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Research UAV is Preview of Hovering Spy Drones of Tomorrow
Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 12:40 AM on July 4, 2008
Meet STARMAC, the Stanford Testbed of Autonomous Rotorcraft for Multi-Agent Control. Possibly the cleverest remote control mini-helicopter you've ever seen, packed with GPS, sensors and computer power. It's a research quad-rotor that the Stanford team is using to develop algorithms for future aircraft like it.
The algorithms the team develops will allow hovering 'bots like STARMAC to navigate, deal with collisions or avoidance and even to work as a team, sharing info on their environment and navigating around each other.
That has all sorts of cool implications for things like future automated search and rescue drones, able to search large areas efficiently and quickly. But it also means spy 'bots. And when you've watched the video, you'll have to agree that the way the things move reminds you of the flying cameras in (insert name of sci-fi movie of your choice). [Danger Room]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
prouted
Posted 1:53 AM 4/7/08
I feel like in Half Life 2, I just want to shoot these things !!!
prouted
LittleJon
Posted 1:47 AM 4/7/08
Quad-rotor r/c helicopters aren't new, and yes they all look like UFOs. What's novel here is the control and collision avoidance system.
LittleJon
robotleawesome
Posted 1:46 AM 4/7/08
@Joseph: The midwest isn't that bad - I'd actually like to live there, cheap land, low cost of living - and only the southeast midwest is really that bad.
robotleawesome
GadgetPlay
Posted 1:43 AM 4/7/08
@Joseph: Yeah, they're all morons in the "Midewest."
GadgetPlay
robotleawesome
Posted 1:41 AM 4/7/08
Fuck, what's the Google drone doing in here again, didn't this place just get scanned last week?!
robotleawesome
Gann
Posted 1:35 AM 4/7/08
@Joseph: Technically they will have seen a UFO, since they will not have known what it was and it will in fact be flying.
Gann
Rick36
Posted 1:30 AM 4/7/08
You buzz my house with this and I'm getting out the Remington 12ga.
Rick36
ANoel
Posted 1:29 AM 4/7/08
"Search" and "Rescue"
That's what they're calling it these days?
HaHaHaHaHappy 4th of July all!
ANoel
Joseph
Posted 1:23 AM 4/7/08
Fly this over Anytown, Midewest USA and they'll think they saw a UFO.
Joseph
strider_mt2k
Posted 1:22 AM 4/7/08
More Copseyes.
strider_mt2k
oper451
Posted 1:13 AM 4/7/08
Excellent - We are one step closer to SKYNET.... ALL HAIL OUR MACHINE OVERLORDS
oper451
duffyanneal
Posted 1:12 AM 4/7/08
I know to some this is cool and all, but how much more development is needed before it will navigate my house and get me a beer? Tip to the Stanford guys you will need to implement wife, baby, and small fury creature avoidance.
duffyanneal
Gann
Posted 1:09 AM 4/7/08
I wonder what kind of payload one of those could carry. Stable, flying drink tray = win.
Gann
James
Posted 1:06 AM 4/7/08
once we get this power source thing figured out, you won't be able to walk outside w/o seeing some kind of flying drone or security monitor.
James
JDisnidiet
Posted 1:04 AM 4/7/08
ekasbury - you are asking for the banhammer - Giz is written by gods and they are never wrong. Reasearch is the new spelling, and I for one...
JDisnidiet
DustyButt
Posted 1:03 AM 4/7/08
@Kit Eaton: In mother Russia flying dildo beats YOU!
DustyButt
tsatsut
Posted 1:02 AM 4/7/08
yep intel is showing skynet got a better prototype..we gotta embrace for da worst..
tsatsut
Kit Eaton
Posted 1:01 AM 4/7/08
@Curves: You can't beat a flying dildo...
Kit Eaton
Set to evil
Posted 12:57 AM 4/7/08
This is all skynet will need!
