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Your Car: Aerial Drone Launcher? (dice.com)

Posted by Soulskill on from the drop-watermelons-on-annoying-drivers dept.

Nerval's Lobster writes: Ford and Chinese technology company DJI (which manufactures drones that specialize in aerial photography) used the spotlight of this year's CES to announce a developer challenge: figure out how someone can use the dashboard touch-screen to launch (and land) a drone from the back of a pickup. While the challenge is framed as a "search-and-rescue system for the future," drone control from a moving vehicle has a lot more applications than search-and-rescue. In 2014, Renault designed a concept car that came with a small flying drone controllable via tablet or preset GPS waypoints. In theory, this "flying companion," launched from a retractable hatch in the roof, could prove especially useful at scanning the road ahead for possible traffic jams. (Renault hasn't yet announced a production model of the car.) So are drones-from-cars an odd sideshow? Maybe. But if they catch on, imagine the driver-distraction issues from trying to pilot a UAV while you're on the road.

43 of 65 comments (clear)

  1. Imagine, also... by vikingpower · · Score: 2

    ... the collision-avoidance logic you'd need if e.g. on a busy highway lots of cars had a drone companion.

    --
    Religous speak to God. Insane are spoken to by God. When all shut up, one can finally hear Shostakovich in peace
    1. Re:Imagine, also... by Incadenza · · Score: 2

      Plus the fact - in the Renault case - that there is no lack of surveying stations if you are looking for a traffic jam. Each and every car in the jam can tell you quite reliably that the jam is there, the problem is just getting that information distributed to other vehicles.

    2. Re:Imagine, also... by vikingpower · · Score: 1

      Good point. I use a BlackBerry phone, with the BB gps app on it. There's already plenty of traffic info available in it: jams, congestion, accidents. No need for a drone to do that.

      --
      Religous speak to God. Insane are spoken to by God. When all shut up, one can finally hear Shostakovich in peace
    3. Re:Imagine, also... by mobby_6kl · · Score: 1

      I've used Waze too, unfortunately it's neither accurate nor quite precise enough to make the optimal decision in many cases.

      Just a while ago I was stuck in a jam on a highway and Waze/google were showing that there was, in fact, a traffic jam there. But it wasn't clear how long it was, exactly, how fast the vehicles were moving just beyond the visual range, etc. Which is what you want to know to make the decision whether it makes sense to take the nearest exit and go around it.

      So until we get better connectivity between the cars (which due to privacy issues I'm not really looking forward), a small drone with FPV capability would be a solution. Probably not really worth the hassle, overall, however.

    4. Re:Imagine, also... by bistromath007 · · Score: 1

      People seem to really like trying to use their horns for that. Maybe we should just give every car a twitter account that goes HONK when the driver honks the horn. In addition to high volumes of HonkNet activity alerting people to traffic congestion, perhaps it could also be used to investigate crashes, tell your friends you're ready to pick them up, or make sure the whole internet knows you think that ass is fine.

  2. I have fantasized about this by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    In my mind, the use case for my personal vision is dwindling, though. There used to be a lot more relatively uninhabited back road. These days urban sprawl is filling all the great driving roads up with commuters making two-hour trips in each direction, but in a world with a lot of empty road it would be very cool to have a fixed-wing camera drone that would let you know when it was "safe" (for others, that is) to drive like a nutter. It doesn't actually have to go very fast (all things being relative) because the use case is canyon roads where you're going to be making a lot of turns.

    For search & rescue, it seems relatively pointless, because it's not a major drawback to have to stop and launch a drone...

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    1. Re:I have fantasized about this by fox171171 · · Score: 1

      I imagined it as a kid on pretty much every long drive I ever went on. Though I had at that time envisioned it as a RC craft with video feedback as opposed to a drone. At that time, as a passenger bored out of my mind, I would not have wanted a computer flying it anyway. I wanted to fly it.

    2. Re:I have fantasized about this by DriveDog · · Score: 1

      Same here. fixed-wing, launched from the rooftop, with or without a hatch/sunroof opening.

