A new drone has been released that is capable of autonomously mapping out underground mines, without the need of a human pilot!
As you drone pilots probably know, when your drone is using autonomous flight modes it requires a GPS signal, however down below the earths surface, a GPS signal is unable to reach the drone. Until now this has meant that all drones using underground have needed a human pilot to be flown, however with the release of this new drone, all that could change. Founder of Inkonova, the company working behind the construction of the drone Ahmen Al Nomany has stated that “it is complicated because we are trying to invent another way of positioning use bits and pieces of technology”. How does the drone position it self I hear you ask. The team behind the project have been implemented a method known as SLAM that is able to work out how far objects are away from the drone. By doing this, it can then create a virtual map of its surroundings in which it can use to navigate. To top it all off, this can be drone at incredible speeds. Inkonova are behind another drone used for mapping out underground passageways called the TILT Ranger. The drone is piloted by an actual person rather than autonomously and was able to map out a distance of 28,000 cubic meters in around 11 minutes. For reference, that is roughly 1/5 of Wembley Arena. The beauty of this new drone is that it can adapt to its surroundings. Located at the bottom of the drone is 4 wheels and when the drone encounters and object it does not know how to pass, it can use its wheels to roll along the surface, whilst keeping the propellers running. So why do we need these drones? Well as you can imagine, exploring these underground passageways and mines can be a pretty dangerous task. By using a drone, this task is made both quicker and safer so it is really a no brainer. Although the technology isn’t quite there yet, it won’t be long until we say autonomous drones implemented more regularly in society. What is interesting is that Inknova were contacted about mapping out an old power plant which had stop being used years ago. This would have involved the drone autonomously flying around the plant, taking readings to assess the danger. Unfortunately, there was a worry that radioactive dust could be knocked up from the draft from the drones’ propellers. It’s an interesting development in the drone world and is just one of the many ways drones are being implemented autonomously.
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