Communications of the ACM
Quadcopter Piloted By a Smartphone
Using a smartphone to provide visual information and control processing, researchers at the Vienna University of Technology have built what they describe as a cost-efficient quadcopter that operates completely autonomously.
Credit: Vienna University of Technology
Vienna University of Technology researchers say they have built a cost-efficient quadcopter that operates completely autonomously.
A smartphone is the core element and most expensive part of the quadcopter. The smartphone's camera provides the visual data and its processor serves as the control center.
The team coded the quadcopter's intelligence, which allows it to navigate, in a smartphone app, and a microcontroller adjusts the rotor speed, enabling it to fly as steadily as possible.
Designed to work indoors, the quadcopter does not make use of global positioning system data, but relies entirely on visual data. In testing, the quadcopter created a map of its environment by recognizing visual codes attached to the floor and obtaining information from the codes. Once the machine has generated a virtual map of these codes, it can head for a specific known location or go on exploring areas it has not yet investigated.
"In the future, the quadcopter should also be able to do without these codes," says project chief engineer Annette Mossel. "Instead, we want it to use naturally occurring reference points, which can be obtained from the camera data and also from depth sensors."
From Vienna University of Technology
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