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OF MINIATURE UAV HELICOPTERS
THAT ARE BEING PROGRAMMED TO OPEN UP A WHOLE NEW ERA
IN SURVEILLANCE AND INTELLIGENCE-GATHERING.
ONE OF THE LIMITATIONS OF PUTTING THESE THINGS TO WORK
IS YOU HAVE TO KEEP A CONSTANT EYE ON THEM
AND GUIDE THEIR EVERY MOVEMENT WITH A REMOTE CONTROL.
WELL, A SWEDISH UNIVERSITY TEAM HAS FOUND A WAY
TO FIT THESE SCALED-DOWN CHOPPERS
WITH A KIND OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.
EFFECTIVELY, THEY CAN PLOT THEIR OWN PATH AND FLY THEMSELVES.
THE TEAM AT LINKOPING UNIVERSITY IS ADAPTING THE RMAX TO FLY
WHAT IT CALLS PUSH-BUTTON MISSIONS.
IT BECOMES A SELF-CONTAINED SURVEILLANCE AIRCRAFT
TO GATHER INTELLIGENCE
AND ALSO TRAVEL INTO AREAS DEEMED UNSAFE FOR HUMANS.
ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS TELL THE CHOPPER WHERE TO GO.
SO, THE IDEA IS YOU WANT TO MAKE IT AS EASY AS POSSIBLE
FOR THE GROUND OPERATOR TO SET UP THE MISSION.
PROFESSOR PATRICK DOHERTY HEADS UP THE TEAM.
SO, FOR EXAMPLE, SUPPOSE WE WANT TO SURVEY
A NUMBER OF BUILDING STRUCTURES IN AN URBAN REGION.
WHAT YOU'D LIKE THE GROUND OPERATOR TO BE ABLE TO DO
IS TO BASICALLY POINT, MORE OR LESS,
TO THE BUILDINGS HE'S INTERESTED IN --
HE OR SHE ARE INTERESTED IN --
AND SAY, "I WANT YOU TO FLY THERE, THERE, AND THERE,
AND I'D LIKE YOU TO TAKE VIDEO OR HIGH-RESOLUTION PHOTOS
OF EACH OF THE FACADES, AND THEN I'D LIKE YOU TO FLY BACK.
AND YOU DON'T REALLY WANT TO SAY MUCH MORE THAN THAT.
THAT MEANS THE UAV NEEDS ON-BOARD DATA
ABOUT THE AREA IT'S FLYING IN.
THE UAV HAS TO BE AWARE OF THE FACT
THAT THERE ARE BUILDING STRUCTURES, TREES,
TELEPHONE POLES, ETC. THAT IT'S GOT TO AVOID.
SO THAT IS PART OF THE GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM
IN THE UAV, PART OF THE KNOWLEDGE BASE.
THE TEAM HAS ALREADY DEVELOPED A DETAILED 3-D MAP
OF THE CHOPPER'S WORLD,
AND IT'S EMBEDDED INTO THE NAVIGATION SYSTEM
SO THAT IT KNOWS WHERE TO GO.
YES.
WHAT THEN WOULD HAPPEN IF YOU SAW THAT A HOT-AIR BALLOON
WAS RISING UP IN FRONT OF I.
WOULD THE UAV THEN ITF AVOID THAT,
OR WOULD YOU HAVE TO TELL IT TO AVOID IT?
CURRENTLY, WE HAVE ONGOING RESEARCH
WHERE WE'RE ADDING PROXIMITY SENSORS, ALL RIGHT,
TO THE HELICOPTER SYSTEM,
SO MAYBE A DIRECTIONAL LASER, FOR INSTANCE.
AND THE IDEA IS THAT IF THE HELICOPTER IS FLYING A MISSION
AND IT SAW SOMETHING LIKE THAT
AND IT THOUGHT THAT IT WAS IN A VICINITY
WHERE IT COULD BE A DANGER, ALL RIGHT,
THEN THE HELICOPTER WOULD REACT RELATIVELY FAST, ALL RIGHT,
TO THAT CONTINGENCY.
THAT'S A $200,000 RMAX THE TEAM'S USING,
SO BEFORE THEY SEND IT OUT, THEY RUN COMPUTER SIMULATIONS.
AND EVEN THOUGH THE UAV DOESN'T LEAVE THE LAB,
IT'S STILL GOING THROUGH ITS PACES.
WHAT YOU SEE HERE IS A HARDWARE-IN-THE-LOOP SIMULATION.
SO AS YOU FLY THE ACTUAL MISSION,
WE HAVE OUR HELICOPTERS COUPLED INTO THE SIMULATOR.
OH, YES.
...BY THE ROTORS.
AND SO THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT WOULD BE GOING ON
OUT IN THE FIELD IF WE WERE FLYING A REAL MISSION.
THAT'S RIGHT.
SO MUCH FOR THEORY.
TIME TO GET OUT IN THE FIELD, LITERALLY,
AND PUT IT ALL INTO PRACTICE.
TODAY, THE UAV IS GOING TO FLY A PREPROGRAMMED SURVEY MISSION.
REMEMBER, THIS IS NOT REMOTE CONTROL.
