Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Research (UAVR) LAB

UCSC UAV Research Group is dedicated to advancing multiple aspects of small UAV technologies. Together with industry collaborators, UCSC academic staff and students work on challenging, multidisciplinary projects on the cutting edge of unmanned system development. Technical areas of focus include UAV design, development of multiple switchable payloads for general-purpose drones, concepting theories and systems, fabrication and integration, analysis and simulations, improving UAV communication architectures, UAV pilot training and certification. We are committed to developing enthusiasm about UAV systems and seek to make a difference in the national/international landscape.

The group’s research focus is on  Advanced missions using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, UAV payload design and development, ground control station design and development, UAV obstacle detection, UAV safety and  telemetry data communication over LTE, intelligent UAVs etc

• Multi-rotor UAV Design and Development
• Payload Design and development
• Multiple Switchable Payloads
• Disaster Management and Emergency Response
• Agricultural UAV systems
• LTE Based Drone manuring techniques
• Vision and analytics of aerial footages
• Path Planning and Obstacle Avoidance
• conceptualising and simulating drone swarms

The UCSC UAV Lab has a wide range of capabilities and facilities that are available for testing.

These include:

Indoor Testing

Over 1000 sq. ft. indoor Flight Test facility with a safety net located at UCSC.

Outdoor Testing Facility

We have a 200-acre Outdoor Flight Test facility at Hambanthota, Sri Lanka in accordance with the Sri Lanka Civil Aviation Authority.

Vehicle Fleet

We have the following range of vehicles in our lab, with each having a different intended purpose. These vehicles include:

• Two DJI F330 FlameWheel QuadCopters
• One DJI F440 FlameWheel QuadCopter
• Two DJI F550 FlameWheel HexaCopters
• One Tarot 680 Pro Hexacopter
• One Foxtech GAIA 160 HexaCopters

Custom Built Ground Station

We have our custom-built Ground station, which is capable of flying custom-built drones and control multiple payloads.

We look forward to building active collaborations with research scholars and industry experts across the world. Currently, we are teamed up with the following stakeholders.

• TENGRI UAV PTE LTD

Tengri UAV is a Sri Lankan UAV company that works on maximising the capabilities of industrial unmanned aerial systems. Tengri has donated several hardware equipment, including drones, cameras, and Tengri UAV computers.  They also provide their technical expertise on joint projects.

• SLT Mobitel Pvt Ltd

SLTMobitel is the national telecommunications services provider in Sri Lanka and one of the country’s largest companies. SLT Mobitel provides 4G network and server infrastructure necessary for research and development.

• Prof. G D S P Wimalaratne – B.Sc. (Col), Ph.D. (Salford), SMIEEE, MCSSL
• Dr. H E M H B Ekanayake – B.Sc. (Col), M.Phil. (Col), Ph.D. (Stockholm University, Sweden)
• Dr K A K T Karunanayake – PhD (NUS), BSc (Hons) IT (Moratuawa)
• Mr K V D J P Kumarasinghe – B.Sc. (Hons)(Col), Reading for Ph.D. (NTU, Singapore)
• Dr H K T C Halloluwa – B.Sc.(SLIIT), PhD (QUT, Brisbane), SEDA (UK), CTHE (Col), MCSSL, MACM, MSIGCHI, MIFIP-TC13
• Dr M I E Wickramasinghe – B.Sc. Hons (Col), Ph.D. (Monash)
• Mr R M U A Rathnayake – B.Sc. (Hons) (Col), M.Sc. in CS (Col), CTHE (Col), SEDA (UK)
• Dr. M D J S Goonetillake – BSc(Col), MSc(Keel), PhD(Cardiff) (Senior Lecturer Gr. I/Head ISE)
• Dr. L N C De Silva – B.Sc. (Pdn), Ph.D. (Col) (Senior Lecturer)
• Dr B H R Pushpananada – BSc in Eng. Phys. (Col), BIT (Col), MCS (Col), Ph.D. (Col)