Each January, the editors at the EE Times, go through the list of electronics technologies that are overhyped as well as underexposed, to come up with what they believe will be hot areas during the next 12 months. Personal UAS are the next big toy and physical app.
The magazine chose to highlight research team at the University of Warwick, that flew a prototype UAS inside structurally unsound, hazardous, or radioactive buildings to identify hazards. Flying in these environments requires superior situational awareness, with the operator relying on onboard cameras operating in low-light conditions. Collisions are always a risk.
The Warwick researchers have come up with a UAS that requires only destination coordinates. The prototype uses an Xsens MTi sensor. Xsens combined its sensor-fusion algorithms and wireless protocols with STMicroelectronics’ iNEMO-M1, 9-axis MEMS to demonstrate a wireless 3-D body motion tracking system based on consumer-grade MEMS combo sensors.
Source: Design News