Star Scholars Drone Project

For my second Co-Op I worked as a research assistant as well as led and advised a team of rising sophomores in Drexel’s Mechanical Engineering Department’s Theoretical and Applied Mechanics Group (TAMG). In my role leading and advising the students, I helped in the design, construction, and testing of autonomous swarming drones and their accompanying ground control system. This leadership role included but was not limited to leading, organizing, and guiding the team, helping them structure their work, and scheduling flight tests of the drones. Additionally, I was able to conduct my own research into next-generation ground support systems for autonomous swarming drone fleets using various transmission mediums such as short-range radio waves, Wi-Fi, and unreleased technology from Rajant Corporation which makes portable mesh network modes for industrial drones and other equipment. I also did research into the feasibility of networking drones together using newly emerging 5G technology for the future use of creating drone air traffic control systems for commercial drone swarms.