The Autonomous Experimental Robotics and Intelligent Systems (AERIS) Laboratory at NC State University develops theory, algorithms, and systems for autonomous vehicles operating in complex, resource-constrained environments.
Research Focus
Our work spans:
- Real-time cyber-physical systems -- co-regulation of control performance and computational resources
- Multi-agent coordination -- heterogeneous teams of aerial, surface, and underwater robots
- Cooperative control -- formation flight, task allocation, and mission planning
- Field robotics -- sensor emplacement, environmental sampling, and precision agriculture
- Control barrier functions -- safety-critical control for autonomous systems
We emphasize unmanned aerial systems (UAS) with applications in defense, agriculture, environmental monitoring, and Arctic science.
Facilities
The AERIS Lab is housed at NC State and includes:
- A 30' x 30' x 13' indoor flight arena equipped with 12 Vicon MoCap cameras, rubber flooring, wall nets, 6 CCTV cameras, an isolated HVAC system, and experimental rigs for drone testing
- A 4' x 4' "Wind Wall" gust generator with 144 individually controlled fans and max wind speed of ~10 m/s for testing in uncertain environments
- A motion-capture-enabled flying cage (coming online end of summer 2026)
For outdoor testing, we use NC State's Lake Wheeler Road Field Laboratory, a 1,500-acre research farm with:
- A 60-foot communications tower with advanced wireless capabilities and RTK GPS
- A dedicated UAS deployment trailer with vehicle monitoring equipment
- FAA-Recognized Identification Area (FRIA) status for research drone operations without Remote ID broadcast
NC State is a core university partner of ASSURE, the FAA's Center of Excellence for Uncrewed Aircraft System Research. All students involved in field experiments are FAA certified remote pilot license (Part 107) holders.
Robot Inventory
Our fleet includes custom 450-size, 550-size, and FPV drones (approximately 10 comprising our drone swarm), a large heavy-lift drone for aerial insertion of agent drones, a high-altitude (~100 m) tethered drone for atmospheric sensing, and several custom drones outfitted for bridge bolt inspection, leaf cutting, soil sampling, and sensor installation.
Equipment
The lab maintains laser scanners, communication systems, 3D printers, soldering and fabrication tools, an outfitted field lab truck, and a software stack supporting simulation and field deployments.