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U. Penn Super Quadcopter Learns New Tricks

Posted by timothy on from the hit-squads-want-these dept.

Freddybear writes "University of Pennsylvania's GRASP lab posted new video of their scary fast maneuverable quad-rotor drone. It can now fly through openings (hoops) which are themselves moving." The entire list of GRASP projects is worth crawling through.

31 of 124 comments (clear)

  1. Way cool by Dyinobal · · Score: 3, Funny

    I dunno what all the practical applications of this tech are but all I can say is, I want one.

    1. Re:Way cool by mSparks43 · · Score: 2, Funny

      still no match for airsoft i suspect:
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HGmoxotBi8

    2. Re:Way cool by TooMuchToDo · · Score: 2

      http://www.diydrones.com/

      http://code.google.com/p/arducopter

  2. Re:Killing me in my sleep? by Dyinobal · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It does make a distinct sound and sounds like that in a war-zone can have a terrifying effect, psychologically on enemy troops.

  3. Re:Killing me in my sleep? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    They could use it to track autonomous Audis, better than crashing helicopters.

  4. Manhack by BradleyUffner · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Reminds me of the Manhacks from Half Life.
    http://half-life.wikia.com/wiki/Manhack

    1. Re:Manhack by PiAndWhippedCream · · Score: 2, Interesting

      One of the most terrifying things I've seen in a video game. Whenever I hear something that even vaguely sounds like a manhack, I instinctively spin to face it, and attempt to take out the Crowbar/GravGun.

  5. So technically you're awake for a second by SuperKendall · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Sure it's noisy, but did you see how fast that thing moved? You'd be awake for about a second, max, before it was on you.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  6. While impressive by oneofthose · · Score: 5, Informative

    I think it is important to note that they use fairly sophisticated (multiple times more expensive than the drone itself) motion capture equipment to locate and control the drone.

  7. Re:Killing me in my sleep? by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 5, Informative

    Also: did you see what it needs for navigation? Bright red lights as landmarks, brightly colored hoops.

    It would need much more sophisticated navigation in order to operate outside its little custom-made "cage".

  8. Re:Nothing new to see here by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "We've already got quadricopters. And you can control them with an iPhone. And they could already do this sort of maneuvering."

    (A) Yes we do. (B) So what? An iPhone is hardly an optimized flight controller. It's a toy. (C) No, they can't. If you can maneuver your quadricopter with your iPhone anywhere near the way this thing can move, I'll eat your shorts.

    I am pretty sure that my digestion is safe for the time being.

  9. Oblig Skynet by Dan+East · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Those little buggers are sure going to be hard to shoot down. Y'all better start skeet shooting right away if the human race is to have any chance!

    --
    Better known as 318230.
    1. Re:Oblig Skynet by TooMuchToDo · · Score: 2, Insightful

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phalanx_CIWS

      No, no they won't be hard to shoot. Fight science....with SCIENCE!

  10. Good timing by Lije+Baley · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If I throw a hoop up at the right time, I can get a rubber-band to fly throught it.

    --
    Strange things are afoot at the Circle-K.
    1. Re:Good timing by arielCo · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It's not clear from the narration how much of it was pre-programmed and I'm too lazy to go read the paper, but either the guy waited for the copter to accelerate and threw the hoop in sync (pretty unlikely), or the copter timed its flight to the extrapolated motion of its "window", which is the amazing feat advertised. Hell, even if the UPenn guys cheated, they managed to make the little recover and hover after being thrown like a majorette's baton, zigzag like a hummingbird on meth, zip through hoops, do triple somersaults, and perch on a wall like a fly (check it out if you haven't yet). Neat stuff.

      --
      This post contains no rudeness or derision of any kind. All arguments are friendly. Terms and exclusions may apply.
    2. Re:Good timing by The+Grim+Reefer2 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I thought the recovery after being thrown was rather impressive as well.

      I think if they have had several hoops swinging from strings at different speeds and heights as well as off set and it could somehow navigate that, I would be very impressed with is path negotiation abilities. As it is, I agree with you, it was had to tell exactly what they were demonstrating by throwing the hoop.

  11. Navigation by Iamthecheese · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Avast ye scurvy, this vessel has almost no use! With cameras on every angle she can't go anywhere but Davy Jone's locker without a human skipper. The autonomous flyin' about may look sweet as a maiden but she can't sail her way out of a calm bay at sunset.

    --
    If video games influenced behavior the Pac Man generation would be eating pills and running away from their problems.
    1. Re:Navigation by stms · · Score: 2, Informative

      Happy talk like a pirate day!

