Mini Drones That Can See In The Dark

Camera-armed multi-rotor drones take great pictures…during the day. But if they are to guide themselves through darkened rooms and buildings, they need to see in low-light conditions while quickly moving.

A new type of visual sensor developed by Swiss researchers will allow drones to see as human eyes do. That will enable small drones to be more useful in both “civilian and military applications,” such as finding people trapped in rubble or during complex urban warfare scenarios, the research team’s head said.

Conventional cameras work by collecting lots of information about light (specifically, its intensity). They treat all the data equally, which is fine for taking single pictures. But when the light is low, or when the camera is moving, as it would on a drone, that technique produces blurred pictures that don’t convey any useful information.  

The Dynamic Vision Sensor, or DVS, works differently. “Instead of wastefully sending entire images at fixed frame rates, only the local pixel-level changes caused by movement in a scene are transmitted, at the time they occur,” explained David Scaramuzza, one of the paper’s authors and the head of the Director of the Robotics Perception Group at the University of Zurich.

The DVS works much more the way an eye does, looking for areas of the field where there is some change in the light intensity. Focusing on such changes, which Scaramuzza called “events,” can help the entire system to see both movement and edges in low light much more efficiently.

In their paper, Scaramuzza’s team describe a hybrid approach that uses the DVS event camera to transmit data about changes in brightness as well as collecting standard frames.

They conducted two experiments, including the first autonomous flight of a drone using an event camera. In one experiment, they switched the light on and off as the drone flew around the room, forcing it to focus on the events, coupled with measurements it gathered while the light was on. In the second one, the drone flew autonomously, in darkness, in ever-faster circles to see how will the technique worked when the drone was moving quickly.

They found that their DVS-equipped drone saw 130 percent better than a similar system relying exclusively on event data and 85 percent better than a system relying only on standard data.

The University of Zurich researchers worked with the Swiss research consortium NCCR Robotics in the effort, which was partially funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA.
 
The US military is increasingly concerned with how to wage war in dense urban environments, particularly where GPS signals are blocked or are hard to acquire.

DefenseOne:

You Might Also Read:

Drones, Satellites And Cyber Warfare:

Drones For Rail & Road Tunnel Inspections:

 

« US Air Force Hacked By Teenager
What Is Edge Computing? »

Infosecurity Europe
CyberSecurity Jobsite
Perimeter 81

Directory of Suppliers

Clayden Law

Clayden Law

Clayden Law advise global businesses that buy and sell technology products and services. We are experts in information technology, data privacy and cybersecurity law.

North Infosec Testing (North IT)

North Infosec Testing (North IT)

North IT (North Infosec Testing) are an award-winning provider of web, software, and application penetration testing.

Alvacomm

Alvacomm

Alvacomm offers holistic VIP cybersecurity services, providing comprehensive protection against cyber threats. Our solutions include risk assessment, threat detection, incident response.

ZenGRC

ZenGRC

ZenGRC (formerly Reciprocity) is a leader in the GRC SaaS landscape, offering robust and intuitive products designed to make compliance straightforward and efficient.

LockLizard

LockLizard

Locklizard provides PDF DRM software that protects PDF documents from unauthorized access and misuse. Share and sell documents securely - prevent document leakage, sharing and piracy.

IONU Security

IONU Security

IONU offer a security platform focused specifically on providing Data-centric Security.

Niksun

Niksun

Niksun's forensics-based cyber security and network performance monitoring products provide customers with actionable insight into security threats, performance issues, and compliance risks.

FoxGuard

FoxGuard

FoxGuard develops customized cyber security, compliance and industrial computing solutions for critical infrastructure entities and control system vendors.

Euro-Recycling

Euro-Recycling

Euro-Recycling is a leading UK provider of Secure On-Site Data Media Destruction Services.

Datacentrix

Datacentrix

Datacentrix provides end-to-end cybersecurity services for the operational technology (OT) and IT environments to monitor, assess and defend our customers' information assets.

United Network Technologies

United Network Technologies

United Network Technologies is a leading Managed Services Provider, distributor and developer of specialised cyber security components and technologies.

Police CyberAlarm

Police CyberAlarm

Police CyberAlarm is a free tool to help members understand and monitor malicious cyber activity. This service is made up of two parts; monitoring and vulnerability scanning.

CommandK

CommandK

CommandK provides companies with infrastructure to protect their sensitive data. Built-in solutions to prevent data-leaks and simplify governance.

Colt Technology Services

Colt Technology Services

Colt Technology Services (Colt) is a global digital infrastructure company which creates extraordinary connections to help businesses succeed.

SecurityBridge

SecurityBridge

SecurityBridge provide a cybersecurity connection between our customers’ IT departments, the forward-facing business services, and their SAP applications.

Thoropass

Thoropass

Thoropass (formerly Laika) helps you get and stay compliant with smart software and expert services.

Knowit

Knowit

Knowit support customers in the digital transformation, simplify people’s everyday lives and create secure and innovative solutions enabling a sustainable future.

GoCloud Systems

GoCloud Systems

GoCloud is an IT consulting firm. We provide IT strategy and cloud adoption services to the New Zealand Government, Non-Profit Organisations and private industry.

Tech Data

Tech Data

Tech Data, a TD Synnex company, is a leading global distributor and solutions aggregator for the IT ecosystem.

Black Duck Software

Black Duck Software

Black Duck (formerly the Synopsys Software Integrity Group) is the market leader in application security testing (AST).

CyVent

CyVent

CyVent helps you select the right cybersecurity solutions at the right price for your unique situation, without the need to invest endless time evaluating the ever-evolving options.