I M A G E B Y R I K O B E S T

Drones Take Flight

Engineering a fully autonomous drone is rife with challenges—particularly in busy and complex urban areas.

First, they are not like the autonomous vehicles that operate on land. UAVs have extreme space and weight restrictions. Whereas a car can potentially have dozens, even hundreds, of sensors mounted across its surface, a drone can accommodate the weight of only a few.

Second, UAVs move in almost every direction in a three-dimensional (3D) space, while a motor vehicle operates on a two-dimensional plane. This makes designing software and algorithms for UAVs exponentially more complex.

Finally, the simple fact these machines are suspended in the air and constantly moving introduces additional challenges and risks.

Today, most UAVs operate on a line-of-sight basis. Essentially, a person uses a transmitter, typically operating in the 2.4GHz frequency band,

AS DRONES HAVE matured into smarter and more practical machines, they have hummed, buzzed, and whirred their way into industries as diverse as movie production, agriculture, civil engineering, and insurance. It is entirely clear that autonomous drones will play a prominent role in business in the coming years. Firms such as Amazon, FedEx, and Uber have experimented with the technology to deliver packages, food, and more, while military agencies, emergency responders, gaming companies, entertainment firms, and others have explored other possibilities.

“Drones introduce far more efficient ways to accomplish some tasks,” says Todd Curtis, president of Airsafe. com, a site that tracks drone and other aeronautic technologies.

Powering more advanced drones are more sophisticated on-board sensors and processors, better artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, and more advanced controllers and communication systems. In addition, engineers are packing greater numbers of sensors into drones—and using them in different combinations—to create greater “awareness” of the surrounding environment. This sensing, when combined with GPS and other navigation capabilities, allows drones to tackle more advanced autonomous tasks, including devices that explore caverns or other hard-to-reach spaces, as well as underwater drones that conduct research by scanning oceans.

Yet, despite rapidly evolving capa-
bilities, it also is clear that autono-
mous drones have not completely
mastered the art and science of navi-
gating and accomplishing their des-
ignated task. Buildings, birds, power
lines, trees and people remain formi-
dable obstacles for autonomous Un-
manned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), as they
are known. Fog, snow, smoke, and dust
present additional challenges.

It is one thing to showcase a drone in a controlled environment; it is quite another to have it operate flawlessly in the wild. UAVs must have near-perfect vision and sensing, as well as the ability to navigate areas where satellite and communications signals cannot reach and need backup and fail-safe systems that can take control of the drone if/ when something goes astray.

“We are seeing remarkable advances in onboard sensing and processing, but also the use of far more sophisticated AI (artificial intelligence) algorithms in drones,” says Nathan Michael, associate research professor at the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University. “These navigation and control systems are moving drones beyond the basic ability to fly from Point A to Point B. They’re making it possible for drones to understand the world around them and make complex decisions in real time.”

When Drones Fly
Drone technology is poised to enter the mainstream of business
and society, but engineering robust controls remains a challenge.

Technology | DOI: 10.1145/3360913 Samuel Greengard