DARPA’s Fast Lightweight Autonomy (FLA) drones are not only small, but extremely fast as well, as at least one of them achieved a top speed of 45mph during a recorded run. They can also run autonomously, without user input – though early tests required a person to supervise. They are based on the DJI Flame Wheel 450 airframe, equipped iwth 12-inch propellers, cameras, sonar, and even lidar sensors that use sound and light respectively to determine the location of surrounding objects. “The fact that some teams also demonstrated basic autonomous flight ahead of schedule was an added bonus. The challenge for the teams now is to advance the algorithms and onboard computational efficiency to extend the UAVs’ perception range and compensate for the vehicles’ mass to make extremely tight turns and abrupt maneuvers at high speeds,” said Mark Micire, DARPA program manager. Click here to view the first image in today’s viral picture gallery. Continue reading for the five most popular viral videos today, including one explaining why the date 01/01/1970 bricks your iPhone.
