University of Zürich, Switzerland - AI allows drones to fly at high speeds in unknown environments [Slash Gear, October 2021]

Title:

AI allows drones to fly at high speeds in unknown environments 

 

Author:

Shane McGlaun

 

Published:

Slash Gear, 8 October 2021

https://www.slashgear.com/ai-allows-drones-to-fly-at-high-speeds-in-unknown-environments-08694419/

 

From the article:

Researchers at the University of Zürich developed a new AI technique that allows drones to fly autonomously at high speeds through complicated and unknown environments. The drones were able to accomplish their high-speed flights using only onboard sensing and computation. Researchers believe their approach could allow drones to be more useful during an emergency or on construction sites.

 

CANADA - Precision farming company raises $20M to deploy herbicide-spraying AI drone swarms [DroneDJ, May 2021]

Title:

Precision farming company raises $20M to deploy herbicide-spraying AI drone swarms

 

Author:

Ishveena Singh

 

Published:

DroneDJ, 6 May 2021

https://dronedj.com/2021/05/06/precision-ai-drone-spraying/

 

From the article:

Canada-based agritech startup Precision AI has raised seed funding of $20 million to help the agriculture industry reduce its chemical footprint. Its solution? Deploying swarms of artificially intelligent drones to reduce the use of herbicides in agriculture dramatically.

 

SCOTLAND - Edinburgh's Hogmanay 2020 - Online Celebration (Part 1 & 2) - December 2020 - Beautiful!

Description:

Edinburgh's Hogmanay 2020 - Online Celebration.

Fare Well is a new poem by Jackie Kay that bids farewell to 2020 and wishes a better year for 2021.

 

Narrated by David Tennant and others, Fare Well underscores the UK’s largest swarm drone display, recorded in the Scottish Highlands and cut to spectacular views above Edinburgh.  

 

Published by:

UnderbellyLtd, 29 & 30 December 2020

 

Part One of Fare Well looks at the year gone by – the funerals and weddings cancelled, the griefs and despairs which have been collective, with a feeling that the world has become a village.

 

To watch Part 1: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nV4jNWZlmEU&t=1s

 

Part 2 turns to look at us today and to give thanks for the many acts of community and kindness displayed by so many across the country.

 

To watch Part 2:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LKKmimrsx8

Scholarly Article - Multidrone aerial surveys of penguin colonies in Antarctica [Science Robotics, Volume 5, Issue 47, eabc3000 (28 October 2020)]

Title:

Multidrone aerial surveys of penguin colonies in Antarctica

 

Authors:

Kunal Shah, Grant Ballard, Annie Schmidt & Mac Schwager

 

Published:

Science Robotics, Volume 5, Issue 47, eabc3000 (28 October 2020)

https://robotics.sciencemag.org/content/5/47/eabc3000

 

Abstract:

Speed is essential in wildlife surveys due to the dynamic movement of animals throughout their environment and potentially extreme changes in weather. In this work, we present a multirobot path-planning method for conducting aerial surveys over large areas designed to make the best use of limited flight time. Unlike current survey path-planning solutions based on geometric patterns or integer programs, we solve a series of satisfiability modulo theory instances of increasing complexity. Each instance yields a set of feasible paths at each iteration and recovers the set of shortest paths after sufficient time. We implemented our planning algorithm with a team of drones to conduct multiple photographic aerial wildlife surveys of Cape Crozier, one of the largest Adélie penguin colonies in the world containing more than 300,000 nesting pairs. Over 2 square kilometers was surveyed in about 3 hours. In contrast, previous human-piloted single-drone surveys of the same colony required over 2 days to complete. Our method reduces survey time by limiting redundant travel while also allowing for safe recall of the drones at any time during the survey. Our approach can be applied to other domains, such as wildfire surveys in high-risk weather conditions or disaster response.

