No GPS, no pilot, no problem

• Autores: Sandrine Ceurstemont
• Localización: New scientist, ISSN 0262-4079, Nº. 3146, 2017, pág. 16
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Above ground, drones can navigate autonomously using GPS, but these satellite signals don't penetrate deep underground, meaning robot spelunkers normally require human pilots. Ahmed AlNomany and his colleagues at Swedish company Inkonova are working on an alternative. Giving the drone a view of its surroundings is the first step. Using laser scanners and a technique called SLAM, which calculates the distance between the drone and nearby objects, it will build up a map of the area around it. And it can do this fast. The company recently used its manually operated drone, TILT Ranger, to map an underground mine in Mali using SLAM. In just 10 minutes, the team was able to virtually reconstruct a section of the mine with a volume of roughly 30,000 cubic meters. Now the firm's new autonomous drone can combine its map with input from sensors, such as an accelerometer, to help position itself and move without GPS. So far, during preliminary tests, it has been able to stabilize itself on its own in the air