Wireless signal jamming, spoofing, and other techniques hinder the operation of unmanned aircraft systems. These are the threats that the researchers are trying to combat while crafting an ideal unmanned aircraft drone to conduct critical operation of any security concern of the government, but it was easy for the enemies to hack the system and create obstructions. To fight cyber attacks, researchers took a step forward to improve the facilities and developed countermeasures by creating deliberate hindrances on their own drones for a better understanding of the situation. To continue with this experimentation without any interruption, the George J. Kostas Research Institute for Homeland Security in Burlington, Massachusetts established a netted enclosure to test the drones.
Northeastern University launched an ‘octocopter’ drone, a brand-new flight facility for unmanned autonomous systems and it was put on test in the drone cage which is five stories tall and is 150 by 200 feet to fly different drones of two research groups simultaneously and also devoid from the restrictions implicated by the Federal Aviation Administration. This chamber was used to imitate the hostile environment of enemy territory to take preventive measures beforehand. The indoor space was completed in 2018 and included unique facilities with a custom-built anechoic chamber which is designed to absorb electromagnetic waves to allow the creation of “an arbitrary wireless environment”. According to Matthew T. Kling, senior research engineer and scientist at the Kostas Research Institute this was a huge upgrade as the researchers finally received a broader enclosure than that of their empty classrooms.
Several labs and companies tested their new unmanned aircraft in the enclosure. For instance, Aurora Flight Sciences, a company within the project portfolio of Defence Innovation Unit Experimental, an organisation within the Department of Defence introduced its ‘octocopter’ drone in the netted facility. Jerome Hajjar, CDM Smith Professor and chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Taskin Padir, associate professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Northeastern University developed drones to ensure the safety of buildings and bridges after any damage or disaster.
Rubena Bose