      OP, back of a pickup??? Only appropriate for firewood and used tyres. Even if the aircraft were elevated above the cab roof, the ridiculous turbulence back there would screw things up. Best launch vehicles would be those with large flat roofs, including vans. Moving flat platform underneath provides additional lift for smooth takeoffs and landings.

    3. Re:I have fantasized about this by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      It's a sweet concept. But you can see how a "reckless driving enabler" isn't exactly going to go like gangbusters in the real world.

      Yeah, there's nothing really feasible about it. It might be useful on dirt roads, though, especially where you're dealing with very narrow ones on the side of mountains. That also makes the problem easier, since it doesn't have to go as fast.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  3. Jams by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 3, Funny

    In theory, this "flying companion," launched from a retractable hatch in the roof, could prove especially useful at scanning the road ahead for possible traffic jams.

    Yes, jams caused by crashed drones littering the road ahead.

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    1. Re:Jams by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Renault solved this problem 10 years ago. I get traffic jam updates via RDS on my 2006 Clio. Even when that is not up to date I can use either specific software in wide use in my country or just use Google Maps which has this data live and in real time.

      Why do it by drone other than the fact you can add the word drone to your marketing leaflet?

    2. Re:Jams by Qzukk · · Score: 1

      If you thought rubbernecking around the scene of the wreck was bad now, wait until everyone for a mile back has their drone out to see the twisted metal.

      --
      If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
  4. Hmm by shadey2 · · Score: 1

    Sounds very Bond...

    1. Re:Hmm by SkyratesPlayer · · Score: 1

      The original Green Hornet had a spy drone that launched out of the trunk.

  5. But the Mach5 did this over 40 years ago! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    Go, Speed Racer, Go!

    1. Re:But the Mach5 did this over 40 years ago! by greggman · · Score: 1

      Relevant clip
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoBzspCB25s

    2. Re:But the Mach5 did this over 40 years ago! by Locutus · · Score: 1

      it is the homing robot of Speed Racer which has always had me wondering why trains, espessially super fast ones, don't have a small robot to ID track failures before death and destruction occurs. That and all the Combat, westerns and Hogans Hero's shows with trains driving off blown up bridges.

      --
      "Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
    3. Re:But the Mach5 did this over 40 years ago! by russotto · · Score: 1

      it is the homing robot of Speed Racer which has always had me wondering why trains, espessially super fast ones, don't have a small robot to ID track failures before death and destruction occurs.

      Besides the formidable engineering challenges, I believe that usually when a train derails due to track failure, it would have looked fine until the weight of the train hit it. You'd need some way to do a fairly detailed inspection of rails and ballast at speed.

    4. Re:But the Mach5 did this over 40 years ago! by Locutus · · Score: 1

      That would be for progressive decay or other gradual failures and indeed tough to catch but what about vehicles stuck on tracks, wash outs or even that coyote behind the rock with an ACME magneto blasting detonator or worst. But then again they don't have automatic braking and still use humans because it's too expensive so no doubt any of what I described would be decades away from consideration.

      LoB

      --
      "Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
  6. assumptions by Tom · · Score: 1

    But if they catch on, imagine the driver-distraction issues from trying to pilot a UAV while you're on the road.

    Because the driver would have to pilot it, right? There is no such thing as an autonomous capability which would allow the drone to, say, fly up/ahead/somewhere for half a mile, take a bunch of pictures or use some sensors, transmit the result to the car computer which processes it and outputs a simple warning icon to the driver, right? Such things are completely unheard of.

    In the case of save-and-rescue, you would have a second person in the car piloting the drone, that's so obvious it's a "doh".

    --
    Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
    1. Re:assumptions by Tom · · Score: 1

      A swarm of overhead drones is a wonderful way to telegraph your position to everyone miles around.

      --
      Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
    2. Re:assumptions by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      There is also the possibility of using swarm tactics - the control center simply sends its GPS information (with speed and direction traveled) and the drone flies to that point.

