Monday, July 4, 2022
SCIENMAG: Latest Science and Health News
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME PAGE
  • BIOLOGY
  • CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
  • MEDICINE
    • Cancer
    • Infectious Emerging Diseases
  • SPACE
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • CONTACT US
  • HOME PAGE
  • BIOLOGY
  • CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
  • MEDICINE
    • Cancer
    • Infectious Emerging Diseases
  • SPACE
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Scienmag - Latest science news from science magazine
No Result
View All Result
Home SCIENCE NEWS Technology and Engineering

How to keep drones flying when a motor fails

January 13, 2021
in Technology and Engineering
0
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

IMAGE

Credit: UZH

As anxious passengers are often reassured, commercial aircrafts can easily continue to fly even if one of the engines stops working. But for drones with four propellers – also known as quadcopters – the failure of one motor is a bigger problem. With only three rotors working, the drone loses stability and inevitably crashes unless an emergency control strategy sets in.

Researchers at the University of Zurich and the Delft University of Technology have now found a solution to this problem: They show that information from onboard cameras can be used to stabilize the drone and keep it flying autonomously after one rotor suddenly gives out.

Spinning like a ballerina

“When one rotor fails, the drone begins to spin on itself like a ballerina,” explains Davide Scaramuzza, head of the Robotics and Perception Group at UZH and of the Rescue Robotics grand challenge at NCCR Robotics, which funded the research. “This high-speed rotational motion causes standard controllers to fail unless the drone has access to very accurate position measurements.” In other words, once it starts spinning, the drone is no longer able to estimate its position in space and eventually crashes.

One way to solve this problem is to provide the drone with a reference position through GPS. But there are many places where GPS signals are unavailable. In their study, the researchers solved this issue for the first time without relying on GPS, instead using visual information from different types of onboard cameras.

Event cameras work well in low light

The researchers equipped their quadcopters with two types of cameras: standard ones, which record images several times per second at a fixed rate, and event cameras, which are based on independent pixels that are only activated when they detect a change in the light that reaches them.

The research team developed algorithms that combine information from the two sensors and use it to track the quadrotor’s position relative to its surroundings. This enables the onboard computer to control the drone as it flies – and spins – with only three rotors. The researchers found that both types of cameras perform well in normal light conditions. “When illumination decreases, however, standard cameras begin to experience motion blur that ultimately disorients the drone and crashes it, whereas event cameras also work well in very low light,” says first author Sihao Sun, a postdoc in Scaramuzza’s lab.

Increased safety to avoid accidents

The problem addressed by this study is a relevant one, because quadcopters are becoming widespread and rotor failure may cause accidents. The researchers believe that this work can improve quadrotor flight safety in all areas where GPS signal is weak or absent.

https://youtu.be/Ww8u0KH7Ugs

###

Literature:

Sihao Sun, Giovanni Cioffi, Coen de Visser, Davide Scaramuzza: Autonomous Quadrotor Flight despite Rotor Failure with Onboard Vision Sensors: Frames vs. Events. January 5, 2021, IEEE Robotics and Automation Letter. DOI: 10.1109/LRA.2020.3048875

Media Contact
Prof. Davide Scaramuzza
[email protected]

Original Source

https://www.media.uzh.ch/en/Press-Releases/2021/Keep-Drones-Flying.html

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/LRA.2020.3048875

Tags: Algorithms/ModelsComputer ScienceElectrical Engineering/ElectronicsIndustrial Engineering/ChemistryMechanical EngineeringMultimedia/Networking/Interface DesignRobotry/Artificial IntelligenceTechnology/Engineering/Computer ScienceTransportation/Travel
Share25Tweet16Share4ShareSendShare
  • Machine learning goes with the flow

    65 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 16
  • Dinosaurs took over amid ice, not warmth, says a new study of ancient mass extinction

    66 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 17
  • Only through international cooperation can AI improve patient lives

    64 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 16
  • Cosmological thinking meets neuroscience in new theory about brain connections

    67 shares
    Share 27 Tweet 17
  • COVID-19 fattens up our body’s cells to fuel its viral takeover

    92 shares
    Share 37 Tweet 23
  • New research supports risk-based prostate cancer screening

    65 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 16
ADVERTISEMENT

About us

We bring you the latest science news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Latest NEWS

COVID-19 fattens up our body’s cells to fuel its viral takeover

nTIDE May 2022 COVID Update: Uncertainty about inflation tempers good news for people with disabilities

Famous Sterkfontein Caves deposit 1 million years older than previously thought

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 190 other subscribers

© 2022 Scienmag- Science Magazine: Latest Science News.

No Result
View All Result
  • HOME PAGE
  • BIOLOGY
  • CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
  • MEDICINE
    • Cancer
    • Infectious Emerging Diseases
  • SPACE
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • CONTACT US

© 2022 Scienmag- Science Magazine: Latest Science News.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
Posting....