drones tagged posts

A Hybrid Unicycle that can move on the Ground and Fly

A hybrid unicycle that can move on the ground and fly

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones, can help humans to tackle a variety of real-world problems; for instance, assisting them during military operations and search and rescue missions, delivering packages or exploring environments that are difficult to access. Conventional UAV designs, however, can have some shortcomings that limit their use in particular settings.

For instance, some UAVs might be unable to land on uneven terrains or pass through particularly narrow gaps, while others might consume too much power or only operate for short amounts of time. This makes them difficult to apply to more complex missions that require reliably moving in changing or unfavorable landscapes.

Researchers at Zhejiang University have recently developed a new unmanned, wheele...

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System Trains Drones to Fly Around Obstacles at High Speeds

drone graphic
Aerospace engineers at MIT have devised an algorithm that helps drones find the fastest route around obstacles, without crashing.
Credits:Image: MIT News, with background figure courtesy of the researchers

A new algorithm helps drones find the fastest route around obstacles without crashing. The system could enable fast, nimble drones for time-critical operations such as search and rescue.

If you follow autonomous drone racing, you likely remember the crashes as much as the wins. In drone racing, teams compete to see which vehicle is better trained to fly fastest through an obstacle course. But the faster drones fly, the more unstable they become, and at high speeds their aerodynamics can be too complicated to predict...

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Locust Swarm could improve Collision Avoidance

Locust swarm could improve collision avoidance
A collision detector for vehicles mimics an avoidance neuron in locusts that allows them to fly in swarms. Credit: Jennifer M. McCann / Penn State

Plagues of locusts, containing millions of insects, fly across the sky to attack crops, but the individual insects do not collide with each other within these massive swarms. Now a team of engineers is creating a low-power collision detector that mimics the locust avoidance response and could help robots, drones and even self-driving cars avoid collisions.

“We are always looking for animals with unusual abilities, ones that do something better than humans,” said Saptarshi Das, assistant professor of engineering science and mechanics...

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Drones can now Scan Terrain and Excavations without Human Intervention

Measuring and documenting gravel and limestone quarries, cliff faces and similar natural and man-made formations is often done using drones that photograph the area. New research may make the pilots superfluous. (NB: The vertical rod on top of the drone carries a wind detector for test purposes, and it is not present on the final version of the drone.) Photo: Erdal Kayacan.

Drone pilots may become superfluous in the future. New research from Aarhus University has allowed artificial intelligence to take over control of drones scanning and measuring terrain.

A research project at Aarhus University (AU) in collaboration with the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) aims to make measuring and documenting gravel and limestone quarries much faster, cheaper and easier in the future.

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