Alaska - As Seen From an Unmanned Aircraft
Presentation Description:
This lecture will discuss recent, and ongoing unmanned aircraft operations that the University is conducting in Alaska. It will highlight the unique capabilities and limitations of this emerging and rapidly developing technology as well as recent research and systems development that the University has conducted in support of the FAA and others to integrate these aircraft safely into the National Airspace. During the lecture several aircraft platforms that the University operate will be on display.
The University has been identifying technical issues with operating small-unmanned aircraft in the harsh conditions in Alaska. This lecture will describe the University’s recent and ongoing scientific activities that involve unmanned aircraft. Of specific interest is building survivable observation platforms for low-altitude remote sensing and has application to studies of marine wildlife, climate change, volcanoes, oil spill response, aerial survey, and emergency management.
This lecture will identify many opportunities that highlight the potential and unfortunately the limitations of the current technology and will identify future opportunities.
Presenter Information
Greg Walker
Greg Walker grew up in southern Illinois and graduated from the University of Wisconsin, in 1986 with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. From there his first assignment as a young Army officer was to attend Stanford University where in 1988 he graduated with both an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering and an M.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics. After an assignment to NASA where he worked at the NASA Langley Research Center (’90-’95), he resigned his Army commission in 1995 and launched a technology development business commercializing his unmanned aircraft research. His past research involved the development of low-cost guidance, navigation, and control systems for unmanned aircraft. In past jobs he lead the development, including design and construction of the control systems for 58 unmanned aircraft of seven different configurations ranging in size from a micro air vehicle with a 6 inch wingspan to a full scale unmanned UH-1H helicopter that was later used as a missile target. After selling his successful business in 1998 Mr. Walker came north and accepted an assignment with the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska. In this position he is supervising University staff supporting (1) NASA’s sub orbital rocket program (2) satellite ground station operations, and (3) is leading the University of Alaska unmanned aircraft applications program. At the University his unmanned aircraft research is focused on integrating unique payloads and developing operational missions with a special emphasis on Alaska and arctic region needs.