Autonomous flying through a forrest

[rene van der meer]

A nice article about researchers from MIT developing smart drones with crash avoidance software.
Route-planning software guides autonomous drones through cluttered spaces
I would like to have such intelligence in my drone, but wonder if a (single) camera would be sufficient.
Maybe (ultra-sonic) perimeter monitoring (like park assist) would help.
Or props that sense (capacitive) nearby objects?

 

[Jussaguy]

Well the new Typhoon H, shown at 2016 CES is soon to be on track for release in a couple months and it has Intel's "RealSense" which literally tracks items and it supposably works real well. I will have my hands on one soon and will let you know.

Intel has a multi-million dollar stake in Yuneec to the tune of like 60 million dollars.

 

[rene van der meer]

Well the new Typhoon H, shown at 2016 CES is soon to be on track for release in a couple months and it has Intel's "RealSense" which literally tracks items and it supposably works real well. I will have my hands on one soon and will let you know.

Intel has a multi-million dollar stake in Yuneec to the tune of like 60 million dollars.

This RealSense technology sounds very useful, but it is camera based?
Is one camera sufficient to detect collisions?
I have a car with ultra sonic park assist and a rear view camera and I have still hit another car last year

 

[GoodnNuff]

This RealSense technology sounds very useful, but it is camera based?
Is one camera sufficient to detect collisions?
I have a car with ultra sonic park assist and a rear view camera and I have still hit another car last year

I have a rear view camera and park assist. Neither take control of your car - you are still in control.
If you see a car in your rearview camera, it is still YOU who must brake and stop before you hit it.
And park assist is called "assist" for that very reason - it only assists you as you are still in control of the vehicle.

 

[Jussaguy]

I have a rear view camera and park assist. Neither take control of your car - you are still in control.
If you see a car in your rearview camera, it is still YOU who must brake and stop before you hit it.
And park assist is called "assist" for that very reason - it only assists you as you are still in control of the vehicle.

Yeah, it's camera based but it's a start and if you saw it working at CES, it will definitely prevent a few crashes,

Intel® RealSense™ Technology

 

[GoodnNuff]

Yeah, it's camera based but it's a start and if you saw it working at CES, it will definitely prevent a few crashes,

Intel® RealSense™ Technology

The point of my post is that we do not have obstacle avoidance in our cars - we have sensors that detect and "assist" us, but any obstacle avoidance in our cars is up to the driver.

As the owner of a Yuneec Q500, I applaud them for being the first drone with obstacle avoidance, it is a start.
Did you see it at CES?
What speed does it work at? I've read that at this point, this only works at very low speeds?

 

[rene van der meer]

The point of my post is that we do not have obstacle avoidance in our cars - we have sensors that detect and "assist" us, but any obstacle avoidance in our cars is up to the driver.

As the owner of a Yuneec Q500, I applaud them for being the first drone with obstacle avoidance, it is a start.
Did you see it at CES?
What speed does it work at? I've read that at this point, this only works at very low speeds?

I might help to warn the OP, but would you trust it autonomously?
Maybe it is sufficient if the bird stops when in danger.

 

[Jussaguy]

The point of my post is that we do not have obstacle avoidance in our cars - we have sensors that detect and "assist" us, but any obstacle avoidance in our cars is up to the driver.

As the owner of a Yuneec Q500, I applaud them for being the first drone with obstacle avoidance, it is a start.
Did you see it at CES?
What speed does it work at? I've read that at this point, this only works at very low speeds?

I did see it at CES and it was in an arena where it wasn't able to really show off too much but outside they did a little.

First of all, I am currently a DJI guy. I have two Phantoms and absolutely think there is nothing better to shoot with (I am a videographer, VFX Atist).

It would be unfair for me to make judgements negatively on their obstacle avoidance as I don't even know how they are implementing it into the TyPhoon H (which i can't wait to get my hands on) but they are using the same camera unfortunately. I hope they change that and soon. To me, when it's said and done, when it comes to the built in camera models, that's really where DJI wins.

P.S. - And they are not the first to do things for obstacle avoidance. Even on our own Phantom Advanced and Professional have the vision sensor which tells it what's going on with the ground or not. Not exactly tree ducking, but baby steps. In 2-3 years we will laugh at everything that we have now. The benefit of a market emerging so quickly like this one is that so many companies flood the market making way for cheap really good equipment coming in the next couple years.

Pretty soon, obstacle avoidance and water proof will just standard with a good UAV. DJI Phantom 2 & 3 will always go down as pioneers for the first really good affordable non-RC players. I have a friend (not not me). Who crashed his twice (both upon landing) and no damage at all.

 

[rene van der meer]

Uptolevel6,
I agree. The way sensors are developing, more functions at less costs, smart sensors for anti collision will become more and more common. Just like in cars, but then much cheaper. It is just a matter of waiting.

 

[GoodnNuff]

I did see it at CES and it was in an arena where it wasn't able to really show off too much but outside they did a little.

First of all, I am currently a DJI guy. I have two Phantoms and absolutely think there is nothing better to shoot with (I am a videographer, VFX Atist).

It would be unfair for me to make judgements negatively on their obstacle avoidance as I don't even know how they are implementing it into the TyPhoon H (which i can't wait to get my hands on) but they are using the same camera unfortunately. I hope they change that and soon. To me, when it's said and done, when it comes to the built in camera models, that's really where DJI wins.

P.S. - And they are not the first to do things for obstacle avoidance. Even on our own Phantom Advanced and Professional have the vision sensor which tells it what's going on with the ground or not. Not exactly tree ducking, but baby steps. In 2-3 years we will laugh at everything that we have now. The benefit of a market emerging so quickly like this one is that so many companies flood the market making way for cheap really good equipment coming in the next couple years.

Pretty soon, obstacle avoidance and water proof will just standard with a good UAV. DJI Phantom 2 & 3 will always go down as pioneers for the first really good affordable non-RC players. I have a friend (not not me). Who crashed his twice (both upon landing) and no damage at all.

I agree, I think in a few years obstacle avoidance will be quite refined and standard on higher end (Phantom and equivalents) drones.
DJI has the best so far - I own a P1, P2 (non vision), and a P3P. The P3 Pro is hands down my favorite. I also own a 3DR Iris+ and Solo, as well as a few Blade quads. I enjoy watching the evolution of this technology - pretty cool!