$500 drone calculates its place with digital camera, Google Maps
A crew of drone fans have constructed a sub-$500 drone that makes use of a digital camera and Google Maps to supply itself with GPS co-ordinates, eradicating the necessity for a GPS satellite tv for pc sign. And all of this was achieved in 24 hours through the El Segundo Protection Tech Hackathon.
$500 drone without having for a GPS sign
The drone the trio opted for, is a customized and 3D printed fastened wing that includes a big single motor in direction of the rear and a downward dealing with digital camera used for geo-referencing.
The drone makes use of a digital camera mounted beneath it to place itself with imagery from Google Maps highlighting similarities within the pictures to get a tough estimate of the co-ordinates. Doesn’t Google Maps nonetheless require web, you could ask?
Google Maps permits customers to obtain segments of maps forward of time, often to be used if you find yourself travelling or tenting out in distant areas. On this occasion, the crew used this characteristic to their benefit, permitting the drone to proceed working no matter having a GPS satellite tv for pc connection.
Why is that this thrilling?
Without having to depend on an exterior constellation of satellites, the GPS-free drone can proceed working on missions in GPS-denied environments, akin to distant areas or these which have been jammed. Not like Skydio’s approach, which makes use of cameras to place itself, utilizing imagery that doesn’t depend on gentle to work means this drone can fly anyplace on the planet it has imagery for at any time of the day or night time.
This clearly has advantages for the protection trade, who’re all the time making an attempt to advance UAV tech and get round enemy defenses. On high of this, the drone prices below $500 to supply and with manufacturing at quantity even much less.
El Segundo Protection Tech Hackathon
The crew constructed this spectacular drone through the El Segundo Protection Tech Hackathon hosted by 8VC, Entrepreneur First, and Apollo Protection in collaboration with the.
The issue set given to the hackathon groups from the U.S. Division of Protection and the Nationwide Safety Innovation Community (NSIN) centered on counter-UAS, AI/ML, and RF/Digital Warfare.
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