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: [email protected]
“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.
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