{"id":24182,"date":"2022-08-08T15:05:02","date_gmt":"2022-08-08T14:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/?p=24182"},"modified":"2022-08-08T15:05:02","modified_gmt":"2022-08-08T14:05:02","slug":"nasa-awards-funding-to-optimise-the-navigation-of-autonomous-drones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/nasa-awards-funding-to-optimise-the-navigation-of-autonomous-drones\/24182\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA awards funding to optimise the navigation of autonomous drones"},"content":{"rendered":"
The University of Cincinnati and VISIMO are among 257 small businesses and 41 public institutions across the United States that will utilise a share of $50 million in Small Business Innovation Research grants from NASA. The collaboration will see the development of advanced navigation technologies for autonomous drones.<\/p>\n
Pam Melroy, the Deputy Administrator of NASA, commented: “NASA is working on ambitious, groundbreaking missions that require innovative solutions from a variety of sources, especially our small businesses.”<\/p>\n
Professor Kelly Cohen of the University of Cincinnati College of Engineering and Applied Science aerospace engineering will lead the project with VISIMO, which is based in Carnegie, Pennsylvania. The partnership will develop a cutting-edge testing environment that will enable to team to assess the safety and stability of Artificial Intelligence<\/a> (AI) models used in autonomous drones.<\/p>\n The team will use a 3D simulation to evaluate the complex sensor fusion and decision-making routines required for the real-time navigation of autonomous drones. The grant application states that the simulations will ensure that the AI is tested in situations with cascading failures in emergency situations, such as a sudden storm that disables a drone’s sensor or cameras.<\/p>\n Moreover, the project will create a testing environment that can verify the algorithms employed in autonomous drones are safe to use in the national airspace. The team will also design tools to validate the algorithms used in autonomous flight for vehicle health, sensor fusion, prognostics, decision-making, and cooperative planning.<\/p>\n