REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED

You can still attend this event in-person without registration.

If you wish to attend remotely, the Microsoft Teams links are below. Presentations from 13:00 – 14:10 will be streamed in both Microsoft Teams links per Track simultaneously.

Track 1: Communications, Sensing, and Autonomy: MS Teams link
Track 2: Navigation, Mapping, and Human-System Interaction: MS Teams link

For government users, you may need to join as a guest from the browser rather than the Microsoft Teams app.

Join us to learn about the outputs of recently completed unmanned aerial system (UAS) projects through the HEROES program, a strategic partnership between the University of Massachusetts Lowell and the U.S. Army DEVCOM Soldier Center, which include:

A suite of test methods and metrics for evaluating UAS capabilities for subterranean and constrained indoor environments,
Performance benchmarks of a suite of UAS using these test methods, and
Development of new drone-based wireless sensor networks for increasing situational awareness.

The open session of this event will begin with registration and networking at 12:30, followed by multi-track research briefs and demos from 13:00 – 17:10. The agenda is shown below.

Please e-mail Adam Norton (UMass Lowell) at adam_norton@uml.edu or Joshua Whitney (DEVCOM) at joshua.a.whitney7.civ@army.mil with any questions or if you have issues registering. Parking information will be sent over email prior to the event.

Note: registration is only required for on-site attendance. For remote access, please e-mail adam_norton@uml.edu.

Agenda

12:30 Registration and networking; 3rd floor conference area

13:00 Army UAS Research Overview; Mr. JP Kruszewski, U.S. Army DEVCOM-SC

13:15 HEROES Program Overview; Dr. Christopher Drew, U.S. Army DEVCOM-SC

13:30 UA-1 Project Review: DECISIVE: Development and Execution of Comprehensive and Integrated Subterranean Intelligent Vehicle Evaluations; Mr. Adam Norton, UMass Lowell

13:45 UA-2 Project Review: Drone-Based Wireless Sensor Network for Multimodal Underground Situational Awareness; Dr. Xuejun Lu, UMass Lowell

14:00 UMass Lowell UAS Project Transition; Mr. Adam Norton, UMass Lowell

14:10 Breakout into separate research tracks for UMass Lowell research briefs and discussion:

---

Track 1: Communications, Sensing, and Autonomy

14:20 Test Methodologies to Evaluate UAS Communication and the Effects of Packet Loss in NLOS Indoor Environments; Dr. Jay Weitzen

14:45 Embedding IR Sensors to Increase UAS Situational Awareness; Dr. Xuejun Lu

15:10 Coffee break with UAS demos on NERVE Center 1st floor and basement

15:40 Artificial Intelligence for Image Recognition During UAS Operations; Dr. Yuanchang Xie

16:05 Methods for Combining and Representing Autonomy Ranking Scores of UAS; Dr. Reza Ahmadzadeh

16:30 Characterizing and Evaluating Field Readiness of UAS for Subterranean and Indoor Environments; Mr. Adam Norton

---

Track 2: Navigation, Mapping, and Human-System Interaction

14:20 Evaluation of Indoor Navigation and Obstacle Avoidance and Resilience Capabilities of UAS; Dr. Kshitij Jerath

14:45 Field Testing of UAS Navigation Through Confined Spaces and Apertures; Mr. Adam Norton

15:10 Coffee break with UAS demos on NERVE Center 1st floor and basement

15:40 Test Methods to Evaluate Indoor and Subterranean Mapping Capabilities of UAS; Mr. Adam Norton

16:05 Trustworthy and Safe Human-UAS Interaction for Subterranean Mapping; Dr. Paul Robinette

16:30 Assessing Operator Situational Awareness of UAS for Decision-Support in Subterranean Environments; Dr. Thanuka Wickramarathne

---

16:55 Closing remarks; Mr. JP Kruszewski, U.S. Army DEVCOM-SC and Mr. Adam Norton, UMass Lowell

17:10 Depart

Registrations are closed

Advancing and Evaluating UAS for Defense