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Autonomous Quadcopter Uses A Smartphone to Navigate

An autonomous quadcopter designed at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Vienna) can navigate through a room on its own, without any human interference or assistance by an external computer. The quadcopter's core element – and most expensive part – is a smartphone. Its camera provides the visual data and its processor acts as the control center. The quadcopter's intelligence, which allows it to navigate, was coded in a smartphone app. A microcontroller adjusts the rotor speed so that the quadcopter flies as steadily as possible. To test the quadcopter's navigational capabilities, the TU Vienna team attached visual codes - similar to QR-codes - to the floor. Hovering above these codes, the quadcopter recognizes them, obtains information, and creates a map of its environment. Once it has created a virtual map of the codes on the floor, it can head for a specific known location or go on exploring new areas.

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    Transcript

    00:00:01 Usually, quadcopters are steered with remote controls. This quadcopter, however, which was designed and built at the TU Wien, is completely autonomous. It has a smartphone on board, and using its camera, the quadcopter can explore its environment. The smartphone has enough computing power so that the quadcopter does not have to be connected to any external computer. The quadcopter can explore the room and find its way completely on its own.