A flock of 10 bright blue drones take off in a bamboo forest in China, then swerve between jumbled branches, bushes and uneven ground, automatically navigating the best flight path through the woods.
Led by scientists at Zhejiang University, the experiment is reminiscent of scenes from science fiction — in fact, the authors cite such star wars, Prometheus, and Blade Runner 2049 at the beginning of their paper published Wednesday in the journal scientific robot.
“Here, we have taken a step towards such a future,” the team, led by Zhou Xin, wrote.
In theory, there are countless practical applications, including aerial mapping for conservation and disaster relief efforts. But the technology needs to mature so that flying robots can adapt to new environments without colliding with each other or objects, compromising public safety.
Drone swarms have been tested in the past, but either in open environments without obstacles or in locations where those obstacles were placed, said Enrica Soria, a robotics expert at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne who was not involved in the study. case was tested. AFP.
“This is the first time a swarm of drones has been successfully flown in an unstructured environment in the wild,” she said, adding that the experiment was “impressive.”
The palm-sized robot is purpose-built with a depth camera, height sensor and onboard computer. The biggest advance is an ingenious algorithm that combines collision avoidance, flight efficiency and coordination within a swarm.
Since these drones do not rely on any external infrastructure, such as GPS, swarms can be used during natural disasters.
For example, they can be dispatched to earthquake-stricken areas to investigate damage and determine where to help, or to dispatch personnel to unsafe buildings.
A single drone could of course be used in this case, but a swarm approach would be more efficient, especially if flight time is limited.
Another possible use is for bee colonies to collectively lift and transport heavy objects.
There’s a darker side: Armies could weaponize swarms, much like remote-controlled single-person drones do today. The Pentagon has repeatedly expressed interest and is conducting its own tests.
“Military studies are not shared openly with the rest of the world, so it’s hard to imagine what stage they’re at in their development,” Soria said.
But advances shared in scientific journals can certainly be used for military purposes.
coming soon?
The Chinese team tested their drones in different scenarios — swarming through bamboo forests, avoiding other drones in high-traffic experiments, and having robots follow human guidance.
“Our work was inspired by birds that fly freely in flocks over even very dense woods,” Zhou wrote in a blog post.
The challenge, he says, is balancing competing demands: the need for a small, lightweight machine with high computing power, and the ability to map safe trajectories without significantly extending flight times.
For Soria, it will only be a few years before we see such drones deployed in real life. First, though, they need to be tested in hyper-dynamic environments like cities, where they constantly encounter people and vehicles.
Regulations also need to keep up, which takes extra time.
© AFP