![]() "So between Qualcomm’s work on real-time vision built into their Snapdragon program and Intel’s work on RealSense vision, which is a standalone chip, those things are now going to be driving next year’s drones, and they are going to be available at a cost and speed that we, the drone industry, could never have done on our own." "The good news from CES 2015 is that the semiconductor giants are throwing billions of dollars of research and capacity at problems we, the drone industry, need solved," said Chris Anderson, the CEO of 3D-Robotics. As this and competing technologies come to market, powerful sense and avoid will quickly proliferate across the industry. Intel's technology could transform the drone industryKrzanich said Intel is making the RealSense SDK available to developers now, and expects to start selling the hardware sometime later this year. With RealSense talking to the AscTec Trinity autopilot system, something remarkable happened. It ran an algorithmic chain, processing depth information from six cameras, performing real-time sensor data fusion and state estimation, near-field obstacle avoidance, and path planning navigation. Ascending built a custom PCI-express interface board and used a tiny, lightweight quad-core Intel Atom processor to crunch the data. They took an AscTec Firefly and used lightweight carbon fiber mounts to attach six RealSense cameras on top for 360-degree coverage. Intel partnered with Ascending Technologies, a German company that makes industrial and research grade drones. "Once we had that developed, we learned we could push that into drones." "This is a good example of technology being extended beyond its original intent," said Intel CEO Brian Krzanich. It was powerful sense-and-avoid technology, and it was powered by Intel’s RealSense, a system of camera hardware and software originally developed to allow people to control their computer without having to physically touch their mouse or keyboard. Onstage, they reacted to people who moved towards them, dodging to avoid a collision. Follow mode is cool but very limited on its ownĪt its keynote this year, Intel showed off drones that could fly themselves through a forest, navigating around trees. Luckily, there was one amazing and tangible breakthrough this year, and it came from an unexpected source: Intel. But so far it’s just big claims and vaporware. ![]() ![]() Airdog and Zano claim to have that technology already working in the lab, if not out in the real world yet. However, all of this "follow me" tech is pretty limited in where it can actually be used, because most drones still lack a critical feature needed for autonomous flight: reliable "sense and avoid" technology that can see what’s around and use that data to make smart decisions about how to avoid accidents in real time. Who wouldn’t want that? See all the latest CES 2015 news here › And while not everyone spends their days shredding down a mountain, normal people were offered the ability to launch a drone that shoots an amazing 360-degree selfie. We saw hours of beautiful slow motion footage of extreme athletes capturing themselves in action. Units like the Airdog, Hexo+, Zano, Trace, and Ghost all touted their “follow me” feature, where the drone locks onto you and flies anywhere you go. But if there is one thing social media, smartphones, and selfie sticks have taught us, it’s that most people prefer to be in front of the camera.This year, the big feature drone companies were pushing at CES were units that could fly themselves, acting as your personal cinematographer in the sky. Even old, non-technical folks like Martha Stewart were smitten. It was exciting that flying, a hobby which once took a lot of effort and skill, was suddenly available to anyone. But it was still a flying craft with a camera that required a pilot to operate. They got cheaper, lighter, and easier to use even as they became more powerful. But the basic rules of what a drone was, and what it did, were stable. For the past few years, one of the most exciting class of gadgets on display at CES has been drones.
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