FAA says OK to flying drone at MU research center

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Federal officials have signed off on university-backed drone research in Missouri.

The Federal Aviation Administration granted an application to use airspace at the University of Missouri's Wurdack Research Center for research and economic development projects, the Columbia Daily Tribune reported. The 1,200-acre center is 45 minutes southeast of Rolla, along the Meramec River.

Dusty Walter, superintendent of the school's research center, said he was contacted by the Missouri University of Science and Technology and Saint Louis University's aviation program about "how great the air space is" at Wurdack. He said they asked if they could collectively apply for a waiver from the FAA to use the airspace with a specific unmanned aircraft system, or drone, provided by SLU.

"There is certainly a keen interest in using what you would call a UAS, or drone, because it gives you a different perspective on the landscape, and you can use different lenses to look at plants or address cattle and their movements," Walter said.

Walter said a number of organizations are interested in utilizing the technology for research, including computer software developers and companies that work with photo lenses. Some of that engineering work is also of interest to partners from Missouri S&T.

Damon Lercel, assistant research professor at Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology at SLU, said the specific drone being used at Wurdack is the Maveric, which weighs 2.6 pounds and has a 29.5-inch wingspan. It is made by Prioria Robotics of Gainesville, Florida.

Lercel said SLU was looking for a place to fly the drone "in order to conduct research on it," and that a partnership with MU made perfect sense because the application required involvement from a public institution.

"They wanted to do some research in aerospace, engineering and agriculture, and we obviously want research in engineering and safety-related aspects of drones, so we connected," Lercel said.