Autonomous Camera Drones Choosing Their Own Path

 

 Top Image: Rogério BonattiGizmodo recently published an article "Researchers Taught Autonomous Camera Drones to Film Like a Hollywood Director" that discusses breakthroughs in sUAS technology. Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University have created a "deep learning" algorithm that keeps drones in a position that allows for more appealing film positions during a flight.

The big player in this article is the deep learning algorithm developed to achieve this kind of flight. By allowing the system to focus on the shot while keeping awareness of it's surroundings is enabled by LiDAR. Utilizing this type of detection system enables the sUAS to maintain situational awareness of it's surroundings while keeping a good track on it's target.

Though this was created with movie filming in mind, there are other applications that would benefit highly from this type of technology. Farmers can use this type of technology to monitor unmanned tractors Plowing or harvesting a field. Search and rescue teams can use this to follow a path, while searching for missing persons. Military ground forces could potentially use this to follow dangerous individuals or map out an area.

With advances in LiDAR regarding size and cost, we should expect to see more from these types of systems in the future for all sUAS markets.

Liszewski, A. (2019, October 21). Researchers Taught Autonomous Camera Drones to Film Like a Hollywood Director. Retrieved from https://gizmodo.com/researchers-taught-autonomous-camera-drones-to-film-lik-1839234826.