Muscat: The College of Engineering at Sultan Qaboos University
(SQU) will organize the first of its kind in the region international
conference on unmanned vehicle systems or drones
next week.
The conference will be held from
February 5 to 7.
Highlighting the importance
of this conference, Dr Ahmed bin Saeed al Maashari, assistant professor, department
of electrical and computer engineering and automated systems, said, this
vehicle is not limited to military purposes.
“A roving robot can be used
to clean houses without human intervention, while an unmanned aircraft and
remotely guided drones can be used by amateur photographers effectively to take
pictures.
Drones can be also used in
disaster-stricken areas for search and rescue operations.”
He said the vehicles
can be classified many ways – A wireless remote control to steer an unmanned
aircraft, self-driving cars.
The second type is the most difficult in terms of development and
implementation because the vehicle relies on a complex set of Artificial
Intelligence systems.
There is also a classification of vehicles that can be used for in sea, subsea,
atmosphere and space.
“Unmanned vehicles may be also for various civilian and military purposes such,
imaging, topography, ocean exploration, air defense, missile guidance and mine
detection, he said.
An unmanned aerial vehicle is equipped with a specialized camera for
geo-surveys, or a ground vehicle may be equipped with a remote automatic
sampling arm.
In its first session, the conference seeks to introduce unmanned vehicle systems
and their uses. It also aims to encourage interaction between those interested
in this field and to discuss ways of cooperation between different parties
interested in these techniques.
Al Maashari said, “There
is a need to raise awareness about these systems and their use for multiple purposes.
The economic benefits expected from these systems should also be defined.”
He said there is a need to
encourage students of schools and universities to participate in robotics and
unmanned vehicle competitions to spread the knowledge of these systems.
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