Title
Flying Smartphones: Automated Flight Enabled by Consumer Electronics
Abstract
Consumer-grade technology seen in cameras and phones has led to the price-performance ratio falling dramatically over the last decade. We are seeing a similar trend in robots that leverage this technology. A recent development is the interest of companies such as Google, Apple, and Qualcomm in high-end communication devices equipped with such sensors as cameras and inertial measurement units (IMUs) and with significant computational capability. Google, for instance, is developing a customized phone equipped with conventional as well as depth cameras. This article explores the potential for the rapid integration of inexpensive consumer-grade electronics with the off-the-shelf robotics technology for automation in homes and offices. We describe how standard hardware platforms (robots, processors, and smartphones) can be integrated through simple software architecture to build autonomous quadrotors that can navigate and map unknown, indoor environments. We show how the quadrotor can be stabilized and controlled to achieve autonomous flight and the generation of three-dimensional (3-D) maps for exploring and mapping indoor buildings with application to smart homes, search and rescue, and architecture. This opens up the possibility for any consumer to take a commercially available robot platform and a smartphone and automate the process of creating a 3-D map of his/her home or office.
Year
DOI
Venue
2015
10.1109/MRA.2014.2382792
IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine
Keywords
Field
DocType
Cameras,Robot sensing systems,Consumer electronics,Market research,Smart phones,Marketing and sales,Consumer products
Units of measurement,Search and rescue,Simulation,Automation,Phone,Electronics,Artificial intelligence,Engineering,Software architecture,Robot,Robotics,Embedded system
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
22
2
1070-9932
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
6
0.50
17
Authors
6
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Giuseppe Loianno114413.94
Gareth Cross2251.61
Chao Qu3457.86
Yash Mulgaonkar423813.90
Joel A. Hesch527313.62
Vijay Kumar67086693.29