New DFG Project
A new DFG project which is jointly financed by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) has been approved. We will collaborate with the Johannes Kepler University in Linz and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Oberpfaffenhofen. The goal of the project is the use of autonomous drone swarms for rescue applications. Here, drones can imitate the swarming behavior of birds to always have an optimal view for rescue purposes.
Considering the current high level of attention that is being paid to drones, it is easy to overlook the enormous potential that they bring with them in civilian areas. Drone groups are establishing themselves worldwide in blue light organizations such as the police, fire brigade and mountain rescue to use this technology to save human lives. Search and rescue operations benefit, among other things, from the flexible, fast and - compared to helicopters - inexpensive and safe use of drones. They are also used in the inspection of disaster areas, for the early detection of forest fires, for border security, or wildlife observation. The problem with all these applications is always the occlusion caused by vegetation, such as forest, which usually makes it impossible to find, detect, and track people, animals or vehicles in single aerial photographs. This project is based on the "Airborne Optical Sectioning" (AOS) imaging method developed at the Johannes Kepler University and will study further potentials of the swarms.