  12. Air Force knocking by shoehornjob · · Score: 2

    OMG who wouldn't want to sit in an airconditioned trailer and control several of these guys at once. The rotor sound reminds me of the V-1 buzz bombs the Germans dropped in London between 1942-45. Except these things are infinitely more frightening.

    --
    "We are just a war away from Amerikastan. When god vs god the undoing of man." Dave Mustaine
  13. Jedi training by xynopsis · · Score: 3, Funny

    Looks like the lightsaber training ball used by Luke

  14. They zippin' through your window by kg8484 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Tryna kill you in your sleep
    So y'all need to
    Hide your kids, hide your wife
    Hide your kids, hide your wife
    And hide your husband
    Cuz they killin' errbody out here

  15. Re:Killing me in my sleep? by Sulphur · · Score: 2, Informative

    Can't wait for a version with two swiveling turbines at the tips of small wing, eh?

    Something similar was : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiller_Hornet

  16. No reason it can't be fully mobile by Animats · · Score: 5, Informative

    Very nice. For research purposes, they're using a cheap copter and expensive fixed motion tracking gear. That saves money during debugging crashes. It doesn't have to be that way. With a slightly bigger copter they could carry around 3 axes of fibre-optic gyro, good accelerometers, and a good dynamic GPS. Expect to see that soon, with DoD funding.

    Robots are going to have faster reflexes than humans. Humans are stuck at 200ms or so, while computers get faster.

  17. Re:Nothing new to see here by ndogg · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Yes, because those things fly so blindingly fast, and autonomously. Right...

    --
    // file: mice.h
    #include "frickin_lasers.h"
  18. Re:Nothing new to see here by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 3, Informative
    Yes, I have seen the AR Drone videos. I saw the originals the first day they were released. As for ketchup, I won't be needing it. And have you by any chance seen some of the other replies? I don't know why they were meta-modded down, since they're in fact knowledgeable answers.

    "no it isnt. the source code is proprietary. only the SDK is available and it is highly crippled. please show me how you can EASILY make this work with anything. idiot."

    And so it is. The page you linked me to clearly states that it is an SDK, not source code.

    Uh, he is safe for the time being seeing as you need a $500k VICON system to pull off the sorts of maneuvers the quad rotors are pulling off in the video. You seriously think this is controlled solely by on board cameras or even one external camera? Why do you think in all these videos you see these glaring red lights? They are the locational cameras (GRASP Lab has 16 I think) identifying where in space the quad rotor is and it's orientation. There is a huge external computation component that you don't see doing most of the heavy lifting required to control this quad rotor.

    I'm fairly certain this can't be replicated by a quad rotor with merely an iPhone. That's kinda laughable.

    I repeat: if you can maneuver a Parrot AR Drone with your iPhone anywhere near the way this thing can move, I'll eat your shorts. (I think it's obvious that would include flying through both stationary and moving hoops of comparable size.)

    And I repeat: "I am pretty sure that my digestion is safe for the time being."

    Don't misunderstand: I think the AR Drone is very cool in its own way. It's a great toy. And it might even be useful for a few semi-practical things. But comparable to the device in the video OP linked to? Not.

  19. Re:Killing me in my sleep? by TangoMargarine · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yeah, imagine being killed by a flying army of vuvuzelas. Yech.

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  20. 1:00 by karnal · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Did anyone else catch that at the 1 minute mark, the guy who just caught the hoop looks kinda frightened and drops the hoop, as if the Quadrotor wants to go through the hoop again?

    --
    Karnal
    1. Re:1:00 by Freddybear · · Score: 4, Funny

      He's probably taken a few hits while they were debugging. Ouch!

  21. Re:Killing me in my sleep? by rcamans · · Score: 2, Informative

    Actually, it does not need to be a killer. With a camera, gps, and a targeting laser, it can zoom in, acquire a target, zoom up out of range, and let a remote site fire a missile up to kill targeted item.

    Scary.

    --
    wake up and hold your nose
  22. Re:Killing me in my sleep? by kmahan · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I'm ok with using it to kill clowns. That seems like a public service.

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    Invalid Checksum. Retrying.
  23. Re:Nothing new to see here by Khyber · · Score: 2, Informative

    For those modding me down.

    Eat your already-outdated quadcopter.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvH2f-AewX8&feature=related

    with built-in GPS location services, auto-stabilization, call-home function, can carry a camera, and can likely carry a micro-radar for autonomous navigation.

    Keep on dreaming while I've got investments in this stuff.

    --
    Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.