Developers from Grozny have created a swarm of drones to help sappers clear mines.
The unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and their software have been hammered out in a startup studio of the Grozny State Petroleum Technical University, also known by its Russian acronym GGNTU, in the capital of the Chechen Republic in Russia’s North Caucasus.
The swarm includes ten ultra-light drones capable of swiftly scanning a large area and building a map of mines for further demining of hard-to-reach areas.
"Since demining the areas stipulates flying at low altitudes, the UAVs will be equipped with optical systems to track and avoid obstacles," project engineer Islam Salamov told reporters.
According to him, the UAVs will be controlled with the help of a hybrid positioning system, which combines satellite and local communication systems. It allows the drones in flight to exchange information about obstacles in the area and adjust the trajectory of movement, something that facilitates rapid scanning of the territories.
"It is planned that maps of minefields will be created automatically in real-time. During the flight, a swarm of drones will transmit the coordinates and signatures of detected objects to the server, which will subsequently be transferred to a map of the area," Salamov explained.