In the PaAVS lab, we seek to understand and improve upon autonomous descent vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicles.  Current work is broken down into three categories:  parachute-related research, parafoil-related research, and multirotor UAS research.


Parachute research is investigating the use of reversible reefing as a means of controlling the payload landing location.  In pursuit of that system, a load distribution measuring system is currently being developed.


Autonomous parafoil research is focused on high-altitude deployments in particular.  Due to the extremely low air density at deployment altitudes exceeding 100,000 feet, careful modifications must be made to both the hardware and software.


Current multirotor related research is focused on the development and testing of a variety of multirotor systems for use in a wide variety of fields.  Work at UMKC is specifically targeting improvements to testing methods.

Parachute and Aerial Vehicle Systems (PaAVS) Laboratory

Travis Fields, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Mechanical Engineering