Autonomous Patrol and Surveillance System (APSS) – A Student Project to Help Aid the Campus Police

As part of this long term project, undergraduate students design, develop and test various components of the Autonomous Patrol and Surveillance System (APSS). APSS is intended to be an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) system. The mission of APSS is to assist the campus police by patrolling the campus of Southern Polytechnic State University, capturing aerial imagery of the campus and relaying that information live to a ground station at the police department. In this paper, the goals and objectives of the project are discussed. Honors students are involved to help the faculty members conduct the research. Students not only learn the methods for conducting research, ways to seek funding, and ways to solve the complex multidisciplinary problem, but they also develop the interpersonal and communication skills, and learn lessons of time and resource management. This long term ongoing project requires several students to work collaboratively. Some of the challenges and lessons learned during the project are highlighted.