{"id":1526,"date":"2015-12-14T18:20:22","date_gmt":"2015-12-14T18:20:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/cas\/?p=1526"},"modified":"2024-07-12T16:13:12","modified_gmt":"2024-07-12T16:13:12","slug":"droneresearch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/case\/2015\/12\/14\/droneresearch\/","title":{"rendered":"CSIS Research Includes Drones, Software"},"content":{"rendered":"
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One of the drones used in research by Dr. Mark Allison and his student assistants.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

THE RESEARCH<\/span><\/h3>\n

Dr. Mark Allison, Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Information Systems, is working with students on research that focuses on drones and\u00a0software design. He brings nearly a decade of experience with\u00a0software engineering\u00a0and artificial intelligence to the project.<\/span><\/p>\n

When asked to describe the research\u00a0and its goals, Allison said, “This project investigates how multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) may function as a team towards a common goal. We will apply software models to accomplish communication and collaboration in the context of search and rescue.”<\/span><\/p>\n

He continued, “As drones become smaller, more capable and cheaper, we need to look to new ways of applying them to benefit humans. Current approaches to UAVs typically involve manual operation. As our machines become more complex, we need to minimize human interaction, we need software capable of making decisions on our behalf. I know visions of robot overlords may spring to mind- but…\u00a0We crave more and more complex machines yet we want our interaction to be easy and intuitive. Our only solution is that invisible entity known as SOFTWARE.\u00a0Our ultimate aim is to give a team of drones high level objectives (for example – Find the Cat). They should be capable of self-organization and collaboration to achieve the task if possible.”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

THE PROJECT at\u00a0UM-FLINT<\/span><\/h3>\n
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Sopheak Pouv, a current Graduate Student Research Assistant, holds one of the drones.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Allison began the research when he joined UM-Flint in Fall 2014, building off of a previous project. “We had successfully applied software models in energy management and cloud computing. The application towards artificial intelligence seemed the next natural hurdle. It\u2019s research; we constantly seek bigger dragons.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The idea of individual drones working together is complex. Allison notes, “Human communication and cooperation to accomplish tasks is so rich and complex that we ourselves have not fully understood its intricacies in all our years on this blue planet. Our approach tries not to capture all this dynamism but to selectively apply concepts (we don\u2019t want that slacker drone to go off and peruse a leisurely jaunt in the park). We want to use technology that has only matured in the last 10 or less years to revisit the challenges that were elusive. This research path is not simple. There are many difficult challenges, however an incremental approach is our best bet.”<\/span><\/p>\n