Unmanned Aerial Systems

University of Alaska Fairbanks via edX Professional Certificate

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Provider

edX Professional Certificate
Pricing

$498.00
Languages

English
Certificate

Certificate Available
Level

Intermediate

Found in

Overview

The Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS): Comprehensive Program offers an in-depth exploration of UAS technology and its applications across various industries. This program is divided into two courses designed to provide you with a complete education in UAS, from fundamental principles to practical flight operations and data processing.

Course 1: Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS): Fundamentals
This course introduces you to the fundamentals of UAS, covering the history, terminology, and types of platforms. You will learn about the components necessary for UAS operation, including configurations, electronics, propulsion, and controls. The course also explores a variety of sensors integrated into UAS and their applications. Through interactive activities and quizzes, you will gain a solid understanding of UAS technology, preparing you for more advanced topics.

Course 2: Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS): Operations
Building on the foundational knowledge, this course delves into the practical aspects of UAS operations. You will learn how to plan and execute successful UAS missions, considering logistics, safety, regulations, and data acquisition. The course also covers flight planning for the goal of producing orthomosaics and digital elevation models using Structure from Motion (SfM) software. By the end of this course, you will be proficient in both flight planning and operations, and ready to apply your skills in real-world scenarios.

Syllabus

Courses under this program:
Course 1: Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS): Fundamentals

Learn the fundamentals of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) including terminology, types of platforms, flight physics, and selection of UAS for specific needs and applications.

Course 2: Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS): Operations

Dive into the applications of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for research, industrial, surveying, emergency response, and commercial purposes. Learn flight planning, the basics of flying, and how to process data to make useful products.

Courses

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4 weeks, 4-6 hours a week, 4-6 hours a week
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The use of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) has taken off in recent decades and are used for research, industrial, surveying, emergency response, risk management, real estate, and commercial purposes. They combine sophisticated flying platforms such as fixed-winged planes and copters with payloads of sensors that range from optical cameras to air quality sensors. New jobs dependent on UAS are burgeoning across a wide array of industries in addition to aerospace.

In this free, self-paced online course, you examine the types of platforms available to most consumers and industry users and will understand the principles and characteristics of how they fly.

The course comprises three modules, each lasting one week. The course kicks off with the basics of UAS including the history of the technology, principles of flight, and introduce the terminology used.

Next, you will learn about the components that are needed for the platform to function, such as the structure, electronics, propulsion, controls, navigation, and sensors.

The third section will examine the wide variety of sensors commonly integrated into an UAS and how they are used for a variety of applications. These include optical cameras, LiDAR, thermal, as well as less commonly used sensors like radar and air quality sensors. You will have an opportunity to build your own UAS through interactive activities. Finally, coursework focuses on what combination of platform and sensor(s) will work the best for your particular needs.

Ungraded knowledge tests and quizzes throughout the course and a hands-on UAS design activity provide the opportunity to apply the concepts in the course to your interests and context within a real-world scenario.

This course prepares you for a career beyond just a drone pilot and provides a fundamental understanding of the technology to allow your career to soar. Sign up today and gain new skills at your own pace!
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4 weeks, 4-6 hours a week, 4-6 hours a week
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Choosing the UAS that works best for your needs is just the start of a successful survey. A successful survey must be carefully planned, safely executed, and processed correctly. In this course you will learn the theory, and practice the application of mission planning, conducting flights, and working with the data that is collected. In the first section you will learn how to plan a mission for a UAS flight, and the many considerations you must take into account including logistics, permissions, determining the area of interest, setting the flying height and flight paths, among many other factors.

In the next section, you will learn some of the basics of flying. While each platform will have its own set of procedures and protocols for it to fly, there are some basics that will apply for a large majority of aircraft. Here you will learn about flight safety, common regulations and rules, roles of the personnel on the ground, and hear about some accidents and lessons learned from others.

The last section will take a deep dive into the processing of optical images taken from UAS to derive orthomosaics and digital elevation models (DEMs) using Structure from Motion (SfM) software. SfM is now used across disciplines for industrial, commercial, and research applications. You will learn the basics of the technology, and work with a sample dataset to construct your own products.