You must have seen kids, maybe your own kids, playing with remotely controlled helicopters that are guided to avoid the obstacles in an indoor environment. A group of students, from MIT’s Robust Robotics, have developed a quadrocopter that can avoid the hindrances in any given indoor environment autonomously, which means it doesn’t require any GPS controlling from an outside source.
The team of researchers has successfully passed the experimental flight in the MIT’s tightly built garage. And, their plane managed to avoid the low ceiling and the pillars during the first flight with laser range finders. The quadrocopter has Intel’s Atom processor inside its body with other sensors as well.
This GPS-free algorithm has opened up new doors of research into many areas such as meteorological data collection, and the scientists are hoping to perfect the algorithm to map the plane’s surrounding for precise flight experience.
Source: MIT News
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