A team of Swiss
researchers from the University of Zurich and the Dalle Molle Institute
for Artificial Intelligence have developed a machine learning program
that quadcopters can use to identify and follow man-made trails through
the forest. The research team hopes that this technology can be used in
conjunction with search and rescue operations, but it's not hard to
imagine law enforcement sending a swarm of drones after a kind
fellow who happens to be on the lam.
Software
to autonomously guide a quadcopter through a heavily wooded area is
rather complex by necessity. A movement command that is received a
moment too late or too soon can have your drone smashing into a tree. So
the research team developed a deep neural network, or a set of
artificial-intelligence algorithms that allows the software to analyze
previous actions and consequences to make future decisions. A research paper outlining the researchers' program was published in the journal IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters.
University of Zurich
"While
drones flying at high altitudes are already being used commercially,
drones cannot yet fly autonomously in complex environments, such as
dense forests," said Davide Scaramuzza, a professor at the University of
Zurich, in a press release.
"In these environments, any little error may result in a crash, and
robots need a powerful brain in order to make sense of the complex world
around them."
More
than 20,000 images of hiking trails were fed into the program to teach
it to distinguish between the path of the trail and surrounding hazards.
When the program was shown a new trail it hadn't seen before, it was
able to pick the correct direction 85 percent of the time. Humans were
given a similar test and only selected the correct path 82 percent of
the time.
But there is
still a major hurdle that needs to be cleared before a drone can be used
to assist in a rescue operation (or hunt down fugitives). The AI
program also needs to be programmed to recognize humans so it can stop,
or fly up into the air and send out a light signal, or fire a net gun.
"One
day robots will work side by side with human rescuers to make our lives
safer," promises Luca Maria Gambardella, a director for the Dalle Molle
Institute for Artificial Intelligence.
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