Earlier this week China conducted a curious test: he put a swarm drones to fly together to a target many meters away, dodging obstacles, hills and passing through small spaces in plantations. An experiment carried out by scientists from Zhejiang Universitywas published last Wednesday (4) in the journal Science Robotics and aims to improve rescue and safety operations.

According to the authors of the study, the devices could be used during natural disasters such as earthquakes, where they would identify the most damaged parts and send help. It would also be possible to map threatened structures without the need to send people to them.

The drones used for the tests are independent of GPS and will work in a coordinated manner, collecting real-time information from their operators. As the autonomy of a single machine is reduced, a swarm can be useful in filling this gap.

The project was inspired by the films Star Wars and Blade Runner 2049.

Responsible researchers have some pop culture references – films like Star Wars and Blade Runner 2049 use technology and inspire the authors of the project.

“The ability to navigate and coordinate swarms of drones in these films inspired many. Here we take a step towards this future,” the scientists wrote.

“The inspiration for our work came from birds that fly smoothly in flocks even through dense forests,” he said. Xin Zhou, one of the leaders of the study. Some of the experiences included flying through bamboo groves and people in the path to deflect the devices and keep them in line.

It’s not the first time the swarm has been tested, but the type of place where they’ve been released is unprecedented – other than an environment with obstacles in positions previously known to the machines and tuned in the algorithms.

“This is the first time that a drone swarm has successfully flown outdoors in an unstructured environment, in nature,” he commented. Enrica soriagives Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne, in Switzerland, to the AFP news agency. “[Eles] can determine their own environment, plot it on a map, and then plan their trajectory.”

And it doesn’t stop there: the devices can also be used in military operations, as the main military forces on the planet operate with drones. OUR Pentagon – From US – is interested in technology, and also tests it on his own.

It is not yet known when swarms will be used frequently. Soria says this will depend on more factors than just functionality analysis.

“We’re not that far [disso]”, he commented. “We need to do more tests in ultra-dynamic environments that simulate cities – where vehicles and pedestrians intersect. It will also be necessary to adopt rules, which takes time.”

“In the next few years, we can have very reliable systems,” he concluded.

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Source: UOL