Soton UAV (Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle) laboratory

More Information

About the Soton UAV (Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle) laboratory

The Soton UAV (Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle) research laboratory is a research team based at the University of Southampton consisting of academics, technical staff, post-graduate researchers, and undergraduate students. We are a Triple Helix Unit in alignment with the university’s strategy – we combine education, research and knowledge exchange to benefit the field of autonomous aerial systems and beyond. 

Focusing on our research and enterprise commitment, we design, manufacture and operate uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) from a research and technology demonstration perspective. Many of our systems make use of cutting-edge design methods, state-of-the-art manufacturing techniques and novel applications of technology.  

Design

We design drones as both research platforms and as platforms to carry research equipment. Often this requires a bespoke design or a special interface between the equipment.  

Develop

We develop and manufacture our platforms in-house using state-of-the-art techniques. We also constantly upgrade our designs to ensure they are at the cutting-edge of technology.

Operate

We fly our uncrewed aerial systems to test new designs and to perform research. Although most of our flights are in the UK, we have flown in several remote and challenging locations such as over ice floes in Antarctica and volcanoes in Guatemala. 

Visit the Soton UAV website for more details.

 

For consultancy and collaboration enquiries please see the contact details below. We offer expert advice through our consultancy services which include:

  • technical support
  • platform and systems design and building
  • systems integration
  • flight testing.

Technical specification

Our labs

The UAV education and integration lab on Boldrewood Campus is used by the Soton UAV team to facilitate small scale prototyping, research equipment integration and testing, and student advice sessions on UAV-based projects.

The UAV research lab in the Future Towns Innovation Hub is used to design, manufacture and assemble UAV airframes for research and consultancy projects. 

The UAV education and integration lab

 

Mobile Command Control and Communication (MC3) vehicle 

Our MC3 vehicle is a lab-on-wheels and is equipped to support any field-testing campaign. They are fitted with the necessary ground control station equipment and airspace surveillance systems (virtual radar, VHF air band radio, PTZ camera), allowing flight operations and data analysis to be conducted with ease. 

Mobile Command Control and Communication (MC3) vehicle

 

Research Aircraft

We operate a Vans RV-12 (G-VRRV) as a research aircraft for both research grants and undergraduate projects (group design projects and individual projects). The aircraft was built in 2018, has two seats and a glass cockpit. It is full metal construction.

Research Aircraft G-VRRV

 

Our systems

We design, manufacture, assemble and modify a multitude of different UAV platforms. Often our designs are bespoke to a particular project, or integrate a novel area of research. These include fixed-wing, multirotor, and hybrid configurations and masses ranging from tens of grams to hundreds of kilograms. Read more about our different platforms on the Soton UAV website

 

Our main locations

  • Boldrewood UAV Teaching Lab: Building 176, Room 1043, Boldrewood Innovation Campus
  • Soton UAV Office: Building 176, Room 5013, Boldrewood Innovation Campus
  • Chilworth UAV Research Lab: Building 0214, Room 0/25, Future Towns Innovation Hub, The Engineering Centre, University Parkway, University of Southampton Science Park, SO16 7PT 
     

Contact us

For more information get in touch:
Building 176, Room 5013, Boldrewood Innovation Campus, University of Southampton, SO16 7QF
We are open Monday to Friday 09:00 to 17:00.

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