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

New Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Lab Takes Flight

Monday, April 17, 2017, By Alex Dunbar
Share
College of Engineering and Computer Science
Amit Sanyal piloting drone

Amit Sanyal, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, pilots a drone in the test space at the Syracuse Center of Excellence.

It was a rare opportunity and one that College of Engineering and Computer Science Associate Professor Amit Sanyal and his doctoral student Sasi Prabhakaran G’15 wanted to make the most of. They had the chance to develop open space at the Syracuse Center of Excellence into an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) laboratory.

“It was like creating a lab from scratch,” Sanyal says.

They had plenty of room to breathe and to fly inside a fully customizable space more than 20 feet high.

“We wanted to build something without constraints,” Prabhakaran says. “Sensors won’t give you good results if you are flying at a low altitude.”

Sanyal, Prabhakaran and a team of mechanical and aerospace engineering students designed a large cage where drones could safely fly while being tracked by a series of cameras mounted above. Everything from wiring and acoustics to minimizing structural vibrations was considered as the cage was put together.

“Years of work culminated in this,” says Sanyal.

Right now, the camera-based motion tracking system provides real-time, 3D monitoring of how a drone responds to changing conditions.

“If you want to do something on that scale, you need to have this,” Prabhakaran says.

The UAV lab opened in October 2016 and has been busy from day one.

Mechanical and aerospace engineering students share the lab with teams from the Genius NY businesses accelerator competition. Prabhakaran’s start-up company, Akrobotix, won a $250,000 award in March.

“We want to see them operating here so we can learn from each other,” says Sanyal.

Every UAV system being developed at the lab has its own challenges to solve and gives engineering students a unique opportunity to design solutions.

“Between industry and academic connections—the students can gain a lot,” says Prabhakaran.

While UAV technology has been advancing at a rapid pace, most commercial drone systems still are not able to operate autonomously in high wind or unstable weather conditions. “If the breeze catches it at the wrong angle, it comes crashing down,” Sanyal says.

Sanyal and his research team are developing an auto pilot system that uses specially designed algorithms to go through difficult weather conditions and be more efficient than piloting options currently available for commercial use. “We have built schemes that are inherently robust and stable,” he says.

The new lab also allows Sanyal and his team to bring in fans and create specific air disturbances to test their algorithms. He believes the application they are developing could go far beyond drones and may be used to provide auto piloting for unmanned systems in general.

“Robotic systems are going to be increasingly important,” Sanyal says.

  • Author

Alex Dunbar

  • Recent
  • Newhouse Creative Advertising Students Win Big at Sports and Entertainment Clios
    Friday, May 30, 2025, By News Staff
  • Syracuse University Libraries’ Information Literacy Scholars Produce Information Literacy Collab Journal
    Thursday, May 29, 2025, By Cristina Hatem
  • Syracuse Spirit on Display: Limited-Edition Poster Supports Future Generations
    Thursday, May 29, 2025, By News Staff
  • Timur Hammond’s ‘Placing Islam’ Receives Journal’s Honorable Mention
    Tuesday, May 27, 2025, By News Staff
  • Syracuse University, Lockerbie Academy Reimagine Partnership, Strengthen Bond
    Friday, May 23, 2025, By News Staff

More In STEM

University’s Dynamic Sustainability Lab and Ireland’s BiOrbic Sign MOU to Advance Markets for the Biobased Economy

This month at the All Island Bioeconomy Summit held in Co. Meath, Ireland, it was announced that BiOrbic, Research Ireland Centre for Bioeconomy, comprising 12 leading Irish research universities in Ireland, signed a joint memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Dynamic Sustainability…

Professor Bing Dong Named as the Traugott Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

The College of Engineering and Computer Science has named Bing Dong as the Traugott Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. This endowed professorship is made possible by a 1998 gift from the late Fritz Traugott H’98 and his wife, Frances….

Physics Professor Honored for Efforts to Improve Learning, Retention

The Department of Physics in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) has made some big changes lately. The department just added an astronomy major approved by New York State and recently overhauled the undergraduate curriculum to replace traditional labs with innovative…

ECS Team Takes First Place in American Society of Civil Engineers Competition

Civil and environmental engineering student teams participated in the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Sustainable Solutions and Steel Bridge competitions during the 2025 Upstate New York-Canada Student Symposium, winning first place in the Sustainable Solutions competition. The symposium was…

Chloe Britton Naime Committed to Advocating for Improved Outcomes for Neurodivergent Individuals

Chloe Britton Naime ’25 is about to complete a challenging and rare dual major program in both mechanical engineering from the College of Engineering and Computer Science and neuroscience from the College of Arts and Sciences. Even more impressive? Britton…

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.