- General
- May 19, 2018
- 4 minutes read
Drones can now be tested “In Virtual Reality”
Researchers at the previous Massachusetts Institute of Technology have broken grounds on a system which would be ultimately used to…
Researchers at the previous Massachusetts Institute of Technology have broken grounds on a system which would be ultimately used to test and train drones without the physical constraints attached using a VR system, The exact way we humans step into an immersive world when we put on a VR headset now applies to intelligent drones, These drones will learn how to avoid obstacles and collisions, Move at great speed and also maneuver through different positions all while learning like its actually doing it in the real world.
This way, even when drones unfortunately hit an obstacle using this “Flight Goggles” system, The damages are studied and taken virtually as opposed to physical damage which takes a lot of time, delaying trials and costing much more money. This method simulates the drone’s sensors moving it through a virtual world as seen in the video above preventing various obstacles such as high winds and different hanging obstacles such as transmission power lines which cause a lot of problems during physical tests.
Trainers are now able to great any type of virtual environment, Be it mountains, indoor buildings, Public spaces, shopping malls and all types of notable environments which makes this a very game-changing technology in the world of Drone usage making the manufacturing/testing process way more cheaper and faster specially in the field of autonomous drones which require AI and high training to pilot itself without the use of Humans.
The drones wearing its VR headset just like we always do will get to interact immersively giving it a very huge edge over physical environments with presence of computerized calculations and environments which makes it understand its environment with deep detail coming with it.
This new technology was inspired by the very comeptitive sport of drone racing which inspired Sertac Karaman who led the research team at MIT leading to the production of this innovative training system for autonomous aerial vehicles, This technology will now see wide adoption and mainspread throughout the industry making it another example of the tons of innovations being sprouted by the hours to make game-changing technologies in all human fields and endeavours.
The team behind this technology is also presenting their high-end research at the “Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers” coming up next week.
