Lyles College of Engineering students developed the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Project.

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s the unmanned aerial vehicle designed, built and operated by students in the Lyles College of Engineering at California State University, Fresno.

The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Project at Fresno State has brought 15 graduate and undergraduate engineering students together with one common goal: design, construct, and operate an aerial vehicle that will be able to receive predetermined coordinates from a computer, fly to that location and pinpoint a target.

The project has spanned nearly a year-and-a-half as students and faculty in the Electrical and Computer Engineering and Mechanical Engineering Departments developed designs ranging from the vehicle’s outer appearance to deciding whether its engine would operate on gas or electricity.

“The students working on this project have truly come together as a team to not only create the vehicle but to also brainstorm and troubleshoot any problems the project has experienced,” said Dr. Gregory Kriehn, associate professor for the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department and one of the faculty advisers for the project. “This is a valuable collaboration between the two Lyles Engineering departments.”

The project began in spring, 2008 when the Lyles College of Engineering was approached by Edwards Air Force Base with an offer to fund a university project that would train and prepare young engineers for a career with the Air Force Flight Test Center.

The project had three main objectives:

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Train student engineers in current Air Force technology

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Improve and develop leadership skills

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Improve and develop teamwork and communication skills

In June, 2008, Lyles Engineering faculty created a team of students to take on the project and implement Edward’s objectives. They performed specific engineering tasks relating to their particular engineering option — electrical, computer, or mechanical engineering.

Once the team was formed and leaders selected, team members began creating the vehicle from scratch utilizing their respective skills to build and troubleshoot.

“The overall test of the project is to fly the UAV at a range of altitudes between 100 – 400 feet in an orbit around a stationary ground target using a flying radius of less than half a mile,” Kriehn said. “A tracking system on the UAV then allows for a video camera and laser to continuously point toward the target of interest.”

The team worked together to solve payload and vibration problems as well as develop a real-time feedback pointing system for marking the target, Kriehn said.

The vehicle went through several test runs with the team monitoring take off and flight to ensure that it not only flew but also that camera and targeting systems were in working order.

Tony Rubino, chief engineer at the Air Force Flight Test Center and a Fresno State alumnus (1988), said the Air Force Flight Test Center and the Fresno State Lyle College of Engineering have enjoyed a fruitful relationship.

“The UAV Project is another highlight in continuing that relationship,” Rubino said. “The project provides critical hands on experience transforming engineering students into engineering professionals who will solve tomorrow’s aerospace and flight test problems.

For more information, contact Kriehn at 559.278.8811 or gkriehn@csufresno.edu.

(Copy by University Communications news intern Amanda Fine.)

Related links:

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Demonstration Video

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