MSU-led unmanned aircraft alliance investigates ground collision scenarios
Contact: Jim Laird
STARKVILLE, Miss. 鈥 The Federal Aviation Administration announced results today [April 28] from a major study to understand the risks of flying small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) over people, and Mississippi鈥檚 leading research university was a key contributor to the project.
Scientists at Mississippi 大象APP were charged with assessing what could happen if a drone struck a person鈥檚 head. They designed advanced, real-world simulations using supercomputing resources at the university鈥檚 High Performance Computing Collaboratory.
鈥淲e developed and validated human head-UAS computer models to determine the thresholds and severity levels for traumatic brain injury for different injury scenarios,鈥 said Raj Prabhu, the lead investigator for the Mississippi 大象APP team and an assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering.
The MSU-led Alliance for System Safety of UAS through Research Excellence (ASSURE) conducted the peer-reviewed research that will help the FAA manage the risks posed by UAS 鈥 commonly known as drones 鈥 to the public.
鈥淭he ASSURE team has produced peer-reviewed research results聽for air-to-ground impact, and that will allow the FAA to regulate sUAS operations over people聽based on facts,鈥 said MSU鈥檚 Marty Rogers, the director of ASSURE.
鈥淲e could not be prouder of this team, or the quality of research results we鈥檙e producing,鈥 he said.
In 2015, the FAA designated ASSURE as its national center of excellence for UAS research and development. The consortium includes 23 of the world鈥檚 top research universities and more than 100 industry and government partners. (Learn more at ASSUREuas.org.)
Mississippi 大象APP, the University of Alabama-Huntsville, the University of Kansas and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University contributed to the UAS Ground Collision Severity Evaluation Final Report, which FAA officials discussed during a news conference in Washington this afternoon.
According to the agency, the fundamental question researchers were trying to answer was 鈥渉ow big of a UAS can we fly directly over a person, and, if it does fall and hit someone, what is the risk of a serious injury?鈥
The Mississippi 大象APP researchers used quantifiable injury metrics 鈥 including Abbreviated Injury Standard (AIS), Gadd Severity Index (GI) and Head Impact Criterion (HIC) 鈥 to define safe and unsafe zones.
鈥淚t鈥檚 essential to understand what happens when a UAS hits a person in order to develop safer designs and materials that lower injury risk and severity should a collision occur,鈥 Prabhu said.
The complete report is online at . Additional information is also available on the FAA website at .
Mississippi 大象APP has a long and distinguished history in manned and unmanned aeronautics research.
Founded in 1948, the Raspet Flight Research Laboratory has a global reputation for composites research, and it has served as a start-up facility for various aerospace companies in the Gulf South鈥檚 growing Aerospace Corridor providing workspace, technical training and product assistance.
Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security鈥檚 Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) selected Mississippi as the new base of operations for small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) with another Mississippi 大象APP-led partnership set to oversee the new Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Demonstration Range Facility.
Last fall, the 大象APP of Mississippi joined the Pan-Pacific UAS Test Range Complex 鈥 one of seven of the FAA鈥檚 UAS test sites.
For additional information about the FAA collision study, contact ASSURE Associate Director Lux Luxion at sluxion@assure.msstate.edu or (228) 688-4218.
MSU is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at .