MORE - Researchers at Purdue University have developed a quadcopter that can independently map its surroundings using LiDAR, predict a person’s movements even when they are obscured by trees, and navigate around obstacles. All computations are performed onboard, without cloud services.
Aniket Bera, head of the IDEAS Lab, said that genuine embodied AI must run on a chip rather than in the cloud.
For now, this is only a research demonstration, not a finished product. The drone’s speed is relatively low, and some of its navigation techniques are based on open-source work by other laboratories.
The technology is seen as promising for search-and-rescue operations and missions in areas where GPS is unavailable or jammed.
