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AirBurr UAV Navigates By Crashing Into Things

Posted by samzenpus on from the if-at-first-you-don't-succeed dept.

Zothecula writes "If you've ever watched a fly trying to find its way around a house, you might have noticed that it didn't take a particularly graceful approach – it probably bounced off a lot of windows and walls, until by process of elimination, it found a route that was clear. Well, researchers at Switzerland's EPFL Laboratory of Intelligent Systems are taking that same approach with the latest version of their autonomous AirBurr UAV – it's built to run into things, in order to map and navigate its environment."

15 of 74 comments (clear)

  1. Sounds like robotics class in college by Bob+the+Super+Hamste · · Score: 3, Interesting

    That sounds similar to the approach that some took in my robotics class in college except those robots drove around on wheels and didn't fly. There hopefully is more brains in these things if they are mapping out their environment by doing so but the 64k we had to work with even allowed some some rudimentary mapping ability.

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    1. Re:Sounds like robotics class in college by icebike · · Score: 3, Informative

      You guys left college and formed iRobot and built Roomba floor sweepers, right?

      It sort of navigated by knock as well.

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      Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
    2. Re:Sounds like robotics class in college by X0563511 · · Score: 4, Funny

      I find this bash quote to be appropriate:

      #240849 +(13311)- [X]
      [Patrician|Away] what does your robot do, sam
      [bovril] it collects data about the surrounding environment, then discards it and drives into walls

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  2. Drunk by silanea · · Score: 5, Funny

    So essentially it mimics a drunk person? I have a suspicion I know how the idea for this research project first came up.

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    1. Re:Drunk by BasilBrush · · Score: 3, Funny

      This is the way my wife navigates when she's sober.

    2. Re:Drunk by TheCarp · · Score: 4, Funny

      This method has certainly been used by many to detect whether the toilet seat is in the correct position.

      --
      "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
  3. Idiotic approach by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Current approaches bounce radio, sound, and light off obstructions, using radar/sonar/laser mapping. This new approach bounces the physical object off obstructions, for the purpose of...? Being more easily detected? Making even more noise? Causing itself and everything around it more damage?

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    1. Re:Idiotic approach by BasilBrush · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I can think of a couple of reasons.

      1) For the purpose of saving the weight of radar/sonar/laser devices. It's a small flying device. Weight matters.

      2) For the purpose of saving the cost of radar/sonar/laser devices.

    2. Re:Idiotic approach by ByOhTek · · Score: 2

      To quote Jeremy Clarkson: "What could possibly go wrong?"

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      Self proclaimed typo king, and inventor of the bear destroying coffee table (patent not pending).
  4. Easier way to do it: by cellocgw · · Score: 2

    Why don't they just graft tadpole eyes onto its butt?

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  5. Roomba by Skiron · · Score: 2

    This is how the roomba vacuum cleaners navigate, isn't it? What's new?

  6. So.... by EvilSS · · Score: 2

    It's going to ding my car, damage my walls, break a window, and knock over a lamp before it assassinates me in my home now?

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    1. Re:So.... by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2

      It's going to ding my car, damage my walls, break a window, and knock over a lamp before it assassinates me in my home now?

      Well, I heard that AirBurr killed Alexander Hamilton.

  7. MSI made some robot vacuum cleaners like this by Hal_Porter · · Score: 2

    Funrobot is MSI's somewhat Heath Robinson robotics brand. They've got high end ones with ultrasonic sensors

    This is the M800

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzV76Zjru5A

    It works pretty well and can find the docking station to recharge. It is somewhat expensive (US$400 - above most people's impulse buy threshold)

    The R500 has bump sensors

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lFwhqcLnzo

    It's cheap (about US$120) but also very irritating. Bump sensors make a lot of noise and it will also get stuck on cables, curtains and so on.

    If you look on the net it is now very hard to buy an R500 but the M800 are [still being sold](http://ecshweb.pchome.com.tw/search/v2/?q=icleaner)

    This makes me think that bump sensors are not a very good idea, even for vacuum cleaners.

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  8. Failed analogy by arisvega · · Score: 4, Informative

    If you have TRULY observed a fly trying to find its way around a house, you might have noticed that it in fact takes a very GRACEFUL approach: it never bumps to anything but almost completely transparent objects (as do many birds), and its true grace can be readily observed through 1500 fps videos.

    It is one of the animals with the highest flight maneuverability, as two of its wings have evolved to counterweights: not only it can hover and take-off backwards, but it can land upside-down, and does so very skillfully. See youtube and BBC documentaries for further edification.

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