(GTRI: Atlanta, GA) -- A research team at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is developing an airborne testing capability for sensors, communications devices, and other airborne payloads. This aerial test bed, called the GTRI Airborne Unmanned Sensor System (GAUSS), is based on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) made by Griffon Aerospace and modified by GTRI.

“Developing new sensor technologies that can be effectively employed from the air is a priority today, given the rapidly increasing use of unmanned aircraft,” says Michael Brinkmann, a GTRI principal research engineer who is leading the work. “Given suitable technology, small UAVs can perform complex, low-altitude missions effectively and at lower cost. The GAUSS system gives GTRI and its customers the ability to develop and test new airborne payloads in a rapid, cost-effective way.”

The current project includes development, installation, and testing of a sensor suite relevant to many of GTRI’s customers. This suite consists of a camera package, a signals intelligence package for detecting and locating ground-based emitters, and a multichannel ground-mapping radar.

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