daniel fitzgerald

* Accepted the role of CTO this year, driving IMR's technical strategy and projects in USA and Asia for highest-quality lowest-latency wireless streaming for next generation displays, mixed reality devices (xR * VR, MR, AR) through future networks * 802.11ad/ay & 5G.

IJUSEng is the first journal exclusively dedicated to unmanned systems engineering. The journal promotes the advancement of the applied science, technology and operation of unmanned systems through the dissemination of original research representing significant advances in the design, development, testing and operation of autonomous systems. IJUSEng provides a platform for authors and researchers for communicating their latest findings, ideas and methods at the forefront of technology in the field of unmanned systems engineering.

Sitting on the committe of AUVS Australia, a newly formed chapter of AUVSI

UAV Vision is an Australian (NSW) based technology company, specialising in products for the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) community. In particular, UAV Vision has developed a number of gyro stabilised Daylight, UV and Infra-Red camera gimbal systems that can be mounted not only on UAV's, but also on manned aircraft, ground vehicles, marine vehicles and any other platform that requires a stabilized camera system. Further to the camera gimbals, UAV Vision offers a range of accessories that offer customers completed end-to-end systems for a large number of applications. In the 2.5 years I worked for UAV Vision I significantly grew their worldwide presence through re-design and deployment of the company website, marketing materials and product line. I was solely responsible for all deals into the company in this period, handling all clients and sales. The role also included significant travel world wide, meeting with many clients and closing many large deals for the company.

Full time permanent role as the head of all avionics research and development for the company. Through my time here, I built up a specialist team of Mechatronics engineers, computer science specialists and other university students. The team I managed was approximately 10 people. The specifics of the role was to head up the in-house development of the complete avionics system onboard the UAV aircraft (autopilot, power systems, engine management, communications), as well as all ground control systems to interface to the UAV (user interfaces, configuration, flight control, communications). This included the complete specification of the entire project – project management plan (budgets, timelines and personnel), presentations for securing funding for the project, hiring and managing personnel, and the specification, design and flight testing phases of the project. The project is ongoing. Other duties included writing reports for the company to gain R&D tax refunds equating to hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.

Full time employment as a research scientist. The main objective of the project I was involved with was to develop a dependable mini helicopter system for civilian inspection and search tasks close to obstacles. These operations are to be performed by one operator, beyond line of sight, in common airspace and in typical Queensland weather conditions. Typical inspection and search task applications include: Power line inspection; Structural inspection (eg: cooling tower inspection); and Disaster assessment and search of victims. Incorporating dependable autonomous on-board subsystems with suitable perception and control capabilities reduces the number of operators, relaxes the requirements on communication links, and enables to fly safely in common airspace. The CSIRO helicopter system will enable future missions to be more effective and efficient. Duties here involved autonomous hardware and software development for the UAV helicopter, vision tracking algorithms, development of a complete ground operation station, flight testing, flight testing regulations, OH&S policies etc.

I am the sole director of this company that has been operating since 2003. The current focus for the company is as an engineering consulting and investment company. AeroSys has been conducting R&D research into automated trading algorithms for 7+ years, focusing on high liquidity markets such as currencies. AeroSys is currently partnering with a number of companies and individuals to develop and backtest several complex trading strategies. Through this work we will be involved with and/or partnering with several start-up investment funds moving forwards. In previous years the main purpose of the company was developing and promoting an aircraft maintenance program for use with manned aircraft and UAVs. This system is in use by a number of Australian and overseas aircraft maintenance companies and this number continues to grow. View more information here: http://www.aerosys.com.au

First Class Honors, Minor in Systems Engineering

This research project investigates the feasibility of automating the emergency forced landing procedure. The technology that we have developed can be used on manned aircraft also, such as providing information on possible landing sites for pilots placed in emergency scenarios. This research is critical to allow UAVs to fly in civilian airspace above populated areas in case of unforseen emergencies. Human pilots are trained in this skill and we believe that it is a fundamental capability that UAVs must have. The technology can also add in an extra level of safety for piloted aircraft also - a forced landing is something that all pilots must train for, but something that very few practise until faced with the emergency. See here for more information: http://www.aerosys.com.au/uav_forced_landings/