![]() The dandelion-inspired drone design includes sensors for heat, gas and pressure, plus the ability to send information back to its parent drone and thin strips of solar panels. The lava tubes could potentially be an area where future Mars explorers live below the planet’s harsh surface. Hassanalian and his students have worked on drone designs that could be released on the Martian surface to explore lava tubes, which NASA’s rovers cannot enter. “About half of my research is drones for planetary exploration,” Hassanalian said. The drones have flapping wings and are made with taxidermy birds so that herds of animals could be observed aerially without being disturbed. You can see, there’s multiple webcams inside.”Īll of these features have made the drone cage useful for research, including for wildlife monitoring drones that Hassanalian and some of his students have been working on. Through the internet, you can get connected to this cage. So, you will be able to fly drones online. “All those red cameras, two black boxes, there are four of these ultrasonic sensors, so it’s a sound-based tracking system. ![]() “So, this cage is equipped with three tracking systems,” Hassanalian said. ![]() The top of a dandelion seed-inspired drone. Heat can be created in the drone cage and the intensity of light changed. The drone cage is equipped with laser lights and fog machines to visualize airflow patterns, along with fans that can be programmed to create any wind pattern. The indoor cage makes it simpler for students to learn to fly drones, as no license is needed to fly in the enclosed indoor space. Flying a drone outdoors requires training and licensing. The lab is equipped with a drone test flight cage that allows students to fly drones from home. The library is trying to move toward more modularity and potentially add more lab spaces. “We’re thankful to have Mostafa here with us,” Skeen Librarian David Cox said. Along with drones of all types and a test flight cage, the lab also has VR technology. University President Stephen Wells secured funding to create the space. The Skeen Library drone research lab, formerly the library’s donkey head room named for a massive art piece that still resides on one wall, is a collaboration between the library and Hassanalian. Along with teaching undergraduate and graduate students, he collaborates frequently on research with other Tech professors and scientists at other universities. Hassanalian has built New Mexico Tech’s drone program from the ground up since he joined the university. “It means how we can learn from nature, which has been evolved for millions of years, to enhance and increase the efficiency of different robotic systems or drone systems.” The Tech professor’s research area is drone technology and biomimicry. ![]() The drone research laboratory is one of five drone labs at Tech run by Mostafa Hassanalian. There are drones designed to explore the lunar surface, to conduct research on Mars, drones disguised as flapping birds meant for wildlife research, and even drones without any wings at all-designed to mimic the movement of dandelion seeds and jellyfish. In a second-floor room of the Skeen Library at New Mexico Tech’s campus is a laboratory full of experimental drones. Cathy Cook | El Defensor Chieftain photos New Mexico Tech professor Mostafa Hassanalian holds up a drone designed for wildlife monitoring.
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