Multicopter navigates autonomously through mine

A flying robot equipped with an on-board stereo camera and sensors has autonomously navigated its way through a mine.

Developed by researchers at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the multicopter was given a defined destination and then tasked with navigating autonomously to its target by creating a map of the test site using its onboard equipment.

‘We deliberately selected a location in which the challenges faced by the navigation system were particularly demanding,’ said Korbinian Schmid from the DLR Robotics and Mechatronics Center.

According to DLR, the airborne system found its way through the mine’s passageways, demonstrating for the first time the principle of autonomous flight under challenging environmental conditions and without external navigation aids such as GPS.

DLR believe future systems would fly into buildings in disaster-stricken areas, or map changes in mines over a long period.

Facing difficult lighting conditions at a coalmine in Recklinghausen, Germany the flying robot was asked to overcome air turbulence in the narrow passages, swirling dust, an uneven floor, slanted walls and obstacles such as machines and generators while arriving safely at the destination its operator had pre-defined over a wireless network.