The Nevada Advanced Autonomous Systems Innovation Center at UNR

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1 The Nevada Advanced Autonomous Systems Innovation Center at UNR Quarterly Progress Report Reporting Period: October 1 st to December 30 th, 2015 January 2016

2 Table of Contents Project Purpose... 2 Section I: Proposal Progress NAASIC Projects with NASA a. NAASIC Participation in NASA s UTM Project... 3 b. NAASIC Support of the Nevada Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with NASA c. NAASIC Support of Nevada s Test Site Partnership with NASA Other Proposal Development... 3 a. NSF-CISE:CRII... 3 b. EPA and Weston Solutions, Inc c. NASA SBIR/STTR... 4 d. IMCP... 4 e. Archeological Surveys... 4 f. NSF EPSCoR Track I Additional Accomplishments... 4 a. Test flights conducted by NAASIC under the State COA b. Flight Crew Training... 5 c. Education/Outreach... 7 d. New Hires... 7 e. Working with UNR to Develop Drone Policy Commercialization and Partnering Activities Programmatic and Project Changes Looking Forward... 8 Section II: Performance Progress toward Metrics Project Scorecard Narrative Section III: Budget Section IV: Weekly/Monthly Logs of NAASIC Activities for Reporting Quarter Section V: Appendices Appendix 1 Sales Pipeline pg. 1

3 Project Purpose The early 21 st century has been characterized by an explosive growth in the number of autonomous systems in use around the world. These systems unmanned vehicles, disaster response robots, drones, and others have created the potential to revolutionize the way that we live and work. In a 2013 Las Vegas Review Journal article Governor Sandoval described unmanned aircraft systems as a tremendous opportunity for the people of Nevada. However, these systems have also proven extraordinarily difficult to develop and deploy, much less do so profitably. The mission of the Nevada Advanced Autonomous Systems Innovation Center, or NAASIC, is to solve the complex problems surrounding the development, application, and commercialization of autonomous systems through unique industry-university partnerships, innovation, cooperative research, and entrepreneurship. Ultimately, the goal is to spur research and commercialization to advance innovation-based economic development in Nevada. Faculty at the University of Nevada, Reno have long studied the problems surrounding autonomous systems. Publications by UNR researchers in fields such as robotics and artificial intelligence have been read and cited all over the world for many years. However, recognizing the growing commercial potential of autonomous systems, the vision of NAASIC is that the Center will be able to leverage the strengths of UNR faculty to become a national and global leader in commerciallyfocused technology innovation in advanced autonomous systems. Although the field of Autonomous Systems is large and varied, NAASIC s current focus is on unmanned aircraft systems, or UAS. In contrast with more nascent areas of autonomous systems, such as self-driving vehicles or service robots, the commercial market for UAS is large and expanding. Additionally, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has chosen the State of Nevada as one of its six UAS Test Sites. The mission of the test sites is to assist the FAA in safely integrating unmanned aircraft into the United States National Airspace System (NAS). In support of this mission, NAASIC is working to find commercially-relevant uses for UAS, and is assisting the State in its mission to the FAA. The expectation is that this early work to integrate UAS into the NAS will enable ongoing and future commercialization efforts, described below. Section I: Proposal Progress During the reporting quarter, NAASIC has made significant progress toward achieving the mission described above. In the present reporting period, the most compelling objective was to conduct flying operations in conjunction with NIAS under the Nevada Test Site Certificate of Waiver or Authorization (COA). Other goals included executing the construction of a computer laboratory at the Reno-Stead Airport that will serve as the center of operations for the NASA UTM Build 2; helping the new Technical Director prepare for joining NAASIC on January 1, 2016; collaborating with the UAV cluster hires on grant proposals; establishing new relationships with UNR faculty for pg. 2

