PROVO — Drones have become an ally to industries like agriculture and law enforcement for surveillance and information gathering. But what happens when drones fly into an area with little-to-no GPS signal? BYU’s engineering department is attempting to solve that problem.
Drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), have many uses. UAVs with cameras can be used for landscape photography and videography. They are used in farming to measure weather conditions and topography. The military uses drones for surveillance.
Drones are controlled mostly by GPS, but when most drones fly into areas with poor GPS signals, they have a high chance of crashing. Most drones will just stop flying and immediately land without a signal, according to Skycatch, a drone imaging processing platform.
In order to make drones more accessible and useful, BYU engineering department personnel are testing UAVs that can operate without a GPS signal.