Boost for brains behind eyes in the sky

Dr Mohammad Jarrah, a professor of mechanical engineering, shows off an unmanned aircraft.

Miniature planes that could help find missing people, detect drug traffickers or keep an eye on road conditions are being developed in Sharjah. The unmanned planes are being fast-tracked after a grant from the Emirates Foundation, announced this week. Dr Mohammad Jarrah, a professor at the American University of Sharjah, is perfecting navigational devices to control them. An on-board computer has co-ordinates called waypoints to which the planes are programmed to travel.

"We basically build the brain of the aircraft," he said. "We want them to go to these waypoints while maintaining speed, altitude and stability. "You can say you want the aircraft to go to this shopping mall and the next shopping mall, and take a picture there, and then to go to some other place. You mark them on a map and the aircraft will go through these waypoints." Two weeks ago an aircraft was sent to a waypoint using an early version of the technology.

Dr Jarrah is improving the computer codes that control the aircraft, and fine-tuning its global-positioning sensors. Video cameras will be added later. The Dh200,000 Emirates Foundation grant is supplemented by university funds. "Unmanned aerial vehicles were initially developed for military purposes, but nowadays there are a lot of civilian applications," Dr Jarrah said. "You can use them to monitor motorway systems, trafficking across borders or power lines. They could be used for a wide spectrum of applications when you want a bird's-eye view."

Police could use the planes to spot traffic jams or accidents. Oil companies might operate them to monitor remote wells. "You want to know what's going on and protect them against attacks," said Dr Jarrah, head of the department of mechanical engineering. "It would let you know if there are problems or if people are close and their behaviour is not proper." Small aircraft using the technology Dr Jarrah works on would cost between US$30,000 and US$50,000 (Dh110,000-Dh184,000), depending upon their sophistication, but the technology could be extended to larger aircraft.

James Falchetto, the managing director of Traks Pro, a Ras al Khaimah-based company involved in search and rescue operations, said unmanned air vehicles had many advantages. "You can cover more ground, which is what is really important," he said. "Here, just finding a victim can be like looking for a needle in a haystack. "Also, it's better to use an object rather than to use somebody. If the person injures themselves, then you have more victims in an already complex situation."

The Emirates Foundation's grants to the American University of Sharjah total Dh1.6 million. Six science and technology projects share Dh1 million, while the remaining Dh600,000 is split between three applied science education and Emirati youth initiatives. Dr Abdul al Fahim, the Emirates Foundation's senior executive adviser for science and technology, said the research projects showed scientific merit and originality.

"The research grants are consistent with the foundation's objective and plan to support and sustain research programmes of the highest possible quality," he said. Prof Jim Mienczakowski, head of higher education at Abu Dhabi Education Council, said it was important for the nation's universities to engage in research and become "knowledge producers" instead of consumers. "Knowledge creation sets the leading universities apart," he said. "Universities engaged in knowledge creation can produce surprising outcomes. This development of pilotless aircraft will no doubt have local relevance as well as being an indicator of a maturing research environment.

"If people are producing knowledge it's good for the reputation of higher education in the Emirates and it's good to have the rest of the world realise we are going to produce knowledge." The American University of Sharjah was founded in 1997 and has about 5,000 students, about a fifth of them Emiratis. [e-mail]