4 research and education/outreach; and continuing to work with the media to educate the general public about flying drones legally and safely. Major accomplishments for the current reporting period include: 1. NAASIC Projects with NASA. a. NAASIC Participation in NASA s UTM Project As outlined in the previous quarterly report, NAASIC is working with researchers at NASA Ames Research Center to develop a prototype system for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) traffic management (UTM). b. NAASIC Support of the Nevada Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with NASA. NASA Cooperative Agreement NNX15AV03A to support NASA S development of a UTM system was awarded to the State of Nevada in September. The portion that will go to UNR is $250,000 over five years. NAASIC routed the proposal through UNR InfoEd in October and anticipates receiving the award from the state in early c. NAASIC Support of Nevada s Test Site Partnership with NASA. NAASIC is also participating in the Nevada team led by GOED that was awarded approximately $150,000 to complete a Task Order (TO1) to develop UTM software, as well as approximately $337,000 to complete a Task Order (TO2) to develop a connection to an airspace management simulation platform housed at NASA Ames Research Center. The portion of this award that will go to NAASIC is $136, The proposal for this award was routed through UNR InfoEd in October and should be available in early NAASIC, NASA, NIAS, UNR IT department, the Reno Tahoe Airport Authority and the Reno-Stead Airport, have worked together to finalize plans to build the NUANCE (Nevada Unmanned Aircraft and NextGen Collaborative Environment) lab in the terminal building at Reno-Stead Airport. The lab will support the UNR airspace management research and house the connection to the NASA airspace simulation system. The RTAA architects have designed the space and will oversee construction of the lab. UNR IT has been responsible for specifying the components of the computer network to make sure that the system is compliant with UNR IT framework. In addition to the lab, there will be an adjacent UAS workshop for building and repairing UAS. Construction will begin in January and is expected to be completed by April 2016 in time for the NASA UTM demonstration at Stead. The opening of the airspace at Stead to small UAS and the construction of the NUANCE lab and UAS workshop will provide tremendous opportunities for university researchers and UAS developers to test their systems. Future flight operations at Stead will be an integral part of NASA s efforts to develop airspace integration for UAS. 2. Other Proposal Development a. NSF-CISE:CRII NAASIC is developing a proposal with the UAV cluster hires in the College of Engineering to submit to the National Science Foundation Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering to build a high-speed camera system necessary for inspection path planning and real-time exploration using UAVs. This proposal is due January 20, pg. 3

5 b. EPA and Weston Solutions, Inc. NAASIC has begun a joint project with Weston Solutions to assist the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with the remediation of approximately 50 Uranium mines in the Navajo Nation. NAASIC will conduct a beta test of mapping operations at a site in northern Arizona in March for $75,000. c. NASA SBIR/STTR NAASIC is working with Alaska UAV to develop a NASA SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) proposal to explore multi-vehicle cooperation and interoperability of UAVs for agricultural inspection and crop hazard remediation. This proposal is due February 1, d. IMCP NAASIC has met with faculty in the UNR College of Business and the Executive Director of the Western Nevada Development District to discuss the possibility of submitting a Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership (IMCP) Initiative proposal to the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration. The proposed Manufacturing Community would be centered on UAS technology, but would also include alternative motors, big data, and renewable energy. e. Archeological Surveys NAASIC is consulting with a UNR graduate student in Anthropology whose research focuses on using UAVs to capture close range aerial imagery for the creation of 3D landscapes models at archaeological sites. There is considerable potential for using UAVs to collect data at the many archaeological sites in not only Nevada, but all over the U.S. f. NSF EPSCoR Track I The 2017 NSF EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement Program Track-1: (RII Track-1) competition has been announced. The request for Letters of Intent will be released in the summer of 2016 and there are a number of research teams being formed at UNR. NAASIC has been in discussions with two team leaders regarding research proposals that will be highly dependent on UAS for data collection. 3. Additional Accomplishments a. Test flights conducted by NAASIC under the State COA. NAASIC collaborated with NIAS to conduct successful flight operations at the Reno Radio Control Club (RRCC) field in Lemmon Valley, northwest of Reno on November 17. Faculty from 3 UNR academic departments participated along with representatives from 6 UAS companies AboveNV, Carbon Autonomous, Cloud Cap Technology, Drone America, Fireball, and Flirtey. Of the 5 aircraft that were flown, 3 aircraft were issued air worthiness statements (AWS). 15 people completed Visual Observer (VO) training, and several people were trained on NASA data collection methods. NAASIC has encouraged partner companies to adopt a culture of collaboration, rather than isolation, so that best practices can be observed and shared. pg. 4

Conducting a test flight of the Drone America DAx8 north of Reno, Nevada in November 2015.

