http://facebook.com/teamAREND

AREND

Poachers and Rhinos Shall Not Meet!

D e s i g n , b u i l d , a n d t e s t a n

u n m a n n e d s e n s o r a i rc ra f t

s o l u t i o n t o d e t e c t a n d

d i s t i n g u i s h h u m a n s a n d

l a r g e a n i m a l s i n h a rs h

e nv i ro n m e n t s

AREND AREND Sensor UAS

Wildlife conservation needs support

to protect rhinos, elephants, and

other endangered species from cru-

el poaching.

AREND is a sensor aircraft for aeri-

al surveillance specialized for de-

tecting people, large animals, and

specific shapes such as crashed

aircraft. In stark contrast to a UAV

with attached sensors, the AREND

aircraft is an unmanned aerial sys-

tem (UAS) designed from the bot-

tom up to hold select sensors in

modular arrangements. This trans-

lates to higher quality resource

management, efficacy, capability

and versatility, and lower operating

cost.

University of Colorado Boulder

Dept. Aerospace Engineering Sciences

Boulder, Colorado 80309-0429

http://facebook.com/teamAREND

Faculty Lead: jean.koster@colorado.edu

“Aircraft for Rhino and ENvironmental De-fense.” (Arend is Africaans for Eagle)

Martin Harvey Photography

An international student team is collabo-

rating to compete in the Wildlife Conser-

vation UAV Challenge to design, build &

fly an unmanned aerial system (UAS) in

support of anti-poaching operations in

South Africa. This student team is led by

the University of Colorado at Boulder, and

includes teams from Helsinki Metropolia

University of Applied Sciences, Finland,

the University of Pretoria, South Africa,

and the University of Stuttgart, Germany.

Also collaborating with and supporting /

sponsoring this student team is Helios

Torque Fusion, Inc., NIST - the National

Institute for Standards and Technology,

First RF Corp.

of Boulder,

Colorado,

Blue Atmos,

LLC of Den-

ver, Colorado,

Four Winds

Interactive Inc. of Denver, Colorado,

Skysentry Inc. of Colorado Springs, Lock-

heed Martin Corp. of Denver, the Arvada

Modelers club, Cargolux, and many tech-

nology experts from the region.

The sensors to find rhinos or poachers can

also be used cost efficiently to find people

and aircraft lost in the wilderness.

Team AREND

T o p L e v e l R e q u i r e m e n t s * T h e A R E N D a i r c r a f t s y s t e m s h a l l b e

c a p a b l e o f m a n u a l / r a d i o f l i g h t c o n t r o l

w i t h a u t o n o m o u s c a p a b i l i t i e s .

* T h e A R E N D a i r c r a f t s y s t e m s h a l l b e

c a p a b l e o f q u i c k l y d e l i v e r i n g a p a y -

l o a d t o a n y l o c a t i o n w i t h i n i t s s e c t o r ,

s i l e n t l y p e r f o r m i n g a s e a r c h p a t t e r n ,

r e t u r n i n g t o a l a n d i n g a r e a , a n d l a n d -

i n g s a f e l y w i t h i n t h e S o u t h A f r i c a n

p a r k o r r e s e r v e .

* T h e A R E N D a i r c r a f t s t r u c t u r e s h a l l

b e c a p a b l e o f s u p p o r t i n g p a y l o a d s e n -

s o r p a c k a g e s w i t h i n a f i x e d m a s s a n d

v o l u m e . T h e a l l o t t e d s t r u c t u r e a n d

v o l u m e s h a l l b e d e s i g n e d t o a c c e p t a

v a r i e t y o f p a y l o a d m o d u l e s , a n d p a r -

t i c u l a r l y s i z e d t o s u p p o r t t h e l a r g e s t

e x p e c t e d p a y l o a d .

* T h e A R E N D p a y l o a d s h a l l i n c l u d e a

g i m b a l - s t a b i l i z e d v i s u a l c a m e r a s y s -

t e m , c a p a b l e o f c a p t u r i n g q u a l i t y i m -

a g e d a t a t h r o u g h o u t t h e s e a r c h p a t -

t e r n o f t h e f l i g h t m i s s i o n .

* T h e A R E N D p r o j e c t s h a l l i n c l u d e a

g r o u n d s e n s o r n e t w o r k c a p a b l e o f

g a t h e r i n g d a t a r e l e v a n t t o t h e a n t i -

p o a c h i n g e f f o r t a n d r e m o t e l y t r a n s m i t -

t i n g d a t a t o o t h e r g r o u n d s y s t e m s , a i r

s y s t e m s , a n d a c o m m a n d c e n t e r .

AREND

University of Colorado Boulder

Dept. Aerospace Engineering Sciences

Boulder, Colorado 80309-0429

http://facebook.com/teamAREND

Poaching Facts

Rhino poaching statistics show an expo-

nential growth in rhino poaching. With 1004

rhinos killed in 2013 and a population of

about 20,000, the current concern is that

kills are exceeding the birth rate of rhinos.

This is an indisputable sign that the extinc-

tion of rhinos is becoming a very real possi-

bility.

Rhinos are poached for their keratin horns

which are believed to have medicinal value

in Chinese medicine. Elephants are

poached for their ivory tusks which are

made into trinkets and decorative carvings.

Proceeds from poaching finance Al-Qaeda

terrorism and criminal syndicates.