FAA several times, and feel we have a clear path going forward. The first step is registering a UAS with the FAA (which gets us a tail number). This is a simple process, one that does not dictate UAS usage. But, when we sent the paperwork over to Procurement and Contract Services for signature, it got sent up the flagpole and over to Risk Management. RM has been responsive and pro-active in working with us. We are meeting with them and the Office of General Council soon. Simultaneously, we’ve submitted our Section #333 Exemption form to the FAA. We should be hearing back on that soon.

This Fall, researchers in the School of Natural Resources and the Environment (SNRE<http://snre.arizona.edu/>) will be flying multi-spectral lidar over the Santa Rita Experimental Range<http://cals.arizona.edu/srer/> (part of the Arizona Experiment Station) via a UAS operator contracted through NAU.

Farther out, we’d like to use our Experiment Station centers in Yuma<http://ag.arizona.edu/aes/yac/> and Maricopa<cals-mac.arizona.edu> as training hubs for those that seek skills in flying, post-image processing, and videography. Maricopa would also like to share this facility with their neighbors at the USDA-Arid Lands Research Center (ALARC<http://www.ars.usda.gov/main/site_main.htm?modecode=20-20-05-00>), who share an interest in UAS-based remote sensing.

CCT<http://cct.cals.arizona.edu/> has begun building a UAS website to help coordinate efforts, documents, etc between our UAS users. It’s still in development, but I’ll let you know when it’s ready.


Matt Rahr
Director, CALS Communications and Cyber Technologies (CCT)
VM Hosting, Network & IT Security –lab at cals.arizona.edu<mailto:lab at cals.arizona.edu>
Programming & Web Development - webdev at cals.arizona.edu<mailto:webdev at cals.arizona.edu>
Video Production & Classroom Tech –video at cals.arizona.edu<mailto:video at cals.arizona.edu>
More Information Online -  http://cct.cals.arizona.edu<http://cct.cals.arizona.edu/>
520-626-0329

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