Robotic Helicopter Test Flights Succeed

Members of the Berkeley Aerial Robot (BEAR) program have successfully conducted a series of field tests with 130-pound helicopters that not only fly autonomously -- with no human control -- but that also react to avoid obstacles in their flight path.

"Our BEAR group is the first to successfully develop a system where autonomous helicopters can detect obstacles, stationary or moving, and recompute their course in real-time to reach the original target destination," said David Hyunchul Shim, a research engineer on the project, which is based at the University of California, Berkeley.

The researchers say they are inching towards a future of robocopters that could maneuver through forests or city streets.

The development of reliable systems that can handle obstacle-avoidance tasks is still several years away, they say, but the computational foundations for such unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been laid.

In the image above, an autonomous helicopter maneuvers above a test site. In the inset, Shim inspects one prior to a recent field demonstration.

-- LiveScience Staff

Credit: UC Berkeley