Robot Dragon Fly

• Posted by T Ghosh January 28, 2014 - Filed in Arts & Culture - #military  #spytech  - 1,343 views

  

  This is an autonomous robot !

  The drone  resembling a  dragonfly is the first of its kind to be able to flap its wings and dodges hurdles in the  midflight without a human operator at the controls.

  At Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands , the engineers developed the small drone equipped with transparent wings and a special vision system that enables it to perceive objects in its path. The so-called DelFly Explorer is a Micro Air Vehicle, which is a class of small, insectlike aerial drones that are used for research, commercial, military and commercial purposes.

  The DelFly Explorer is the first Micro Air Vehicle to fly and avoid obstacles autonomously, according to Guido de Croon, an assistant professor in the Micro Air Vehicle Lab at Delft University of Technology.

  The unique thing about the DelFly Explorer is that it can fly all by itself," de Croon said in a video about the drone. "We just plug in the battery, it takes off, it flies around, it avoids obstacles, keeps its height, and it can explore unknown environments."

  The ultra-lightweight DelFly Explorer weighs only 0.7 ounces (20 grams), which is equivalent to just a few sheets of paper. A binocular vision system, consisting of two cameras and a tiny onboard computer, helps the drone detect potential obstacles, in much the same way thathuman brains process images seen with their eyes.