As melting sea ice makes it easier for ships to enter Arctic waters and geopolitical interest in this region grows, defending Canada’s northern border has become a key federal priority.
But patrolling such a vast and remote area isn’t easy. That’s where unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) could play a big role in safeguarding Arctic sovereignty. By providing timely and accurate information on the movement of vessels and aircraft, they could address long-standing surveillance gaps across the region.
Today, robotics engineering researcher Melissa Greeff is building a new generation of drones capable of navigating autonomously in those kinds of harsh, remote environments.
Supercharging surveillance drones
At the Robora Lab, housed at the Ingenuity Labs Research Institute at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont., Greeff oversees a dozen graduate and undergraduate students. Some are working on laptops debugging software or tinkering with the latest prototype. Others are doing field tests in the skies above Kingston.
“We’d like to be able to push the limit as far as we can go,” she says.
One of the biggest constraints they face is limited UAV battery life, especially in remote settings where recharging infrastructure is scarce. So Greeff and her team are developing systems to safely land drones on robotic charging platforms floating at sea, rather than returning all the way to base.
They’re using extremely lightweight onboard sensors to reduce the payload. And to equip the UAV to navigate autonomously, they’re developing control algorithms that are as computationally efficient as possible, so the onboard computer doesn’t drain too much battery power.
Better control algorithms are crucial in the high winds and challenging conditions of the Arctic. That means not simply improving how UAVs react to their surroundings but predicting what’s ahead. “We actually have to take the data that we’re collecting while we’re flying and use that,” Greeff explains.
And while most research in this field relies on simulation, the Robora team is putting UAVs through their paces in real-world settings to ensure they can handle tough environments.
“There’s a really big gap between simulation and the Arctic,” says Greeff. “Part of bridging that gap is to field test the algorithms that we’re developing.”
According to Greeff, her work simply wouldn’t have been possible without CFI funding, which paid for sophisticated robotic platforms, data storage and sensors. “There’s no way to do this research without this equipment,” she says.
The sky’s the limit
UAVs are playing an ever-larger role in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance around the world. By 2032, experts expect the market for military drones will grow nearly three-fold — from US$16 billion to US$47 billion — driven largely by these applications.
The same unmanned aircraft can also be used for search-and-rescue, disaster relief and the delivery of life-saving medical supplies in war zones.
By making them resilient and adaptable enough to handle the unforgiving environment of Canada’s Arctic, Greeff’s research ensures the next generation of UAVs will be able to take on even the toughest missions.
The research project featured in this story also benefits from funding from Mitacs and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
