Working with Airborne Research and Innovation

The normal types of service offered by the facility are:

• Data Acquisition (fully supported operations using manned/unmanned aircraft, or both)
• Equipment Loan (unmanned aircraft, sensors)
• Data Processing (workstation access)
• Training (unmanned aircraft, sensors)
• Technical Development (sensors, unmanned aircraft platforms, integration)
• Consultancy (manned / unmanned aircraft systems, regulatory compliance etc)

... and of course support for teaching programs. If there is anything else we can do for you, please don't hesitate to get in touch.

The facility is owned and operated by the University of Edinburgh, and accessible to all of our staff and students.

We're also very much open to engagement in collaborative work with partners from other Universities, industry, government and other institutions. Please contact us to discuss how we might be able to work together.

Please contact us to discuss your requirements informally before completing any paperwork. We will then send you the applicable Request for Support form to capture the information required to process your request.

When ready, please complete Part One ('Applicant Data' ) of the form, and the applicable sub-part or sub-parts from Part 2 ('Definition of Requirements').

Once complete please return the form to us by email. We will then enter the basic project details on our system and complete the appropriate assessment of feasibility, resources, risk and costs, and liaise with you regarding any issues or suggestions. You will be given a unique project reference number for any correspendance or documentation relating to your work with the facility.

Once all parties are happy with the details, and assuming we have the technical and staff capacity to support the task, the request will be approved and we will proceed to the next stage of supporting your project.

We are obliged to apply charges for facility services, both to cover facility running costs and to ensure the sustainabilty of the University's assets in the longer term.  All facility charges are calculated through College processes which comply with the requirements of the major funding bodies, regulators etc.

To ensure that the facility is accessible to all, substantially reduced student rates are available to both undergraduate and postgraduate students.

For University of Edinburgh staff and students, the latest facility rates are available at the link below; we will of course be very happy to help you work out the details of what you need. Please contact us to discuss your requirements.

Other potential users should please contact us for information on the applicable charges.

Visit the School of GeoSciences Facility Charges page

Some of our jobs - for example providing access to our workstations - are very simple. Others, such as supporting complex multi-instrumented manned and/or unmanned aircraft operations at remote sites overseas, are not simple at all, and require careful and professional project management.

We will always endeavour to provide a proportionate level of project management for our work according to the nature of the task at hand. For more challenging tasks we utilise a basic implementation of the Prime Project Management methodology. This of course is intended to organise the facility's work flow, and not that of the supported research project; it will however facilitate communications and oversight of any areas where the facility and wider reasearch project interface.

Find out more about the Prime Project Management methodology