6 Conducting a test flight of the Drone America DAx8 north of Reno, Nevada in November NAASIC and NIAS collaborated again to conduct an even larger UAS flying event, Operation Hawthorne Discovery, in Hawthorne, NV, on December 10-11, NIAS worked with officials of the city of Hawthorne, the municipal airport, and the Hawthorne Army Depot to open up the town for UAS flight operations. The purpose of the event was to promote Hawthorne as a UAS Research and Training Center featuring multiple testing sites for a wide range of specific missions, such as rangeland inspection, infrastructure inspection, wildlife census, and package delivery. Additionally Hawthorne has a variety of facilities available for lease to UAS companies. NAASIC, AboveNV, Carbon Autonomous, and Skyworks Aerial Systems conducted demonstration flights at 3 outdoor locations, and one indoor location. Several more aircraft were evaluated for Airworthiness Statement (AWS) certification and 5 more people completed Visual Observer certification. The event at Hawthorne had to be scaled down at the last moment due to the forecast of potentially severe weather. The education/outreach component featuring high school students from Wells was cancelled for safety concerns, but has been rescheduled for January Several UNR faculty, several companies, and members of the media opted out of the event due to the possibility of bad weather. In spite of the weather related setbacks, the overwhelmingly positive reception from the town of Hawthorne and the Hawthorne Army Depot, as well as breaks in the weather that permitted outdoor flights, helped make the event was a tremendous success. b. Flight Crew Training In order to conduct research in the national airspace under the Nevada Test Site Certificate of Waiver or Authorization (COA), unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flight operations must follow FAA regulations for visual line of site (VLOS). In addition to a Pilot in Command (PIC), who is designated before a flight, all flight operations must utilize at least one visual observer (VO). The PIC of an aircraft must have a pilot certificate or the FAA-recognized equivalent. The VO is a trained person whose primary responsibility is to improve the safety of the UAV operations by visually identifying obstacles and assisting the UAS pilot in avoiding collisions. pg. 5

7 Hawthorne, Nevada welcomes NAASIC, NIAS, and their corporate partners from across the state. NAASIC is supporting flying operations in Nevada by offering a VO certification training program that has both classroom and field components. Additional training for PICs has been done in the field during actual flight operations. NAASIC has also been encouraged by NIAS to develop a separate Crew Resource Management (CRM) course that would be co-sponsored by the Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority. The VO training course was offered twice during this quarter. A total of 27 students representing 5 academic departments at UNR, the UNR UAS club, TMCC, DRI-Las Vegas, and 6 UAS companies attended the classroom portion at the Innevation Center and another 3 students completed an online version. 23 students have completed the field component of the training and received the VO certification. pg. 6

Successful visual observer training north of Reno, Nevada in November 2015. NAASIC worked with NIAS to train over a dozen new visual observers in industry and academic positions. c.

8 Successful visual observer training north of Reno, Nevada in November NAASIC worked with NIAS to train over a dozen new visual observers in industry and academic positions. c. Education/Outreach NAASIC is teaming up again with the College of Engineering to offer a Summer Camp on Unmanned Autonomous Systems in After meeting with CoE K-12 Outreach Coordinator, it was agreed to broaden the theme of the camp to include both UAVs and robotics. UNR State Extension Specialist and Elko-area Youth Extension Specialist met with NAASIC to explore education/outreach possibilities with 4-H and GEAR-UP. UNR Extension works with high school students in the Elko area to build autonomous robots and small UAS. Several students and their teacher were scheduled to participate in the Drone Zone at Operation Hawthorne Discover, but were unable to due to weather. These students will visit NAASIC in January to fly their drones and meet with Engineering faculty and students. 4-H leaders from across the state came to the Innevation Center in December to meet with NAASIC to discuss incorporating technology and manufacturing into 4-H programs for middle and high school students. d. New Hires NAASIC has finalized the paperwork to hire a postdoctoral researcher who will arrive in January. This postdoc will work jointly with the UAV cluster hires and NAASIC. The Technical Director for NAASIC has been hired and will join the faculty in UNR Electrical and Biomedical Engineering as a tenured professor starting on January 1, NAASIC hired an excellent student worker in October who is an undergraduate in Computer Science with experience building and flying drones. e. Working with UNR to Develop Drone Policy The UNR legal team is presently drafting a Drone Policy that will define regulations for the use of drones on UNR property. NAASIC attended the NACUA virtual presentation on unmanned aircraft on campus and has had follow-up discussions with Bryan Wright. pg. 7