      In fact this functionality already exists in EZ-GUI for MultiWii, it is called Follow Me. I know nothing about it, but it's a trivial feature to implement anyway. Just keep sending a new nav point to the FC, with enough altitude to keep it from crashing into things. It would be simple enough to use the same functionality to make a drone follow a drone, too. If you use Arduino Megas (I am using a mega pro mini in one model) they have four serial ports, and it would be easy enough to dedicate one of them to V2V.

      What I'd like to know is whether there is some way to do DGPS when both stations are moving. That could really help keep the drone on target with your vehicle without additional hardware, and will bring it in within 1-2 meters. That should be good enough to do the rest visually with even the most trivial downward-facing camera.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  7. Don't stand under the drone! by Anne+Thwacks · · Score: 1
    With Ford and software involved, it will probably feature a horribly hacked version of Windows 10, with added spyware, and little or no testing.

    Windows for accidents, anyone?

    --
    Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
  8. Interesting, but useless by DigiShaman · · Score: 1

    A drone launching car is useless, and at worst dangerous! You want a live traffic report, you've got a cell phone right? There you go. Just tie that info back to your dashboard with a HUD or standard LCD display. Traffic avoidance has been a solved problem for years now. Just pull up Google Maps or Apple Maps.

    As for the concept of drone launching from vehicles; law enforcement and the military would have better use with this concept, not the civilian sector.

    --
    Life is not for the lazy.
    1. Re:Interesting, but useless by Max_W · · Score: 1

      Just pull up Google Maps or Apple Maps.

      I use OpenStreetMap.org. On a smart-phone application it is MAPS.ME app. It allows to download the map of a country, so it works without an access to Internet.

    2. Re:Interesting, but useless by DigiShaman · · Score: 1

      -_- The whole point of pulling up the map online is for real-time traffic conditions.

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    3. Re:Interesting, but useless by Max_W · · Score: 1

      OK, got it. I had to drive recently in mountains where there was no Internet access on some roads.

  9. Probably banned within 30 miles of DC by clay_buster · · Score: 1

    http://yro.slashdot.org/story/...

  10. Trunk Monkey by Overzeetop · · Score: 1

    Admit it, you all considered the implications of a high tech drone in place of a trunk monkey when reading the summary.

    --
    Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
  11. Road rage and driveby shootings by Antique+Geekmeister · · Score: 1

    It would seem a textbook use for voice controls for vehicle delivery for remote operators. I could easily picture such a tool used for low cost scouting of wildfires: the delivery vehicle wouldn't even have to stop moving. This also sounds like a military or security project: a casual search reveals several Navy projects for just such moving vehicle based drone launches. While a small pickup mounted drone wouldn't have enough power to loft large weapons, it seems just the vehicle for delivering a few targeted rounds to an urban target. It seems even more suitable for poison, tear gas, or incendiary attacks: Incendiary attacks on tall buildings are a security nightmare.

    Targeted tear gas or incendiary gas delivery is a real security concern with modern drones. It's perhaps not as strange as the incendiary bat bombs of World War II. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/..., which were considered for igniting Japanese cities during WW II, but could not be aimed well.

    1. Re:Road rage and driveby shootings by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      While a small pickup mounted drone wouldn't have enough power to loft large weapons,

      If you gave it folding wings, you could launch something the size of a predator from a pickup or SUV. That's big enough to carry hellfires, which are tank killers. That seems like a large weapon.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  12. Orientation by fred911 · · Score: 1

    Currently DJI products use an IMU (a combination of a gyro and magnetometer), GPS and a barometer to control positioning and flight. Before the flight, conscious pilots assure the IMU is calibrated properly and that there's GPS lock. It's not currently possible to calibrate the IMU around ferrous environments, something required when changing flight locale.

      Using today's control systems to launch from a metal moving platform will have more issues than just the air flow.

    --
    09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B - D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
    1. Re:Orientation by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Currently DJI products use an IMU (a combination of a gyro and magnetometer), GPS and a barometer to control positioning and flight. Before the flight, conscious pilots assure the IMU is calibrated properly and that there's GPS lock.

