Automatic evasion drone to avoid flying balls

Although technology is advancing, it is not easy to instantaneously solve objects such as flying birds or balls that are moving towards you at high speed. A research team at the University of Zurich has developed a technology that automatically detects objects flying toward the camera and automatically solves them, and actually releases a drone experiment using this technology to attract attention.

If you throw a soccer ball at the drone, the drone automatically changes its trajectory. The drone recognizes the ball flying toward the drone through the mounted camera image. It is possible to properly recognize a ball approaching at a tremendous speed.

According to a research team at the University of Zurich, it is still almost impossible to equip commercial drones with the ability to quickly resolve moving objects. The reason that the drone cannot automatically damage the moving object is because a bottleneck occurs due to the motor response speed and sensor delay installed in the drone. Avoiding the flying ball is an easy task for humans, but it is a highly difficult technique when viewed with a drone.

The drone that the research team used in the experiment was equipped with a sensor inspired by a biological retina called an event camera. Normal cameras can take 30 to 60 photos per second continuously, but event cameras only detect changes in object brightness, so the bottleneck can be solved by reducing data.

Event cameras are not yet common and cost a lot. Therefore, it can be said that a drone equipped with an automatic evasion function by an event camera is still in the laboratory stage. However, if it is realized, it is expected that drones will be able to autonomously avoid flying balls and spears. The research team also announced that it will try to make the automatic evasion function using event cameras a standard for commercial drones. Related information can be found here .