Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

NASA Selects Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi to Test Drones in Urban Traffic Management

  • 02/19/19

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX – As more drones take to the skies, whether for business, leisure, emergency response, or package delivery, we need to make sure safety and efficiency are two key priorities.  

To ensure that safety, NASA’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM) project selected the Lone Star UAS Center of Excellence & Innovation at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi to test drone traffic management. The Island university is one of only two test sites selected nationwide.

“The Lone Star Team is proud to have been selected by NASA to work on such critical testing efforts,” says Mike Sanders, acting executive director of the Lone Star UAS Center of Excellence & Innovation. “This series of tests is a critical step in enabling the safe integration of unmanned aircraft systems within an urban environment. We look forward to working with NASA’s Ames Research Center, the City of Corpus Christi and its first responders, the Corpus Christi International Airport, the Port of Corpus Christi, as well as the many partners across Texas and the United States.”

The Lone Star team plans to start testing this summer and will focus on drone communication, collision avoidance, safe landing, services that support UAS operations, and safety in an urban landscape.

This year marks the fourth and final chapter in a series of testing drone technology, with each year increasing in complexity, according to NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley.

“Our (program) represents the most complicated demonstration of advanced UAS operating in a demanding urban environment that will have been tested to date,” says Ronald Johnson, NASA UTM project manager. “For the commercial drone industry to really advance, they need to see the results of this testing to understand the opportunities and challenges posed by flying in an environment where communications, GPS navigation, micro weather, tall buildings, and community acceptance all present hurdles to everyday, safe operation.”

NASA’s UTM project works closely with the Federal Aviation Administration to conduct field demonstrations of small unmanned aircraft systems to fully and safely access low-altitude airspace in support of civil and business opportunities.

The UTM project is under the Airspace Operations and Safety Program within the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, with researchers at NASA’s Ames, Glenn, and Langley research centers.

For more information about Lone Star UAS Center of Excellence & Innovation at A&M University-Corpus Christi, please visit http://lsuasc.tamucc.edu or contact Communications Specialist III Michelle Villarreal Leschper at 361/825-4039.

For more information about NASA’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Traffic Management, visit www.nasa.gov/ames/utm.

Featured

  • University of Illinois Moves Forward with College Sports’ Largest Digital Scoreboard

    The University of Illinois in Champaign, Ill., recently announced a series of upgrades to Gies Memorial Stadium that will include the largest scoreboard in college sports, according to a news release.

  • Stanford Completes Construction on Graduate School of Education Facility

    Stanford University in Stanford, Calif., recently announced the end of construction on a new home for its Graduate School of Education, according to a news release. The university partnered with McCarthy Building Companies on the 160,000-square-foot project, which involved two major renovations and one new construction effort.

  • California School District Completes Elementary School Modernization

    The San Diego Unified School District in San Diego, Calif., recently held a ribbon-cutting for a whole-site modernization of Pacific Beach Elementary School, according to local news. The school first opened with one building in 1930 and added six more between 1938 and 1957.

  • How a Portable Sink Helped an Art Classroom Run More Smoothly

    Classroom design decisions can have outsized effects on instructional time and safety at schools juggling mismatched infrastructure, strict budgets, and crowded schedules — particularly in the arts. Between spilled paint and dirty brushes, art classes run smoother with a sink in the studio. But many schools don’t have a sink in every art classroom.