During National Robotics Week, it’s easy to focus on what robots can do. At Guilford College, Computing Technology & Information Systems major  Mohammad “Mo” Agha Mohammadi ’26 is focused on what they should do – and who they should help.

Mo’s honors thesis project is a project with a deceptively small acronym: MOUSE It’s a drone, yet so much more.

“It’s supposed to be …versatile,” Mo says, pausing just long enough to suggest the word doesn’t quite cover it. “It can be used for anything.”

MOUSE – Multi-Purpose Operation Unmanned Aerial System for Emergency Response and Environment – is a stretch by design. The idea behind it is not.

At its core, the system is built to respond -- to situations where time, information and access are limited. In an emergency, the drone can be deployed ahead of first responders, gathering real-time data from above. It can track movement, scan environments using thermal imaging, and assess conditions too dangerous or inaccessible for people. Whether it’s a flooded neighborhood, a wildfire perimeter or a remote search-and-rescue scenario, MOUSE is designed to extend the reach of those trying to help.

What makes that possible is not just the drone itself, but the system around it. Mo has built a web-based dashboard that acts as the command center. From there, an operator can issue simple commands -- takeoff, land, return -- or design complex missions. The platform integrates mapping tools, flight restrictions and live data, allowing users to plan routes, avoid no-fly zones and adjust in real time.

“You can set waypoints, tell it where to go, what to do when it gets there,” he says. “Deliver something. Land. Patrol.”

What MOUSE does starts with what it carries: a thermal camera, a standard camera and environmental sensors.

“It can detect gases, temperature, humidity,” he says. “Organic compounds in the air.”

But what separates it from most drones isn’t the hardware. It’s what happens to the data once it’s collected.

“It has a very powerful onboard computer,” Mo says. “Most drones don’t process footage in real time.”

His does.

“It can analyze what it’s seeing while it’s flying,” he says. “So if someone is moving, you could have it track that person.”

On the screen, he demonstrates object tracking. It’s not perfect — “a little buggy,” he admits — but it works well enough to make the point.

“It’s able to identify people,” he says. “You can lock on and have it follow.”

The same camera can also help the drone avoid obstacles — no need for a ring of external sensors.

“It’s using the footage itself,” he says. “Processing it in real time.”

Because the situations Mo has in mind don’t allow for delay.

“If there’s a flood, you could deliver medical supplies,” he says. “Food, water.”

Search and rescue. Fire assessment. Environmental monitoring.

“Drones are already used for a lot of that,” he says. “I wanted to create something that could do all of it in one platform.”

The idea took shape after he visited a Drone as First Responder program.

“Their systems are really good,” he says. “But they’re expensive. Over $10,000 per drone every year. Subscriptions.”

“And they’re closed systems. You can’t really change them.”

MOUSE is meant to be the opposite. “It’s open,” Mo says. “You can upgrade it. Customize it.”

Operators can add commands, adjust missions, even run multiple drones at once.

There are safeguards, too. A ‘backtrace’ feature allows the drone to navigate without GPS, retracing its path using recorded footage.

“If it loses signal, it can go back the way it came,” he says. “That’s important.”

So is stability — especially when the drone is carrying weight.

“It uses machine learning,” he says. “So it can adjust in real time.”

Instead of pre-programming every scenario, the drone adapts — compensating for added weight and recalibrating when that weight is released.

“It learns,” he says simply. “It learns and adapts along the way.”

Kind of like the student.