 

Scholarly Article (Science Robotics, 15 June 2020) - Field performance of sterile male mosquitoes released from an uncrewed aerial vehicle

Title:
Field performance of sterile male mosquitoes released from an uncrewed aerial vehicle

Authors:
J. Bouyer, N. J. Culbert, A. H. Dicko, M. Gomez Pacheco, J. Virginio, M. C. Pedrosa, L. Garziera, A. T. Macedo Pinto, A. Klaptocz, J. Germann, T. Wallner, G. Salvador-Herranz, R. Argiles Herrero, H. Yamada, F. Balestrino & M. J. B. Vreysen

Published:
Science Robotics, Volume 5, Issue 43, eaba6251 (15 June 2020)
https://robotics.sciencemag.org/content/5/43/eaba6251

Abstract:
Genetic control methods of mosquito vectors of malaria, dengue, yellow fever, and Zika are becoming increasingly popular due to the limitations of other techniques such as the use of insecticides. The sterile insect technique is an effective genetic control method to manage insect populations. However, it is crucial to release sterile mosquitoes by air to ensure homogeneous coverage, especially in large areas. Here, we report a fully automated adult mosquito release system operated from an uncrewed aerial vehicle or drone. Our system, developed and tested in Brazil, enabled a homogeneous dispersal of sterile male Aedes aegypti while maintaining their quality, leading to a homogeneous sterile-to-wild male ratio due to their aggregation in the same sites. Our results indicate that the released sterile males were able to compete with the wild males in mating with the wild females; thus, the sterile males were able to induce sterility in the native female population. The use of drones to implement the sterile insect technique will lead to improvements in areal coverage and savings in operational costs due to the requirement of fewer release sites and field staff.

Microsoft Is Replacing Employees With AI…And Other Small Business Tech News [Forbes, 7 June 2020]

Title:
Microsoft Is Replacing Employees With AI…And Other Small Business Tech News

Author:
Gene Marks

Published:
Forbes, 7 June 2020
https://www.forbes.com/sites/quickerbettertech/2020/06/07/microsoft-is-replacing-employees-with-aiand-other-small-business-tech-news/#53f055c118c8

Focus of article:
This article shows "five things in technology that happened this past week and how they affect your business."

Examples:
* Microsoft is replacing its employees with AI software
* LinkedIn is adding retargeting by video views and lead-generation forms
* A new cybersecurity warning reveals that hackers are targeting your smartphone as a way into company networks

Tech Central, 20 May 2020 - Naspers to invest R100-million in agritech start-up Aerobotics

Title:
Naspers to invest R100-million in agritech start-up Aerobotics

Author:
Duncan McLeod

Published:
Tech Central, 20 May 2020
https://techcentral.co.za/naspers-to-invest-r100-million-in-agritech-start-up-aerobotics/98189/

From the article:
"Naspers has agreed to invest R100-million in South African agriculture-technology start-up Aerobotics, which uses artificial intelligence and drone and satellite imagery to help farmers manage crop health and predict crop yields."

Note: 
Naspers is a global internet group and one of the largest technology investors in the world.

Fast Company, 15 May 2020 - These drones will plant 40,000 trees in a month. By 2028, they’ll have planted 1 billion

Title:
These drones will plant 40,000 trees in a month. By 2028, they’ll have planted 1 billion

Author:
Adele Peters

Published:
Fast Company, 15 May 2020
https://www.fastcompany.com/90504789/these-drones-can-plant-40000-trees-in-a-month-by-2028-theyll-have-planted-1-billion

From the article:
"This week, on land north of Toronto that previously burned in a wildfire, drones are hovering over fields and firing seed pods into the ground, planting native pine and spruce trees to help restore habitat for birds. Flash Forest, the Canadian startup behind the project, plans to use its technology to plant 40,000 trees in the area this month. By the end of the year, as it expands to other regions, it will plant hundreds of thousands of trees."

University of Southern California (2020) - Advanced series of more robust drones are teaching themselves how to fly

Title:
Advanced series of more robust drones are teaching themselves how to fly

Author:
Caitlin Dawson

Published:
TechXplore, 13 March 2020

From the article:
"At the USC Viterbi School of Engineering's Department of Computer Science, researchers have created artificially intelligent drones that can quickly recover when pushed, kicked or when colliding with an object. The autonomous drone "learns" how to recover from a slew of challenging situations thrown at it during a simulation process."

To read this article:
https://techxplore.com/news/2020-03-advanced-series-robust-drones.html