Gordon Brown, the United Kingdom's Finance Minister, today announced the award of up to £500,000 to BAE Systems' research partner, Leicester University, to carry out research in conjunction with leading Indian research institutions.   The grant is awarded by the UK India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI), co-ordinated by the British Council.  The research project aims to develop new control technologies for Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs).   

BAE Systems is one of four ''corporate champions'' helping to sponsor the UKIERI's collaborative education projects between the UK and India, along with BP, GlaxoSmithKline and Shell. This project will draw upon the research capabilities of two countries, establishing stronger links between the research communities which will be important for future collaboration.

Leicester University and BAE Systems will be working in partnership with the Indian Institute of Science at Bangalore, the National Aerospace Laboratories (Bangalore) and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay.   BAE Systems will be bringing its skills in successfully applying knowledge in a commercial environment to contribute to the innovative, cutting edge research that Leicester University and its Indian partners will produce.

The project is titled "Towards Reliable and Smart Air-Vehicles", and aims to develop control technologies for UAVs and micro-satellites to be used in search and rescue scenarios.   The research objectives will involve the design of:

1.      Robust, reconfigurable control systems for UAVs, especially light-weight UAVs.

2.      Fault-tolerant, reconfigurable control systems for micro-satellites.

3.      Distributed coordination strategies for multiple UAVs.

4.      Optimal software and hardware for light-weight UAVs.

5.      Smart structures for airborne actuators and sensors.

The project will also be developing control technologies for high performance piloted aircraft to reduce Pilot Induced Oscillations (PIOs).

A key benefit of this project is that it will help develop autonomous systems which are so vital for Unmanned Air Vehicles.  The research aims to be particularly beneficial in natural disaster situations where, due to potential hazards, it is desirable to deploy UAVs which can identify dangers and then provide full details to command centres for a response.

In addition to supporting University based research through the UKIERI, BAE Systems is also investing in a project linking schools in Bangalore with schools in the UK. In late 2006 teachers from Brough in the UK, where BAE Systems builds the Hawk Advanced JET Trainer (AJT), visited India and met with teachers from Bangalore, where HAL will be also be building HAWK AJT.   Schools from Bangalore and Brough have since started working together on a number of projects.  Younger pupils will be helping each other by sharing cultural materials online that they have produced.  

Activities for older students are to be more focused on science and engineering.  UK and Indian students will be working with BAE Systems and HAL to share information about science and engineering in their respective programmes, as well as closely following the Hawk programmes of both companies in each country.

Shortly, teachers from Bangalore will travel to the UK on a return visit to continue these eductational ties as part of this three year initiative.

Sourced From: Avian Media