Flying Smartphones: Automated Flight Enabled by Consumer Electronics
Giuseppe Loianno, Gareth Cross, Chao Qu, Yash Mulgaonkar, Joel A. Hesch, Vijay Kumar

Citation
Giuseppe Loianno, Gareth Cross, Chao Qu, Yash Mulgaonkar, Joel A. Hesch, Vijay Kumar. "Flying Smartphones: Automated Flight Enabled by Consumer Electronics". IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine, 22(2):24-32, June 2015.

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 interests of companies such as Google, Apple and Qualcomm in high-end communication devices equipped with such sensors as cameras and IMUs, and with significant computational capability. Google, for instance, is developing a customized phone equipped with conventional as well as depth cameras. This work explores the potential for rapid integration of this 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 smart phones) can be integrated through a 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 3D maps for exploring and mapping indoor buildings with application to smart homes, search and rescue and architecture. This opens up, in the future, the possibility for any consumer to take a commercially available robot platform and a smart phone and automate the process of creating a 3D map of his/her home or office.

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Citation formats

• HTML

  Giuseppe Loianno, Gareth Cross, Chao Qu, Yash  Mulgaonkar,
  Joel A. Hesch, Vijay Kumar. <a
  href="http://www.terraswarm.org/pubs/337.html"
  >Flying Smartphones: Automated Flight Enabled by Consumer
  Electronics</a>, <i>IEEE Robotics &
  Automation Magazine</i>, 22(2):24-32, June 2015.

• Plain text

  Giuseppe Loianno, Gareth Cross, Chao Qu, Yash  Mulgaonkar,
  Joel A. Hesch, Vijay Kumar. "Flying Smartphones:
  Automated Flight Enabled by Consumer Electronics".
  <i>IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine</i>,
  22(2):24-32, June 2015.

• BibTeX

  @article{LoiannoCrossQuMulgaonkarHeschKumar15_FlyingSmartphonesAutomatedFlightEnabledByConsumerElectronics,
      author = {Giuseppe Loianno and Gareth Cross and Chao Qu and
                Yash  Mulgaonkar and Joel A. Hesch and Vijay Kumar},
      title = {Flying Smartphones: Automated Flight Enabled by
                Consumer Electronics},
      journal = {IEEE Robotics \& Automation Magazine},
      volume = {22},
      number = {2},
      pages = {24-32},
      month = {June},
      year = {2015},
      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
                interests of companies such as Google, Apple and
                Qualcomm in high-end communication devices
                equipped with such sensors as cameras and IMUs,
                and with significant computational capability.
                Google, for instance, is developing a customized
                phone equipped with conventional as well as depth
                cameras. This work explores the potential for
                rapid integration of this 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 smart phones) can be integrated
                through a 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 3D
                maps for exploring and mapping indoor buildings
                with application to smart homes, search and rescue
                and architecture. This opens up, in the future,
                the possibility for any consumer to take a
                commercially available robot platform and a smart
                phone and automate the process of creating a 3D
                map of his/her home or office. },
      URL = {http://terraswarm.org/pubs/337.html}
  }
  

Posted by Barb Hoversten on 15 Jul 2014.
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