Drone R&D centers – large and small– are popping up everywhere these days.  Most are based on a university campus that houses an established technology institute, sometimes with an airport nearby.  The Florida Institute of Technology (FIT), based in Melbourne, FL, in the heart of the state’s “Space Coast,” and next to the Melbourne/Orlando International Airport, is a prime example.

Since its founding in 2018, FIT’s ATLAS Lab has emerged as a leading center for Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), the industry buzzword that encapsulates a wide range of autonomous drone applications, from precision agriculture to aerial package delivery.  The Institute allows technology companies like Causey Aviation, and its drone partner Flytrex, to refine and showcase their capabilities, with FIT as an incubator and staging area. Flytrex is just one of 5 US drone companies certified by the FAA to fly BVLOS operations nationwide,  The company is currently making aerial deliveries for Walmart in Granbury, TX and three North Carolina towns – and could soon find itself expanding into the Sunshine State.

Some FIT/Atlas drone operations are proprietary to the Institute and are focused on nearby localities.  For example, one of the latest FIT-supported projects is aerial pesticide spraying to eliminate mosquito infestations on farms and residential properties in Brevard County, home to Melbourne.  The drones are spraying larvicide to kill off breeding mosquitoes which carry malaria as well as dangerous viruses like Eastern Equine Encephalitis, which attacks horses but can be fatal to humans as well.  Florida has witnessed its first cases of both viruses in decades and country authorities are on high alert.

Of course, drones aren’t the only tool in the county’s spray arsenal: helicopters and road vehicles are also fanning out to ensure that lakes and ponds that make fertile breeding grounds are covered, too.  But traditional gas-powered vehicles are expensive and can’t reach remote difficult-to-access terrain; drones also work far more quickly and cheaply, while leaving a much smaller carbon footprint.

FIT enjoys a close relationship with the FAA, which has awarded the center a $600,000 grant for in-depth testing of drone aeronautics for urban air mobility vehicles.  At the Space Coast Drone Test Center at Valkaria Airport, FIT researchers are testing the safety and battery power capability of drones with flight plans of various lengths, as well as different ratios of forward and vertical flights. The data will provide insight into the mechanical demands of drones under different operational scenarios and will allow FIT researchers to create models that, in turn, can be tested on drones for various commercial applications.

FIT also enjoys an especially close relationship with commercial airlines and many of its students go on to work in the airline industry.  At some point, the center will begin collaborating with airlines like Delta that are seeking to develop drone air taxis as domestic passenger shuttles.  FIT students and drone companies like Flytrex and Leading Air are likely to be in the forefront of these evolving partnerships.