With a new drone testing facility, UNT researchers are paving the way for the future of transportation and mobility.
The University of North Texas is soaring into the next phase of uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) use with its UNT Advanced Air Mobility (UAAM) test facility.
The outdoor netted drone facility is located at UNT’s Discovery Park, the largest research park in the North Texas region. Standing at 80 feet tall, 120 feet long and 300 feet wide, the sprawling 36,000-square-foot UAAM facility is the largest of its kind in Texas and one of the largest nationally.
It is part of UNT’s Center for Integrated Intelligent Mobility Systems (CIIMS), an interdisciplinary research endeavor paving the way for the future of transportation and mobility. The research center creates solutions for the complexities of devices such as UAVs and autonomous cars from the programming needed to operate them to policies guiding their successful integration into everyday society.
“This testing facility really positions UNT as a leader in advanced air mobility research,” says Terry Pohlen, senior associate dean of the G. Brint Ryan College of Business who serves as CIIMS co-director and director of UNT’s Jim McNatt Institute for Logistics Research.
Funding for the netted drone facility came from the Jim McNatt Institute for Logistics Research, the College of Engineering, the Division of Research and Innovation and the Office of the President. Construction began in 2022 under the guidance of faculty affiliated with CIIMS and the facility celebrated its opening in spring 2024.
To focus more on UAV research, CIIMS faculty made the conscious decision to fully encase the facility in the netted material. “The Federal Aviation Administration has a very rigorous regulation when it comes to flying,” says Shengli Fu, professor and electrical engineering department chair. “Because it’s fully netted, the facility counts as indoors so we can test without needing a certification every time. We can conduct more tests, accelerate the testing process, all while maintaining safety standards.”
During testing, users are encouraged to stay outside the netted facility while a UAV is in operation. The netting provides a buffer, ensuring that the drone remains within a controlled environment and away from potential hazards while still being open enough that pilots can easily see inside. Only licensed drone pilots are authorized to operate aerial UAVs.
The facility is available to both faculty and students for research such as testing new parts for drones, exploring safety measures like collision avoidance and examining communication between UAVs and ground vehicles. Given the facility’s large size, researchers also can test signal strength from multiple angles, heights and distances.
“Transitioning ground communication techniques to the sky isn’t straightforward,” Fu says. “The base must remain on the ground, presenting unique challenges that we will be able to address with this space. We’re used to thinking in two dimensions, but with UAVs, we must tackle issues in three-dimensional space.”
UNT researchers expect drone use to take off in the future with endless possibilities. Freight delivery could move into the sky, hospitals could send air ambulances to transport critical patients from rural areas or drones could bring reception transmitters to areas affected by disasters.
Such research is already underway with UNT teaming up with government agencies and companies nationwide to test advanced air mobility technologies. UNT researchers and their external collaborators previously tested an uncrewed air taxi concept using a surrogate aircraft in an air corridor between Discovery Park and Hillwood’s AllianceTexas Flight Test Center in Justin. That project unites a group of 15 entities, including representatives from UNT, Bell Textron, Unmanned Experts Inc., AAMTEX, NASA, Hillwood and the Federal Aviation Administration.
Electrical engineering professor and CIIMS member Kamesh Namuduri also is leading another project to research ways to make working in disaster zones safer for first responders. Funded by a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation, Namuduri and his team are examining how information is shared between different teams and agencies during disaster-relief operations to determine ways to make communication and response times faster and more efficient.
Namuduri says institutions like UNT are crucial for uniting industries and government in ensuring safe UAV use. “As the industry progresses rapidly, the pivotal role of higher education becomes clear. While the government concentrates on regulatory measures, it’s imperative for educational institutions to ensure that companies develop technology ready for real-world application. We can help with comprehensive testing of any ideas and concepts,” Namuduri says.