Unmanned Systems Lab
The mission of Unmanned Systems Lab (USL) at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) is to advance the foundational understanding of robotic systems and their collaboration with humans to address intelligence, effectiveness, safety, reliability, and interoperability. As one popular lab at UTSA, USL hosted 30+ lab tours with 400+ visitors from industrial companies, national labs, funding agencies, university guests, and K-12 students. Students in USL have conducted innovative work in research, development, and community engagement. A student group at USL, called Modi-Fly, developed one of the most cost-effective open-source drone research and education platforms using 3D-printed parts. The technology innovation to address essential drone needs helped Modi-Fly won the best Engineering Design Award (the highest award) and the Entrepreneur Award (https://esdshowcase.org/2022-award-winners/) during the 2022 Excellence in Senior Design Showcase, an annual competition for institutions from Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. In 2024, Modi-Fly was selected to participate in the DoD NSIN Emerge Accelerator program (https://nsin.mil/news/2024-01-18-emerge-accelerator/).
USL is currently directed by Dr. Yongcan Cao, who is currently a Professor and Assistant Chair of Research in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Dr. Cao's primary research focuses on robotics, autonomy, artificial intelligence, multi-agent systems, and human-robot interaction. He currently serves as the Chair of the IEEE Technical Committee on Manufacturing Automation and Robotic Control, Member of IoT Technical Community Steering Committee, an Associate Editor for Automatica, and has served as an Editorial Board Member for IEEE Control Systems Society and IEEE Robotics and Automation Society. Dr. Cao is a recipient of Microsoft President’s Endowed Fellow, Advancing Next-Gen Faculty Leadership Fellow, Margie and Bill Klesse Faculty Fellow, President's Distinguished Achievement Award in Research Achievement, College of Engineering Excellence in Teaching Award and Service Award, AFOSR Summer Faculty Fellow, and National Research Council Research Associateship Award at AFRL.
Check out Dr. Cao's citation summaries at Google Scholar.