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Cornell Builds Autonomous UAV
tshak writes "From Microsoft Research, 'Faculty and students at Cornell University have built an unmanned airplane with its own on-board, embedded control system. The large-scale model plane flies by accessing coordinates from an off-the-shelf GPS unit.' Not only does the plane run XP embedded, but the software is written in C# on the .NET Compact Framework. This is all powered by an 800mhz Crusoe processor with 1GB of total system storage."
Writing code for an autonomous UAV to do nothing more than take off, fly around a bit, and land isn't really that hard. Anyone who's ever worked any flight simulation could do it without much help. If these Cornell kids have the support of a gigantic corporation with much in-house expertise on flight simulation, it's no surprise that they were able to make a plane fly simple, planned flights. Good for them, I guess, but it's really not that big a deal. Somebody must be posting this just to get the obligatory shots at MS started.
The large-scale model plane flies by accessing coordinates from an off-the-shelf GPS unit.' Not only does the plane run XP embedded, but the software is written in C# on the .NET Compact Framework.
Trust obviously Microsoft-sponsored engineers to find the wrong solution to the problem. Anything that flies benefits from light components. This "large-scale" model plane could have been smaller scale, cheaper, longer flying and, well, more impressive if it had taken onboard a small microcontroller with tailor-made programs.
Lugging around a system with an 800MHz Crusoe and 1G of storage just to accomodate megabytes of useless software (XP Embedded) is an expensive way of providing central heating to birds. This is not a rant against Microsoft and their "embedded" solution, more like a rant against overdesigning.
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
This isn't flamebait! Even if XP is stable, there are still odds of it BSOD'ing, although the odds are alot less than 9x.
To test their flight control algorithms, the group used Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004, running the algorithms for hundreds of hours. They used a SIG Rascal aircraft with a 110" wingspan. The aircraft is 75 ¾" long and weighs thirteen pounds.
Yeah, but how does that test much of anything? I mean, I'm sure they can get these planes to fly a loop or something, but how reliably. Could they do this for hundreds of hours in flight? What happens when the host OS crashes? The control system is not redundant, creating a single point of failure asides from the the engine. Its not like you can just flash the thing while it is in the air, ala Mars Odyssee. I know its just a college project, and some really bright students are behind this, but this just sounds more like a M$ Publicity stunt than anything. I'm sure without corporate funding they wouldn't have chosen XP and .NET first.
Its cool technology, but I don't think that we'll see these things become popular running on XP embedded. Could you imagine a car running on something like this?
Well, I wish them luck!zosX
zosxavius photography
Well, the sky and the plane's screen will now be blue...
Indeed, it all goes to show why Windows embedded doesn't find its way into mass produced hardware. The requirements are too vast and result in uncompetitive products.
I've invented time travel! At least, it appears I've discovered a way to post something that is redundant with posts that came after it. I don't know how I did it, but that's the only way I could have gotten moderated "redundant" under the circumstances (I mean, surely the moderators couldn't have made a mistake! Get real). So I must have done something to the spacetime thingy-whatzit.
Unless maybe the spacetime thingy-whatzit is doing something to me...
-- MarkusQ
Hmm...
So let me guess. They used a localized version of MS Flight Simulator 2004, with some localized, highly detailed information loaded into it. And they've figured out a quick way to have it do "checkpoints", in this case, with GPS, some way to confirm real-world observation with what FS is doing inside the plane.
Flying the plane using a simulation of the real-world running on the plane, while updating the simulation periodically with reality checks.
Hmm...
Not so original. That's how US cruise missiles work, for one. For another, seen this on TV some time ago for someone doing exactly this with their own project.
I guess getting cash, as long as I only use Microsoft stuff, for whatever I want to work on, is sort of one of those mixed emotion things. About on par with getting free stuff from Marlboro because I smoke a carton of cigs a week.
or Louisiana-Pacific providing me with free siding for my house. or Johns-Manville providing me with free insulation.