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Even with all the technological advancements in recent years, autonomous systems have never been able to keep up with top-level human racing drone pilots. However, it looks like that gap has been closed with Swift – an autonomous system developed by the University of Zurich’s Robotics and Perception Group.

Previous research projects have come close, but they relied on optical motion capture settings in a tightly controlled environment. In contrast, Swift is completely independent of remote inputs and utilizes only an onboard computer, IMU, and camera for real-time for navigation and control. It does however require a pretrained machine learning model for the specific track, which maps the drone’s estimated position/velocity/orientation directly to control inputs. The details of how the system works is well explained in the video after the break.

The paper linked above contains a few more interesting details. Swift was able to win 60% of the time, and it’s lap times were significantly more consistent than those of the human pilots. While human pilots were often faster on certain sections of the course, Swift was faster overall. It picked more efficient trajectories over multiple gates, where the human pilots seemed to plan one gate in advance at most. On the other hand human pilots could recover quickly from a minor crash, where Swift did not include crash recovery.

The drone can travel at 45 miles an hour and read license plates from 800 feet away. It can be equipped with a speaker and a spotlight. Who needs a police car for a chase now?

A new high-tech autonomous drone, unveiled by California-based company Skydio, could help New York Police end high-speed car chases. The company which has supplied drones for both military and utility purposes, is working to use drones as first responders (DFR) for the police in the US.

A decade ago, Skydio began its journey as a company that provides athletes with a ‘follow-me-everywhere’ drone that could help shoot videos from the air while on the move. Three years ago, the company made a significant pivot as it looked… More.

Continue reading “Autonomous drone could help end high-speed car chases in NY” »

The operations are based on an outdoor docking system that incorporates the firm’s AtlasPRO tricopter drones meant for surveillance.

Providing fool-proof security at airports proves to be challenging due to various logistical limitations, primarily due to its size, even though the airport security system is typically organized clearly and logically.

Continue reading “AtlasNEST plans to deploy drones to enhance airport security” »

Michelle Lee Photography/iStock.

The domes can be placed upside down, or in different directions. The purpose of these dome shaped designs is to give the drone a way to consider what dangerous conditions are like and react quickly to them.

The US has embarked on a program to develop electronic-warfare drone swarms, the latest in its multiple projects to master what could potentially be war-winning AI and drone technology, though with significant operational and strategic implications and risks.

This month, Breaking Defense reported that the US Navy is seeking industry and government agencies to participate in a July 2024 exercise called Silent Swarm 2024, which aims to demonstrate early-stage unmanned systems’ capabilities to fight on the electromagnetic battlefield.

Breaking Defense notes that the event, hosted by Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane, will showcase “swarming, small, attritable” unmanned systems capable of distributed electromagnetic attack, deception, and digital payload delivery, with the tech must be within readiness levels (TRL) two to five, with higher numbers indicating more advanced systems.

The 30-minute flight was operated by Dronery using Ehang’s EH216-S aircraft.

In a first, an eVTOL (Electric Vertical Take-off and Landing) aircraft flew over Jerusalem, which takes Israel to the verge of opening up its airspace to air taxi providers.

Continue reading “Autonomous eVTOL air taxi flown over Jerusalem by Israel” »

Revolutionary ‘Lab-on-a-drone’ system detects airborne pollutants in real time.

In a significant stride towards better understanding and combating air pollution, researchers have unveiled an innovative “lab-on-a-drone” system. Published in the American Chemical Society’s journal, Analytical Chemistry.

Credit: Naypong/iStock.

Continue reading “Drones lead the way in real-time air quality checks” »

The British Army has just showcased its next-generation, jet-propelled, heavy-lift Hydra 400 drone at this year’s DSEI conference in London.

The British Ministry of Defense (MoD) officially displayed its latest jet-propelled, heavy-lift drone at the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) conference at the ExCeL center in London this September (2023). Called the Hydra 400, the British Army stand also featured the drone’s Aether mothership. A pioneering new generation of heavy-lift drones using hybrid propulsion technology (rotors and jet engines), the Hydra 400 is compact and portable, can be transported on a regular pickup truck, and can be prepared for flight in six minutes. It… More.

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The US military and its contractors would be exempt.

Robots that are autonomous or semi-autonomous and carry weapons or offensive capabilities are often called armed robots. These robots can be employed in a variety of settings, including the military, law enforcement, industry, and security.

Today, many armed robots are controlled remotely by human operators who can keep a safe distance between themselves and the devices. This is particularly prevalent with military drones, as the operators control the aircraft and its weaponry from a distance, making the machines even more dangerous to civilians.

Continue reading “US state seeks to outlaw the use of armed robots” »