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University students anxiously watch as unmanned aerial vehicles they designed take off, land and sometimes crash in a mock battlefield at a drone testing field in southwest Taiwan.
University students anxiously watch unmanned aerial vehicles they designed take off, land and occasionally crash in a mock battlefield at a drone testing field in southwest Taiwan.
They are participating in a contest that supports Taiwan’s endeavours to increase its own drone manufacturing.
In an effort to strengthen a more flexible defence against a possible Chinese attack, Taipei is increasing its investment in unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, as Beijing continues to exert military pressure on the island.
Throughout the conflict, both Russia and Ukraine have made extensive use of UAVs for surveillance and targeting targets located far behind frontlines.
Drone companies may adopt and the government may purchase the UAVs used in the National Defence Application UAV Challenge.
The competition organiser, Jan Shau-Shiun, a professor in the space systems engineering department at National Cheng Kung University, stated, “We can see drone applications in many current conflicts happening around the world.”
“We want to improve our drone capabilities based on this theme because Taiwan is in a position where we might also encounter such a problem.”
China has not renounced the use of force to subjugate Taiwan, which it claims as part of its territory.
The competition, which is in its second year, took place at the Asia UAV AI Innovation Application R&D Centre in Chiayi County last month over two days.
Twenty teams from across Taiwan gathered to put their drones to the test. Before the winner is announced the following year, the field will be reduced to a shortlist this month for another challenge.
Drones with multiple rotors and fixed wings had to fly on their own for at least 60 metres (about 200 feet) in order to photograph a distant target and return to base in ten minutes.
This year’s organisers used a jammer to interfere with satellite signals to the UAVs, making it more difficult for them to stay in the air. This made the scenario more realistic and challenging.
Jan stated, “We can observe from watching the war in Ukraine and other conflicts that there is frequently interference on the GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) prior to any fighting.”
“Hands-on skills”
Teams anxiously watched as their UAVs took off after putting in endless hours designing and constructing them with assistance from nearby drone or electronic component companies.
Due to the jamming, some drones crashed or were unable to reach the necessary height.
The 24-year-old Cheng Yong-jen exhaled with relief as the drone he assisted in designing lifted off, flew into the sky, and came back safely.
Cheng, who is a graduate student at National Formosa University, stated, “It crashed, we repaired, it crashed again, and we repaired again.”
“When the drone finally descended, I was in tears.”
Lead judge Lin Chun-Liang, an electrical engineering professor at National Chung Hsing University, claimed that the competition assisted students in gaining “hands-on skills” that are not taught in the classroom.
As it rushes to improve its military capabilities, Taiwan is investing hundreds of millions of dollars to purchase and develop drones as well as to develop local talent to work in the industry.
Making Taiwan “the Asian hub of unmanned aerial vehicle supply chains” is a goal that President Lai Ching-te has committed to.
However, it is difficult to retain employees in Taiwan, where the sizable semiconductor industry can pay top graduates more.
Cheng insisted that “this is the path we must take” and stated that he intended to work for a drone company after completing his master’s thesis on defence drones.
Cheng asserted that “we cannot stop moving forward just because we are behind others.”