EVERY ACTION OF THE AIRCRAFT
IS DECIDED BY THE ON-BOARD COMPUTERS.
THE PLAN IS BEING GENERATED BY THE UAV,
AND IT'S GOING TO FLY TO THE BUILDING OVER HERE.
AND IT'S GOING TO POSITION ITSELF AT EACH OF THE FACADES
OF THE BUILDING,
AND IT WILL FIGURE OUT THE PROPER POSITION
TO POSITION THE HELICOPTER AT EACH OF THE FACADES.
THEY HAVE TO MOVE THE CAMERA INTO POSITION,
AND IT WILL TAKE SOME VIDEO SCREENS OF EACH OF THE FACADES.
WHEN IT'S FINISHED WITH THAT,
IT WILL COME BACK AND LAND AUTONOMOUSLY.
BUT IF I WAS IN THE TRUCK
AND DECIDED THAT WHAT IT WAS TAKING A SHOT OF AT THAT MOMENT
YES.
...COULD I OVERRIDE THE REST OF THE MISSION
AND JUST ZOOM IN ON THAT?
YES. YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO OVERRIDE THE MISSION.
WHAT YOU WOULD DO IS YOU WOULD SUSPEND IT,
YOU WOULD GO INTO INTERACTIVE MODE,
AND THEN YOU COULD USE A JOYSTICK TO TAKE A CLOSER LOOK
AT CERTAIN FEATURES OF THE FACADE.
AND I DON'T HAVE TO BE IN THE TRUCK TO BE PART OF THE MISSION.
USING A GPS PHONE, I COULD DOWNLOAD THE OPERATING SOFTWARE
AND GIVE THE UAV ITS MISSION, CHART ITS PROGRESS,
AND STUDY ITS CAMERA IMAGES FROM ACROSS TOWN
OR EVEN IN ANOTHER COUNTRY.
AND THAT'S NOT ALL.
THE FUNCTIONALITY WE DEVELOPED FOR THE UAVs --
IT'S PRETTY GENERIC,
SO YOU COULD USE A LOT OF THE TECHNOLOGY
ON GROUND ROBOTIC SYSTEMS, UNDERWATER ROBOTIC SYSTEMS.
EVEN IN SPACE.
SO THERE'S SOME MISSIONS TO MARS THAT YOU'RE PROBABLY AWARE OF
THAT NASA IS INVOLVED IN, AND A LOT OF THE PLANNING TECHNOLOGY,
MOTION PLANNING, IMAGE-PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY,
ETC., WILL BE VERY USEFUL THERE.
THIS UAV'S BEEN HOVERING ON THE OUTSIDE.
ON THIS MISSION, IT CAN'T GO INSIDE.
BUT THIS ONE CAN.
YOU CAN SEE THE ADVANTAGE OF SOMETHING THIS SIZE
IN A SMALL SPACE.
IT CAN EVEN FLY IN AN OPEN WINDOW.
PHEW!
IT'S PRETTY STABLE, BUT A BIG GUST OF WIND OR AN UPDRAFT
WOULD BLOW IT OFF COURSE, AND THEY'RE WORKING ON THAT.
THEY'RE ALSO WORKING ON SELF-NAVIGATING SYSTEMS
FOR INSIDE BUILDINGS -- NORMALLY A BLACK HOLE FOR GPS.
WHAT WE'RE WORKING ON NOW AS A RESEARCH ISSUE
IS VISUAL NAVIGAT.
SO BASICALLY, YOU'D LIKE THE UAV TO BE ABLE TO POSITION ITSELF,
LOCALIZE ITSELF BY USG ITS CAMERA SYSTEM, ALL RIGHT,
AND PICKING OUT FEATURES IN THE ENVIRONMENT
AND FLYING RELATIVE TO THOSE FEATURES IN THE ENVIRONMENT.
ONCE THEY CRACK THAT PROBLEM,
AND PATRICK SAYS IT'S NO MORE THAN SIX MONTHS AWAY,
HE CAN SEE PLENTY OF USES FOR THE MICRO UAVs.
JUST IMAGINE THE PAPARAZZI GETTING HOLD OF ONE OF THESE
TO FLY INTO THAT HIGH-RISE HOTEL-ROOM WINDOW.
AND ON A MORE SERIOUS NOTE,
ENTERING A DISASTER ZONE OR CHEMICAL SPILL.
YOU DON'T WANT TO SEND FIREMEN OR EMERGENCY SERVICE PEOPLE
INTO THE BUILDING,
SO YOU SEND ONE OF THESE UAVs IN FOR A FIRST LOOK.
AND IF YOU THINK THESE LITTLE ONES ARE IMPRESSIVE,
THEY'RE MAKING EVEN SMALLER ONES.
THERE ARE MICRO UAVs THAT YOU CAN PUT ON THE TOP OF YOUR HAND.
AND, OF COURSE, THESE ARE --
THEY'RE ALMOST THE SIZE OF BUTTERFLIES.
AND BECAUSE OF THAT, THEY BLOW AWAY LIKE BUTTERFLIES.
SO IT'S A COMPROMISE, HOW SMALL YOU WANT TO MAKE IT.
I GUESS THE ANSWER TO THAT
WILL DEPEND ON JUST HOW INVISIBLE