New Drone Tech Helps It Brave Any Weather Autonomously

Drone usage is an avenue of transport and delivery that is underutilized, mainly because of how weather can greatly affect a drone in flight. During storms and heavy winds, drones are not equipped to fly through them to get to their destination. However, engineers at the California Institute of Technology are currently working on ways to train a drone to navigate its way through a storm.  

A software called ‘Neural-Fly’ is being developed as a deep-learning system within the drones to learn in real-time how to fly through everchanging weather conditions, utilizing artificial intelligence and machine learning to help drones change flying patterns when caught in adverse weather conditions.  

Scientists captured data in various weather conditions, using six distinct wind speeds to build a model. ‘Neural-Fly’ was then installed into the drones so that they could learn how to pilot their way through heavy winds.

The drones were put through a wind tunnel for testing and development. Speeds of up to 27mph were forced onto the drones to see how well they did in those conditions. The results showed that not only were strong gusts of winds tolerable, but the drone could also adapt to changing wind patterns.  

Drones are already a boon to society, aiding us in deliveries, emergency rescues, wildlife conservation, remote exploration, and even helping us understand outer space. With this advancement in technology, there could be a whole host of other duties drones can soon perform. 

[via Auto Evolution and CNN, cover image via California Institute of Technology]