UB Builds Massive Outdoor Drone Testing Facility

Photo: Douglas Levere

A new outdoor research facility, dubbed SOAR (Structure for Outdoor Autonomy Research), is nearing completion on UB’s North Campus.

The enclosed netted complex will allow faculty, students and industry partners to conduct experiments on uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs), which are more commonly known as unmanned aerial vehicles or drones.

Chase Murray, assistant professor of industrial and systems engineering, secured a $393,000 grant from the Office of Naval Research’s Defense University Research Instrumentation Program to support the facility’s construction. At slightly more than half an acre and 86 feet tall, SOAR is believed to be the third-largest outdoor, enclosed drone-testing facility in the nation.

Chase Murray, assistant professor of industrial and systems engineering

Because it is enclosed, and thus considered an indoor flight facility, researchers will not be subject to Federal Aviation Administration rules when testing UAVs. Researchers will use the facility to explore unmanned vehicle research focused on drone deployment optimization, autonomous vehicle fleet management, and prototype testing research to support applications in agriculture, homeland security, product service delivery, wildfire monitoring, and bridge/building inspections.

The facility will also be a resource for undergraduate and graduate students who study robotics and computer vision. Additionally, it will benefit Western New York companies interested in using the complex to test UAV hardware. For more information, contact Chase Murray at cmurray3@buffalo.edu.

The 24,000-square-foot research facility, SOAR (Structure for Outdoor Autonomy Research), is believed to be the third-largest outdoor, enclosed drone-testing facility in the nation.

Photo: Douglas Levere