AirBurr, an autonomous flying robot
Autonomous robot navigates using collisions:
Meet the AirBurr, an autonomous flying robot specifically designed for missions in difficult, confined environments under total darkness. Airburr is inspired b the simple navigation strategy that insects use to follow – It follows a path and if it collides, it has an excellent ability to recover.
Check out the video after the break.
This entry was posted in robotics and tagged AirBurr, robot.In this video the AirBurr navigates a corridor and a narrow doorway towards a light source using the signals from 4 simple photodiodes. This strategy is particularly adapted to following faint signals in unstructured, cluttered environments, such as gas leaks in collapsed industrial plants. The AirBurr is then programmed to explore a small room using a random direction algorithm similar to the one used by most robotic vacuum cleaners. This exploration strategy is useful in situations where other sensors cannot be used. It is demonstrated through a flight in a completely dark room where vision-based navigation isn’t possible, and can also be used in smoke-filled environments where laser scanners have trouble functioning correctly.
Comments
I would like to see the position / collision data being sent back to a master PC, where a “map” of the area is located.
Keeping the smarts at the PC should mean the bug is a simplex broadcaster, reducing complexity of data transfer protocol.