Alabama Patent of the Month – May 2022
Performance Drone Works, LLC are experts in the industry of drones, quadcopters, and other unmanned aerial vehicles. These aircrafts can move at high speed and make rapid changes in direction if the remote pilot is skilled enough. This precision is especially important in drone racing, where the course provides obstacles and curves to be maneuvered.
Recently, Performance Drone Works developed a reliable debugging method to ensure this remote piloting is as accurate as possible and can also replace a human pilot. This means piloting can be both remote and autonomous. Their solution utilizes artificial intelligence (AI). The AI controller is a separate AI algorithm from the flight controller and provides input to the flight controller to better pilot the drone. The drone can then switch between autonomous and remote piloting midair.
Alongside controlling the quadcopter or drone, the system gathers data during flight to inform debugging and fine tuning as it goes. When flying in a simulated environment, accurate timestamping can be used to identify the exact point when an error occurred. A debugger then steps through the operations of the drone simulator and the AI control code to identify the source of the AI code error. In this way, the system is in a constant state of improvement.
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