Dynamic and Active Systems Lab
We design self-reliant engineered systems — drones, sensors, energy harvesters and actuators — and take them out of the lab and into the field, from wildlife telemetry to infrastructure inspection.
journal and conference publications on the lab's research.
lab alumni, now at places like Apple, Blue Origin, Sandia and MIT Lincoln Laboratory.
the year NSF funding began for UAV-RT, the lab's drone-based wildlife telemetry system.
countries where lab-built drones have tracked wildlife in the field.
Engineering systems that work outside the lab.
The Dynamic and Active Systems Lab is located in the mechanical engineering department at Northern Arizona University. We specialize in self-reliant systems, energy harvesting, UAV drone operation, bio-inspiration, and the integration of engineering systems and biology.
Students in the lab design, build and fly real hardware — and work directly with biologists, utilities and industry partners who use it.
What we're working on
UAV-RT wildlife telemetry
Drones that find radio-tagged animals faster and farther than ground crews — deployed in the US, New Zealand, Zimbabwe and the UK.
Drone IR leak detection
Thermal drone surveys that flag buried water-pipe leaks for Salt River Project and the City of Phoenix.
Energy harvesting for wildlife
Vibration and solar power for bio-loggers, tested on flying birds and migrating elephant seals.
Twisted polymer actuators
Low-cost, high-power artificial muscles made from drawn, twisted and coiled polymers.
UAV-RT: drone-based wildlife radio telemetry
Developed in this lab and funded by the National Science Foundation since 2016, UAV-RT puts the radio receiver on a drone. Biologists keep using the same lightweight VHF tags — the drone recovers weak signals a ground team would miss, from a safe distance in the air.
Supported by NSF and field partners worldwide
UAV-RT has been continuously funded by the National Science Foundation since 2016 (awards #1556417 and #2104570). Our leak-detection work is carried out with Salt River Project and the City of Phoenix.
