Ascending Technologies' are giving a glimpse of a future in which small flying robots crowd the skies at ILA this year with a Firefly six-rotor unmanned air vehicle.
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| Ascending Technologies' Firefly Copyright: BillyPix |
The German company, based at Krailling, near Oberpfaffenhofen, is a partner in the EU-funded research project "sFly", which envisions a "swarm of micro flying robots".
Firefly is pitched for use in "computer vision-based research applications", such as 3D mapping, flight stabilisation and obstacle avoidance.
A processor board - dubbed Mastermind and in development at Ascending Technologies - is earmarked for delivery of processing power on board the UAS.
Several camera-mount options are available, and the Firefly's inertial measurement unit and payload - of up to 400g - are decoupled from the vibration-inducing motors to ensure sensor accuracy and image quality.
The six-rotor design allows for redundancy in the propulsion system, and the 8in (20cm) propellers are intended to facilitate safety in indoor experiments and lack of impact from winds outdoors.
Source: Flight Daily News
