Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Crazyflie Drone Swarm Technology
So, more than twenty years ago, I'm sitting and reading the novel The Diamond Age, and I'm struck by a particular passage in which science fiction author Neal Stephenson wrote about a swarm of devices tasked with surveillance and security - the dog pod grid:
These pods were programmed to hang in space in a hexagonal grid pattern about ten centimeters apart...
And now I'm sitting at my computer and watching this video, in which the firm Bitcraze has come up with a way to program this swarm of 27 gram drones to fly as a coordinated unit:
Atlantis/Shanghai occupied the loftiest ninety percent of New Chusan's land area - an inner plateau about a mile above sea level, where the air was cooler and cleaner. Parts of it were marked off with a lovely wrought-iron fence, but the real border was defended by something called the dog pod grid - a swarm of quasi-independent aerostats...
(Read more about Stephenson's dog pod grid)
(Bitcraze Crazyflie micro drone swarm video)
Their ‘Crazyflie’ tech has now caught the eyes of Nasa, as well as Microsoft and Ericsson. But getting the miniscule flying machines up to scratch has been a long process, one of their founders told The Local.“We’ve been working on them since 2009 and have evolved them in iterations. In the beginning it was fairly simple, but the system has progressed into a more mature and autonomous drone over time,” Bitcraze co-founder Tobias Antonsson said.
While Antonsson didn’t want to go into too much detail about what Nasa are testing the drones for, he did say that their ability to fly in swarms was an attractive prospect for the space agency.
“All I can say is that they are looking at swarm technology. How to solve a task faster with a swarm as opposed to a single drone. As the Crazyflie platform is small, light and safe, it’s a great tool to study these kind of things,” he explained.
I really think I've seen this idea before, and now it exists in real life.
Via The Local.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 9/28/2017)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Engineering ")
3D-Printed Exoskeleton Learns From Your Hand
'...small electric motors at the principal joints worked the prosthetic framework by means of steel cables...' - Fritz Leiber, 1968
Smartwatch Powered By Slime Mold
'Living protoplasm incorporated into the Ampek F-a2 recording system...' - Philip K. Dick, 1966
Carpentopod Walking Table
'Twoflower's Luggage, which was currently ambling along on its little legs...'
Quaise Uses Beams Of Energy To Dig Geothermal Wells
'The peculiar quality of this light, which gave it its great preeminence over all other penetrating rays...' - Frank Stockton, 1897.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Russians Create Robot Tank Platoons
'The remotely-operated robot tank is an old idea...'
3D-Printed Exoskeleton Learns From Your Hand
'...small electric motors at the principal joints worked the prosthetic framework by means of steel cables...'
Smartwatch Powered By Slime Mold
'Living protoplasm incorporated into the Ampek F-a2 recording system...'
Unmanned Boats Attack At Sea
'The autofreighter smashed into the boat...'
Carpentopod Walking Table
'Twoflower's Luggage, which was currently ambling along on its little legs...'
Iron Drone Raider Counter-UAV Operations
'You've got an aggressive machine up in the air now.'
SpaceX Rocket Shuttle Point-To-Point On Earth
'He came to as the ship went into free flight, arching in a high parabola over the plains...'
Quaise Uses Beams Of Energy To Dig Geothermal Wells
'The peculiar quality of this light, which gave it its great preeminence over all other penetrating rays...'
Robots Repair And Modify Themselves
'The overworked leg motor would have to cool down before he could work on it...'
Waymo And Tesla 'Autonomous Cabs' Are Piloted By Remote Drivers
‘Where to, sport?’ the starter at cab relay asked.
Robot Janitors Get To Work
'A few mechanical cleaning devices crept here and there...'
Robots Learn To Install Charged Batteries Into Themselves
This is nothing new for science fiction fans!
Robot Rabbits Entice Pythons
'That little robot rabbit knew what it was talking about...'
LLM 'Cognitive Core' Now Evolving
'Their only check on the growth and development of Vulcan 3 lay in two clues: the amount of rock thrown up to the surface... and the amount of the raw materials and tools and parts which the computer requested.'
Has Elon Musk Given Up On Mars?
'There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.'
Bacteria Turns Plastic Into Pain Relief? That Gives Me An Idea.
'I guess there's nobody round this table who doesn't have a Crosswell [tapeworm] working for him in the small intestine.'
