Thursday, March 31, 2011

Kinect use on Quadrocopter

MIT's robotics has taken the Microsoft Kinect, that you use with the Xbox, and use it on a UAV quadrocopter (unmanned aerial vehicle, quad-motored helicopter). Using the University of Washington's SLAM (Simultaneous Localization And Mapping) it can do autonomous 3-D mapping and flight which comes in handy for areas that aren't compatible with GPS and does the processing on the quadrocopter itself using the sensors of the Kinect. It can also tell whether there is any movement with it's IMU (inertial measurement unit). I'm sure that because it is being sponsored by the Office of Naval Research and the Army Research Office that it's uses in the field will be invaluable as our soldiers will remain safe while mapping out dangerous areas and can tell where there are people as well.

Links for more information:
http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-03/video-mits-quadrocopter-carries-kinect-autonomous-flying
http://www.geek.com/articles/geek-cetera/kinect-hacked-to-make-uav-quadrocopter-20110331/

Video of the Kinect in action on a Quadrocopter

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