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Archive for the ‘drones’ category: Page 67

May 6, 2021

The Air Force’s first Skyborg autonomous drone prototype made its first flight

Posted by in categories: drones, military, robotics/AI

A prototype by Kratos was first to fly, but Boeing and General Atomics will also develop Skyborg air vehicles.

May 3, 2021

Kroger testing drone delivery service for small groceries, items in Ohio

Posted by in category: drones

Kroger is testing grocery delivery with drones.

May 2, 2021

Exyn Brings Level 4 Autonomy to Drones

Posted by in categories: drones, mapping, privacy, robotics/AI

Fully autonomous exploration and mapping of the unknown is a cutting-edge capability for commercial drones.


Drone autonomy is getting more and more impressive, but we’re starting to get to the point where it’s getting significantly more difficult to improve on existing capabilities. Companies like Skydio are selling (for cheap!) commercial drones that have no problem dynamically path planning around obstacles at high speeds while tracking you, which is pretty amazing, and it can also autonomously create 3D maps of structures. In both of these cases, there’s a human indirectly in the loop, either saying “follow me” or “map this specific thing.” In other words, the level of autonomous flight is very high, but there’s still some reliance on a human for high-level planning. Which, for what Skydio is doing, is totally fine and the right way to do it.

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May 1, 2021

Drone Swarms for Firefighting Future of Fire Suppression

Posted by in categories: drones, futurism

Are drone swarms for firefighting the future of fire supression? New work from engineer and mathematician Elena Ausonio and a team of Italian researchers suggests that they could be.

The following is a guest post by Max Lenz, Executive Editor and project manager at the Berlin-based DroneMasters Boost GmbH and editor of the weekly DroneMasters Briefing. DRONELIFE neither makes nor accepts payment for guest posts.

Apr 30, 2021

The Robot Surgeon Will See You Now

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, drones, robotics/AI

The project is a part of a much wider effort to bring artificial intelligence into the operating room. Using many of the same technologies that underpin self-driving cars, autonomous drones and warehouse robots, researchers are working to automate surgical robots too. These methods are still a long way from everyday use, but progress is accelerating.


Real scalpels, artificial intelligence — what could go wrong?

Apr 29, 2021

Meet the First Delivery Drone That Can Make Three Separate Drops on One Charge

Posted by in category: drones

The sky is no longer the limit for delivery services, thanks to some brilliant German minds. The Wingcopter 198 is the first drone in the world that can make three deliveries to multiple locations on a single battery charge.

Apr 25, 2021

DLL: A map-based localization framework for aerial robots

Posted by in categories: drones, military, robotics/AI

To enable the efficient operation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in instances where a global localization system (GPS) or an external positioning device (e.g., a laser reflector) is unavailable, researchers must develop techniques that automatically estimate a robot’s pose. If the environment in which a drone operates does not change very often and one is able to build a 3D map of this environment, map-based robot localization techniques can be fairly effective.

Ideally, map-based pose estimation approaches should be efficient, robust and reliable, as they should rapidly send a robot the information it needs to plan its future actions and movements. 3D light detection and ranging (LIDAR) systems are particularly promising map-based localization systems, as they gather a rich pool of 3D information, which drones can then use for localization.

Researchers at Universidad Pablo de Olavide in Spain have recently developed a new framework for map-based localization called direct LIDAR localization (DLL). This approach, presented in a paper pre-published on arXiv, could overcome some of the limitations of other LIDAR localization techniques introduced in the past.

Apr 23, 2021

DARPA Develops Drone to Counteract Smaller Ones, Future War of Drones?

Posted by in categories: drones, military

There’s been a lot of talk lately about drones as a huge military asset. But, since everybody seems to be doing the same thing, the question becomes: how do we counteract them? The U.S. military is also focusing on drones as a threat and what are the best ways to tackle this threat. Aerial Dragnet has the answers.

Apr 22, 2021

UPS agrees to buy electric vertical aircraft to speed up package delivery in small markets

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, business, drones

United Parcel Service is taking package delivery to new heights, literally, with the purchase of 10 electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft from Beta Technologies.

In an announcement Wednesday, Atlanta-based UPS said it will test the eVTOLs for use in its Express Air delivery network, focusing on small and medium markets. The company will operate the eVTOLs under its Flight Forward division, which is also exploring drone delivery.

The new type of aircraft, which looks like a cross between a plane and a helicopter, “unlocks new business models that don’t exist today,” Bala Ganesh, vice president of the UPS Advanced Technology Group, told CNBC. “For example, you can see a future where it’s carrying, let’s say 1000 pounds, 1500 pounds to rural hospitals,” and landing on a helipad instead of an airport.

Apr 22, 2021

Wireless Charging Keeps Drones Flying

Posted by in category: drones

The demand for more efficient recharging solutions is constantly increasing, aiming at leading the next generation of drones towards greater autonomy.

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