Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM

Teaching Drones to Stay on Target

Wednesday, January 13, 2016, By News Staff
Share
College of Engineering and Computer ScienceResearch and Creative

Many of us would be lost without Google Maps to help us navigate to our destinations. And many of us have experienced the frustration when low signal strength prevents us from knowing where we are or where we are going. As humans, we have options. We can stop and ask for directions or use our judgment to keep going until we locate a stronger signal.

But what about drones?

An unmanned aerial vehicle, otherwise known as a drone

An unmanned aerial vehicle, otherwise known as a drone

As we move toward living in a world where drones are used for everything from delivering packages to monitoring the health of a remote forested area, there needs to be a way to ensure that drones, regardless of whether they can access a signal, can find their way.

This is the basis for the work being conducted by Professor Amit Sanyal in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in the College of Engineering and Computer Science. His research explores how drones can operate in a GPS-denied environment and under real-life conditions such as wind and rain.

In addition to Sanyal’s lab, Millennium Engineering has provided $40,000 to support the building of a test facility at the Syracuse Center of Excellence. This 30 x 40-foot walled-in area will allow Sanyal to test different scenarios. Rather than programming a route for the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), Sanyal and his team will provide them with waypoints to reach and program the vehicles to navigate around obstacles and through changing conditions to a destination.

The facility is big enough to test single UAVs, teams of UAVs and possibly even ground vehicles that communicate with UAVs.

Amit Sanyal

Amit Sanyal

“Unmanned systems are going to have a very important role to play in society,” says Sanyal. “They will impact multiple facets of life from items like package delivery to monitoring of civilian infrastructure like oil pipelines, bridges and dams. Unmanned systems can also operate in environments that are too hazardous for direct human involvement. For example, unmanned underwater robots can navigate through pipes in a nuclear power plant. Therefore, it will be beneficial if unmanned systems like UAVs are utilized for the betterment of society in collaboration with humans and manned systems. Ultimately, I think UAVs, and unmanned systems in general, will aid us in enhancing the quality of life.”

Sanyal’s master’s degree is from Texas A&M University and his Ph.D. is from the University of Michigan, both in aerospace engineering. In addition, he has a master’s degree in mathematics from the University of Michigan. Prior to joining the college he was a faculty member at New Mexico State University.

  • Author

News Staff

  • Recent
  • Calling All Alumni Entrepreneurs: Apply for ’CUSE50 Awards
    Tuesday, June 24, 2025, By John Boccacino
  • Iran Escalation: Experts Available This Week
    Tuesday, June 24, 2025, By Vanessa Marquette
  • SCOTUS Win for Combat Veterans Backed by Syracuse Law Clinic
    Monday, June 23, 2025, By Vanessa Marquette
  • Syracuse Views Summer 2025
    Monday, June 23, 2025, By News Staff
  • Tiffany Xu Named Harry der Boghosian Fellow for 2025-26
    Friday, June 20, 2025, By Julie Sharkey

More In STEM

Student Innovations Shine at 2025 Invent@SU Presentations

Eight teams of engineering students presented designs for original devices to industry experts and investors at Invent@SU Final Presentations. This six-week summer program allows students to design, prototype and pitch their inventions to judges. During the program, students learn about…

WiSE Hosts the 2025 Norma Slepecky Memorial Lecture and Undergraduate Research Prize Award Ceremony

This spring, Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) held its annual Norma Slepecky Memorial Lecture and Award Ceremony. WiSE was honored to host distinguished guest speaker Joan-Emma Shea, who presented “Self-Assembly of the Tau Protein: Computational Insights Into Neurodegeneration.” Shea…

Endowed Professorship Recognizes Impact of a Professor, Mentor and Advisor

Bao-Ding “Bob” Cheng’s journey to Syracuse University in pursuit of graduate education in the 1960s was long and arduous. He didn’t have the means for air travel, so he voyaged more than 5,000 nautical miles by boat from his home…

Forecasting the Future With Fossils

One of the most critical issues facing the scientific world, no less the future of humanity, is climate change. Unlocking information to help understand and mitigate the impact of a warming planet is a complex puzzle that requires interdisciplinary input…

ECS Professor Pankaj K. Jha Receives NSF Grant to Develop Quantum Technology

Detecting single photons—the smallest unit of light—is crucial for advanced quantum technologies such as optical quantum computing, communication and ultra-sensitive imaging. Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) are the most efficient means of detecting single photons and these detectors can count…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2025 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.