REQUEST No. 1.1REquEsT FOR AnY COnTRACT bE-TwEEn VCu AnD THE u.s. DEpART-MEnT OF DEFEnsE REgARDIng DROnE REsEARCH

REQUEST No. 1.2REquEsT FOR AnY COnTRACTs bETwEEn VCu’s sCHOOl OF EngI-nEERIng AnD nAsA AnD/OR THE u.s. nAVY REgARDIng AnY RE-sEARCH pROJECTs

REQUEST No. 1.3REquEsT FOR COnTRACTs bE-TwEEn VCu AnD bARROn AssOCI-ATEs, InC.

The CT first reported about VCU’s UAV research lab at the university on Jan. 24, explaining some of the research the lab conducts with model drones. On Feb. 14, The CT followed up after the Students for a Democratic Society created an online petition for more transparency into the university’s drone research.

“Our goal in this campaign is not to close the lab by any means, but to get a statement from VCU about the true intent of the technology,” SDS president Margaret Carmel said in the Feb. 14 story. Carmel also told The CT the group was concerned the research VCU’s drone lab was conducting could ultimately be used in combat.

The CT filed FOIA requests look-ing for more information about drone research at the university. The third request was answered with information about a research agreement between a private Charlottesville firm, Barron Association, Inc., which manages the research work VCU does for the U.S. Navy and NASA.

Barron Associates, Inc. did not return The CT’s phone call or email for more information. The U.S. Navy and NASA were not able to locate more informa-tion about their respective research projects at VCU by the time of press.

VCU’S pROjECT WITh ThE U.S. NAVy:

VCU’s research project for the U.S. Navy is the second part of a project to develop a design for a sonobuoy glide-kit and test the glide-kit. VCU and Bar-ron Associates, Inc. are responsible for creating low-cost navigation software and hardware for the sonobuoys.

Sonobuoys are buoys equipped to detect underwater sounds and transmit them by radio. According to the docu-ments provided by VCU, the project will develop a UAV device that can “achieve precision touchdowns even in presence of unknown wind disturbances.”

The research agreement has allotted $750,000 for this phase of the project.

VCU’S pROjECT WITh NASA:

NASA’s UAV research focuses on dropsonde technology for atmospheric sensing. According to VCU’s UAV lab founder and electrical engineering professor, Robert Klenke, this kind of technology can be used to detect sulfur dioxide levels in volcanic ash plumes to help predict future eruptions.

NASA’s research project focuses on changing the way dropsondes are guid-ed. Currently, dropsondes free-fall when deployed, allowing almost no control and requiring the deployment aircraft to fly close to the target, NASA wrote in its proposal summary, which was VCU’s

response to The CT’s FOIA request.“Adding a guided range capability to

the dropsonde will allow much greater mission flexibility and operation in haz-ardous environments such as volcanic plumes,” NASA wrote in the proposal summary.

NASA uses dropsonde technology for their own research about atmospheric measurements in hurricanes and remote areas like the Arctic and Antarctica. The development of guided dropsondes would allow NASA to collect data from other dangerous environments, like volcanoes.

The summary calls for the creation of a scaled-down model to find a way to

create a guided range capability. The re-search proposal also calls for algorithms to help the guided flight feature.

NASA notes in its proposal summary that other agencies in the country use dropsondes. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Na-tional Center for Atmospheric Research and the U.S. Air Force were agencies NASA listed as other non-NASA ap-plications of the research.

There was no financial information in the documents VCU provided about NASA research. CT

VCU’s UAV lab only uses models of unmanned vehicles. The lab is run by engineering professor Robert Klenke and includes graduate and undergraduate student researchers.

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SUNShINE WEEk 20133