Communications of the ACM
Tiny Airplanes and Subs From niversity of Florida Laboratory Could Be Next Hurricane Hunters
Autonomous flying drones like this one are being developed to gather real-time information on hurricanes.
Credit: Eric Zamora/University of Florida
Researchers at the University of Florida believe miniature unmanned vehicles could be used to predict the strength and path of hurricanes.
The university's Institute for Networked Autonomous Systems is developing tiny airplanes and submarines to swarm over, under, and through storms. The autonomous craft would spy on hurricanes at close range; use onboard sensors to collect data on pressure, temperature, humidity, location, and time; and transmit the data in real time to enable scientists to determine their intensity and trajectory. Some of the machines fly, while others are designed to dart under waves.
"Our vehicles don't fight the hurricane; we use the hurricane to take us places," says lab director and Florida professor Kamran Mohseni.
The prototypes are just six inches long, weigh about the same as an iPod Nano, and cost about $250 each. Even launched hundreds at a time, they would lower the cost of hurricane reconnaissance.
The vehicles also include a cooperative control algorithm that enables them to form a network and learn from the data they collect, which makes them useful for applications beyond hurricanes. Mohseni says the machines could be tested in a real-world storm in two or three years with adequate funding.
From University of Florida News
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