9 4. Commercialization and Partnering Activities NAASIC is currently working with UNR Computer Science professor Jim La to commercialize his work on bridge inspection robots. To this end, NAASIC engineer Richard Kelley is working as senior personnel on a $200,000 grant that La has submitted to turn his bridge-inspecting robot into a commercial product. NAASIC is also working with a number of local and national companies. Details may be found in Appendix 1, but briefly those companies with which NAASIC established or extended its relationship in this quarter are: Cloud Cap, Koch Industries, Flight Research Associates, GC2IT, the Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority, and Airware. 5. Programmatic and Project Changes No significant changes programmatic or project changes took place during the present reporting period. 6. Looking Forward Looking ahead, NAASIC plans to continue exploring both commercial and academic opportunities. In the commercial space, NAASIC plans to use the authority it has received under the FAA test site to expand test flights under NAASIC supervision. The provision of data analysis and post-flight support could provide revenue streams in the near future. As the NUANCE Lab is established and connected to NASA s systems, that connection also represents a possible monetization opportunity. Lastly, NAASIC plans to more aggressively pursue a commercialization plan for faculty research. NAASIC will continue to perform visual observer and crew training, and in the coming quarter will explore monetization strategies for these training events. In a more academic direction, the UAS Cluster Hires in the College of Engineering are working closely with NAASIC. In addition to their efforts, NAASIC is working to direct the efforts of its thrust area leaders to produce more tangible results for NAASIC. NAASIC is currently working on proposals for a number of specific grant opportunities. NAASIC is building a team to submit a proposal for the NSF ESPCoR Track 1 program in FY2017. We are also working with the UNR College of Business Administration to begin coordinating a proposal for the Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership program. We are working with the UNR Archeology department on application concepts for UAVs in archeological research in the United States. pg. 8

Building off of the success of its 2015 operations in Mongolia, NAASIC is currently planning for its next international operations in the second half of 2016.

10 Building off of the success of its 2015 operations in Mongolia, NAASIC is currently planning for its next international operations in the second half of These will take place in Mongolia, and will continue the research efforts begun in Researchers from NAASIC will again join an international team of scientists and engineers to study endangered species in river ecosystems. NAASIC Business Director Warren Rapp flies a NAASIC UAS in Mongolia. NAASIC provided air support to scientists from UNR, Rutgers, and universities from Europe and Asia. NAASIC is currently planning to return to Mongolia in In addition to the EPA/Weston flights planned for March, NAASIC will return to Hawthorne in January 2016 to assist a number of companies with flight testing. With the addition of a Technical Director, NAASIC will solidify its strategy for capitalizing on the above opportunities. We expect that 2016 will be a year of many successes for NAASIC, and for autonomous systems in Nevada. pg. 9

11 Section II: Performance 1. Progress toward Metrics Standard Knowledge Fund Metrics Current Status / Target By 04/28/15 By 04/28/16 By 04/28/17 Companies relocating to Nevada 1 / 1 1 / 3 1 / 5 Startup companies 0 / 0 0 / 1 0 / 3 Jobs created 2 / 10 9 / 32 2 / 36 Intellectual Property Licenses/Options Executed 0 / 0 0 / 1 0 / 3 Intellectual Property Revenue 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / $100k Grants Received $200k / $200k $380 / $500k 0 / $1M Sponsored Research 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 Patents 0 / 0 1 / 1 1 / 3 Students placed with Companies 1 / 1 4 / 5 0 / 8 Impact Faculty Hired 1 / 1 4 / 2 4 / 2 Gifts/Donations to KF Projects 0/2, $0/$20k 1/4,$1k/$100k 0/4, $200k Student Internships 0 / 2 5 / 5 5 / 5 pg. 10