Set to evil
ekasbury
Posted 12:55 AM 4/7/08
@ekasbury: Shoot, sorry bout the double post. I'm a dumbass.
ekasbury
adamator
Posted 12:55 AM 4/7/08
@ekasbury: Quick copy edit: You only need to post once.
adamator
ekasbury
Posted 12:54 AM 4/7/08
Quick copy-edit in the headline. Should be "Research."
ekasbury
ekasbury
Posted 12:53 AM 4/7/08
Quick copy-edit there in the headline, should be "Research."
ekasbury
DarthTader
Posted 12:53 AM 4/7/08
@DarthTader *needs
DarthTader
Curves
Posted 12:52 AM 4/7/08
The Navys flying dildos of a couple of days ago were better.
Curves
DarthTader
Posted 12:52 AM 4/7/08
I'd like to see one large enough to help with forest fires, and I thinking it need better and larger landing gear than a box on the bottom.
DarthTader
Tirko
Posted 12:51 AM 4/7/08
basket ball attack. impressive. let's see it take a 12 gauge shotgun blast.
vaporization.
Tirko
Spilt_Milk
Posted 12:51 AM 4/7/08
I wonder how well it would self correct for weapon recoil?
Spilt_Milk
itchytooth
Posted 12:50 AM 4/7/08
Flying cameras? It looks like the flying saucers from Plan 9 From Outer Space!
itchytooth
adamator
Posted 12:46 AM 4/7/08
Nice job Stanford.
But some dude in China built one he could RIDE.
adamator
hardtoremember
Posted 2:08 AM 4/7/08
This is all the Master needs to get started.
hardtoremember
iModo
Posted 2:08 AM 4/7/08
Why not make it round, instead of square? And then add a (quoting with fingers) "laser". I also think a tiny speaker emitting some crazy space sounds is in order.
iModo
SinAmos
Posted 3:07 AM 4/7/08
And the same technology can be used for my automated systems on Brovo MK-3 robo-bunny. That way he could terrorize the local dog population without getting destroyed. Too bad my robot doesn't fly. Note to self: Stop robots sexual anatomy work flow and work stabilizing matrix.
SinAmos
LastVigilante
Posted 4:11 AM 4/7/08
If these things mate with the BigDog Robot, we're all screwed. They'd make a hovering mule army that under no circumstances could we knock to the ground.
LastVigilante
wetworker
Posted 3:58 AM 4/7/08
I wonder how it would stand up against a hand full metal slugs with irregular shapes thrown into it. I just don't trust things like this.
wetworker
aec007
Posted 4:37 AM 4/7/08
WOW, nearly no budget, done by kids in school with off the shelf parts.
All it needs now is a $300,000 ashtray and it's ready for the next military budget allocation....
aec007
SpudMills
Posted 4:18 AM 4/7/08
Can we please get non-geeks to narrate tech videos from now on? If I hear one more stuffy-nosed over-pronunciating dork narrate a video, I'm going to stick an air hose up his nose and blow his adenoids out.
SpudMills
Rick36
Posted 5:22 AM 4/7/08
@robotleawesome: Huh? We lived in the Midwest (medium size, buttf--k central Illinois, university town) for 30+ years. You gotta be kidding! Tornados, heat/humidity, snow/ice, high property taxes, expensive housing, etc.
Rick36
Quicksilver4648
Posted 7:02 AM 4/7/08
Mumble... mumble... mumble... mumble... Seriously, while this kid is atleast 10X smarter then me, could they please get someone else to talk and read from a script.
Quicksilver4648
cnocbui
Posted 9:18 AM 4/7/08
Clever Stanford students, they managed to copy a toy that has been available for several years!
[tinyurl.com]
cnocbui
fluf
Posted 5:32 PM 4/7/08
He forgot to say "Gliven!"
fluf
ilektron
Posted 4:06 AM 4/7/08
@iModo: Something like this?
Look closely and you can see the speaker connected to the PicoITX. Had amarok on it playing music at one point. And its more round. I had contemplated putting a laser on it, too. But there is only so much a person can do in a semester
ilektron