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Unmanned Aircraft Clustered via Bluetooth

Posted by timothy on from the zip-around-the-room dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Researchers at the University of Essex are using Linux and tiny embedded computer modules to build fleets of unmanned aircraft that fly in flocking formations like birds, while performing parallel, distributed computing tasks using Bluetooth-connected Linux clustering software. The Gridswarm project includes model trainers that can fly 120mph, while a parallel Ultraswarm project uses co-axial helicopters. A prototype of the later is believed to the world's smallest flying web server. The aircraft will run Linux on embedded computing modules from Gumstix."

16 of 189 comments (clear)

  1. Cooooooool. by mrseigen · · Score: 4, Funny

    I wonder if my municipality will take offense to flying sorties over to my neighbours' yard to steal beer out of his cooler.

  2. There's competition? by GrouchoMarx · · Score: 4, Funny

    A prototype of the later is believed to the world's smallest flying web server.

    There's competition for that title? Just how many flying web servers are there? (IIS boxes falling out of high office windows after being thrown do not count.)

    --

    --GrouchoMarx
    Card-carrying member of the EFF, FSF, and ACLU. Are you?

    1. Re:There's competition? by roseblood · · Score: 3, Funny

      You know, I wonder WHY does one NEED a flying webserver that's small? If you've got to dish out websites from something that flies why not park a high-altitude blimp up at, oh..say, 50,000 feet and beam down the internet from there? Or... why not park a box full of anetna, electronics, bateries, and solar cells into orbit and do the same from there?

      If you need a cluster of machines to work in paralell for greater number-crunching power, why not by a big server rack and throw in a bunch of 1U sized machines?

      I mean, it's cool for the "wow, check this out" factor....but...real life aplications? Massively Paralell UAVs of DOOM?

      --
      There are lies, damned lies, and statistics.
    2. Re:There's competition? by zerbot · · Score: 4, Informative

      Yes, I see great applications in public safety. There are traffic speed sensors on the highways, and a sudden slowdown is often the first indicator of an accident. There are cameras but they don't cover end-to-end. Nest one of these every few miles and you can launch to investigate traffic slowdowns or confirmed accidents. Pipe the video to emergency response and they can dispatch exactly what resources are needed and paramedics can get a heads up on the kinds of injuries they are likely to be dealing with.

      Call 911 and get an automatic dispatch of one to your location, arriving within 30 seconds in an urban location. Gives police and fire a heads up on what they will be facing when they arrive a few minutes later. Use them to monitor views of fires that can't be seen from the ground.

  3. Oh great, both at once by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Imagine a beowulf clust... I mean... imagine if you ran linux on... I mean... ARRGH!

    MY BRAIN CAN'T COPE!

    1. Re:Oh great, both at once by lordofthechia · · Score: 4, Funny

      Can you imagine a beowulf cluster of small craft that track down and eliminate slashdot poster's that reference beowulf clusters?

      Add a way for them to deal death by dispensing scalding grits and manufacture them in Soviet Russia and finally justice can be served!

      --
      Georgia Tech, the leader in Chia(tm) technology.
  4. Real boids? by davi_bock · · Score: 4, Informative

    I wonder if they base their algorithm on Craig Reynolds' boids?

  5. They just gave "shutdown" a whole new meaning :) by Seiruu · · Score: 5, Funny

    *imagines little MPAA people running around with guns*

  6. Flcoking Behavior by Cryptacool · · Score: 5, Interesting

    As an A-LIFE dork I think the fact that they got these planes to exhibit true (if they arent lying little light on details) flocking behavior, it's not hard to make things flock it takes basically 3 instructions.

    1) Follow the plane/bird in front of you
    2) Go about as fast as the plane/birds around you
    3) Don't hit other birds/planes, keep a reasonable distance.

    Emergent behavior is really amazing if you are interested in it some more check out alife9.org Its the website of the last alife conference in boston that took place over the summer, really neat stuff in there.

    1. Re:Flcoking Behavior by dmaduram · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Hmm, I could be wrong about this, but flocking behavior is *vastly* more complex than the three points that listed in the parent's post.

      From what I understand, flocking doesn't result from just 'following the birds adjacent to you', but instead a result of optimizing a complex multiplanar lifting system in order to reduce total flight power demand.

      Honestly, I'd be suprised if the researchers were able to emulate the real purpose of a flock, instead of just emulating superficial swarming behavior -- there was a very readable article in Science written by two guys at Caltech on flight efficiency & flocking, and they conclude with the premise that: "theoretically 25 birds could have a range increase of about 70 percent as compared with a lone bird"

      IMO, programmed swarming behavior is nothing new, but if these researchers run with the ball and generate *real* efficiency-optimizing flocking behavior with man-made aircraft, the ramifactions could be huge.

  7. Want funding? by MoralHazard · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm amazed that the article didn't include any references to "Homeland Security" or "fighting terrorism". Doesn't it seem like every single goddamned new idea, or retread of an old one, gets stretched in the marketing to push the security applications for terrorism?

    Where there's money, though...

  8. Can we say Michael Crichton??? by Supp0rtLinux · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Sounds like something out of Michael Crichton's Prey

    My Treo/PDA/Smartphone Optimized Site

  9. Can you overclock this? by goneutt · · Score: 3, Funny

    I see a natural benefit to building flying webservers. When the /. effect kicks in, you accellerate to increase the cooling, and if nessicary, you take the flock out of populated areas to burst into flames.
    Probably work better in england, here in my part of Texas the red tailed hawks would probably take 'em down.

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  10. this story has everything.... by jpardey · · Score: 4, Funny

    unmanned planes, linux, bluetooth... wait, no breasts. Nevermind.

    --
    I have freaks! I did something right...
  11. Well, against the slashdot effect .. by RedLaggedTeut · · Score: 5, Funny

    You know, I wonder WHY does one NEED a flying webserver that's small?

    Obviously, when a webserver detects the slashdot effect, it will signal the UWWWWCOM, which will quickly deploy a flock of webservers towards the site to serve webpages.

    Then, when the slashdot effect cools off, the flying webservers can be redeployed as necessary, maybe to provide entertainment to soldiers in Iraq.

    A very efficient use of resources, isn't it?

    --
    I'm still trying to figure out what people mean by 'social skills' here.
  12. Where to begin? by wowbagger · · Score: 3, Funny

    Where to begin with the jokes?

    But penguins cannot fly!

    Great! Now we can re-shoot Hitchcock's "The Birds" with the [RI|MP]AA as the stars!

    Now I'll have to wash all those core dumps off my car!

    SQUAWCK! We are the Borg. SQUAWCK! Resistance is futile! SQUAWCK! 4 of 99 wants a cracker! SQUAWCK!

    A robotic parrot/web server is the perfect gift for a data pirate - when will ThinkGeek carry them?

    Do they use RFC 1149?

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