12 2. Project Scorecard Narrative 1. Companies Relocating to Nevada Flirtey moved to Reno and opened an office on the UNR campus, citing the University s strength in autonomous systems development. 2. Start-up Companies No new ventures established at this time. Currently developing plans to create a spinoff company based on NAASIC R&D. The startup is expected to be operational before 04/01/ Jobs Created Alaska UAV has hired two former UNR students (part time) for flight testing. Drone America has sustained five positions due to NAASIC support. Flirtey has hired two UNR alumni in its expansion. 4. Intellectual Property Licenses/Options Executed Nothing to report at this time. 5. Intellectual Property Revenue Nothing to report at this time. 6. Grants Received Money reported includes the $130k to support the State s FAA Test Site in UTM development and $250k to support the State s joint UTM development with NASA. 7. Sponsored Research NAASIC is grouping sponsored projects funding under the grants received item above. 8. Patents Nothing to report at this time. 9. Students placed with Companies - Flirtey hired two UNR graduates. Alaska UAV has hired two UNR students. 10. Impact Faculty Hired Three new UAS faculty hired in College of Engineering. Grant writer has been hired and is working in the center. Technical director has been hired, and starts on January 1, Gifts/Donations to KF Projects - Kaempfer Crowell donated $1,000 dollars to the UNR Drone Zone for the September 2015 Reno Air Races. 12. Student Internships - One intern hired for NAASIC s NASA-related efforts. One intern hired for Alaska UAV; looking into possible second intern hire. Two interns hired for Flirtey. pg. 11

13 Section III: Budget NAASIC Expenditures For Reporting Period October 1 December 31, 2015 Estimate (Year 1) Expenditures Inception to Date June 1, 2014 September 30, 2015 Expenditures Current Period October 1 December 31, 2015 Total Salary & Benefits $ 748, $ 347, $ 189, Equipment $ 196, $ 186, $ 19, Travel $ 25, $ 17, $ Other Direct Costs $ 146, $ 252, $ 72, Graduate Tuition $ 7, $ - $ - Total $ 1,123, $ 804, $ 281, pg. 12

14 NAASIC Income For Reporting Period Month 1 Month 31, 2015 Estimate (Year 1) Income Inception to Date June 1, 2014 September 30, 2015 Income Current Period October 1 December 31, 2015 Grants / Contracts* $ 200, $ 380, $ - Gifts $ 20, $ 2, $ - Cont. ED/ Outreach $ - $ - $ - Other Contributions* $ - $ - $ - Knowledge Fund $ $ - $ - Total $ 220, $ 382, $ - pg. 13

15 Section IV: Weekly/Monthly Logs of NAASIC Activities for Reporting Quarter August 7th 2015 August 14th 2015 August 21st 2015 August 28th 2015 July 3rd, 2015 July 10th, 2015 NAASIC Weekly ReporNAASIC Weekly ReporNAASIC Weekly ReporNAASIC Weekly ReporNAASIC Weekly ReporNAASIC Weekly Repor July 17th, 2015 July 24th 2015 July 31st 2015 September 4th, 2015 NAASIC Weekly ReporNAASIC Weekly ReporNAASIC Weekly ReporNAASIC Weekly Repor pg. 14

16 Section V: Appendices Appendix 1 Sales Pipeline Company Name Company Type Opportunity Type Notes (Progression and Next Step) Prospects - Interest (56-79) Koch Industries Conglomerate Contract Expressed interest in leveraging NAASIC expertise in Qualified - Desire (19-26) Airware Enterprise UAV Contract Cloud Cap Flight Controllers R&D Interested in partnering with UNR for publicly-beneficial research and development. Wants to work with Flirtey and UNR to deploy Piccolo FCU on Flirtey aircraft. Negotiation - Action (7-5) Flirtey Drone Delivery Partnership Continue flying with Flirtey under UNR s delegated COA authority; pursue joint research projects. Flight Research Associates Aerospace Consulting Partnership Co-developing the NUANCE Lab. GC2IT Aerospace Consulting Partnership Co-developing hardware and software for Nevada-NASA partnership. Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority Airport Authority Partnership Co-developing the NUANCE Lab. pg. 15

The Nevada Advanced Autonomous Systems Innovation Center at UNR

The Nevada Advanced Autonomous Systems Innovation Center at UNR Quarterly Progress Report Reporting Period: October 1 st to December 30 th, 2016 December 2016 Table of Contents Project Purpose... 3 Section