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University of Maryland MATRIX Lab Director of Test and Evaluation of Autonomous Systems Dr. Donald “Bucket” Costello will be presenting as a keynote speaker at the 2026 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS). The conference is dedicated to addressing challenges in unmanned aviation. It focuses on topics related to unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), and aerial robotics systems with an emphasis on bridging technical, regulatory, and legal communities for UAS integration.
The paper Dr. Costello is presenting focuses on a case study of a mishap with an unmanned military helicopter, and the lessons it taught about research, development, testing, and evaluation. “CAT-A Ground Test to Class-A Mishap: Case Study of an Uncrewed Military Helicopter with Lessons Learned for the R&D, T&E, and Academic Community” will be presented during the conference’s awards luncheon. The incident started with a simple test of the chopper’s new battery, which was considered low risk and therefore didn’t require extensive risk mitigation steps. A command-and-control communication link was not established during the test, and when the test team initiated shutdown, the vehicle went to full power, moving up and to the right and causing more than $2.5 million in damages. In his keynote talk, Dr. Costello will share more details about the mishap and offer conclusions and recommendations on how to avoid similar incidents in the future, which will be especially relevant to the conference’s focus on regulation.
“Right now, we are building more and more complex unmanned systems that are larger and larger in size. Oftentimes, people think unmanned means safer. However, as we develop these systems, we realize complicated systems fail in complicated ways. Researchers need to understand the risks that are associated with the decisions they make, including the risks associated with fielding systems that don’t have a human in or on the loop,” Dr. Costello said.
The talk contributes to the conference’s efforts to shape the future of unmanned aviation. Dr. Costello will also be hosting an invited session on test and evaluation of autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles. Anyone interested in participating or submitting a contribution to that session should contact Dr. Costello as soon as possible. Papers are due by February 20 for consideration at the conference. Details on paper submission can be found here. Email dhcost@umd.edu with questions.
In addition to invited sessions and contributed papers, there will also be workshops, tutorials, and round table discussions. The event also features a UAV competition for students.
The 2026 ICUAS will be June 15-18 in Corfu, Greece. More information on the conference and its program can be found on the event’s website.
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January 8, 2026
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