      You're not going to need to wait for GPS lock before you can launch, if someone is manually controlling the drone, because you're not going to return to home at the same point. Your "home" will be a moving target, so you don't have to wait for a GPS fix before arming. You also shouldn't have to precalibrate your sensors every time, either, if you program the magnetic declination into your drone. MultiWii can handle this method, can't DJI? It's frankly idiotic to expect the user to calibrate their mag sensors before every flight, especially by leaving the model still: what if there happens to be something ferrous under the ground from which the user launches? How would they know? On a drone with a display you can maybe watch the mag sensor output as you put it down.

      MultiWii mag calibration works like this: get the magnetic declination into the software somehow (either compiled in or configured afterwards) and then after you initiate mag calibration, you move the drone around, rotate it around all its axes. Then you're done. It's done in open air, so there's no worries about magnetic things lying about.

      There's really no need to calibrate right before every flight, just at the start of the day. The calibration process could be added into the vehicle startup process; sensors in the launch platform can be used to calibrate the drone, letting it know how the launch platform is oriented lets it know how the drone is oriented. Once calibration is done with the key on but engine off to avoid vibrations (using the accelerometers to determine when the vehicle is still enough for calibration) then the driver is alerted that they can start the vehicle.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  13. Viper? by chrysrobyn · · Score: 2

    Wasn't this a feature in the 60 minute Viper commercials in 1994? I seem to remember that among the absurdities it had the ability to launch a flying drone type thing from the trunk.

    1. Re:Viper? by The+Grim+Reefer · · Score: 1

      Wasn't this a feature in the 60 minute Viper commercials [wikipedia.org] in 1994? I seem to remember that among the absurdities it had the ability to launch a flying drone type thing from the trunk.

      Before that, it was a feature of the Mach Five in the Speed Racer Anime from 1967. Except that was before the term "drone" was popular. I was called a "Go Homing Robot". But essentially was a drone.

  14. Re:They just need visual targetting by Anonymous+Cow+Ward · · Score: 1

    Depends - if it's the size of the pickup truck's bed, that's probably easy enough to read anyway.

    --
    Examine even your most deeply held beliefs. Nobody is always right.
  15. Or, more sensibly by chispito · · Score: 1

    How about just one drone operated by a qualified party and everyone gets access to the information?

    --
    The Daddy casts sleep on the Baby. The Baby resists!
  16. Re:They just need visual targetting by buck-yar · · Score: 1

    Here's what you're looking for

    http://precisionlanding.irlock...
    http://copter.ardupilot.com/wi...

  17. This will all end badly by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

    Does nobody remember the Bond films?

    Everything's fine until some wacko uses a drone launched by car to attack America.

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
  18. Speed Racer? by cayenne8 · · Score: 1
    Didn't Speed Racer have this technology with the Mach 5, many decades ago?

    I wonder if him and Pops put in a patent on this?

    --
    Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
  19. And a shark with a laser on it's head! by Required+Snark · · Score: 1
    Great idea, no possibility that it could turn into a complete clusterfuck.

    No possibility that drones will crash into each other and fall from the sky.

    No possibility that drones will loose communication with their vehicle due to radio interference from other drones.

    No possibility that road rage fools will get in drone fights or interfere with other vehicles.

    No possibility that distracted drivers/pilots will get in accidents.

    No possibilities that emergency respondents will have problems with a bunch of amateurs cluttering up the situation by remote control.

    No possibility that the size of the problem area will expand as drivers try to sneak around congestion.

    This idea makes perfect sense for a day dreaming eight year old boy with attention deficit disorder. In the real world it makes about as much sense as encouraging drivers to shoot at each other while driving. What kind of moron comes up with this shit?

    --
    Why is Snark Required?
  20. Tethered for urban use by birukun · · Score: 1

    We tossed this idea around in the office before. Stuck in traffic but can't see ahead? Launch the tethered drone - just straight up and high enough to see what is ahead. Power is no problem as it is tethered, and you can get high quality video. With the right design, maybe handle speeds of > 5mph as it goes into 'kite mode'.

    Just an idea. :-)

    --
    Self Defense - A Human Right www.a-human-right.com
  21. Droneception by GuB-42 · · Score: 1

    And maybe the drone will have a smaller drone to make sure the way is clear for the first drone, it's drones all the way up.