MU receives $3.3 million Army research grant to develop autonomous drones using AI
One day, autonomous drones using artificial intelligence could survey scenes like the Baltimore bridge collapse to search for survivors, or even inspect bridges to detect maintenance needs.
Those are some of the potential future benefits of a $3.3 million grant to the University of Missouri from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, said Kannappan Palaniappan, MU curator's distinguished professor of electrical engineering and computer science.
"Our goal it to improve the autonomous capability of drones for navigating and collecting information," Palaniappan said.
Researchers will develop software using artificial intelligence, allowing the drones to have a three dimensional view of an area and situational awareness, he said.
"The drone will understand the scene and navigate like we would if we had a map in our heads," Palaniappan said.
The grant requires the drones to be able to operate without a GPS signal. That can happen when cars are in urban canyons of tall buildings or driving through overpasses or in adversarial situations where a GPS signal is jammed, Palaniappan said.
Self-driving cars have some of the features, but use lasers with very limited range.
"Similar capabilities are needed for aerial drones, so the drones can make autonomous decisions when it's not receiving signals" from satellites or a pilot, he said.
He also talked about potential dangers of the technology.
"There's always two sides," Palaniappan said. "I think privacy is one of the risks."
But it's a risk even if the drone isn't autonomous, he said.
"One of the benefits of a drone is you could have a roof inspected without climbing a ladder," he said of one of the common uses now.
"Overall the idea is a huge unknown in the media and in society," Palaniappan said. "There's a huge opportunity to use AI in an effective way to improve our lives."
Military uses also are part of the grant, he said.
"The grant in particular is meant to improve the situational awareness and safety of soldiers on the battlefield," he said.
Other MU researchers on the project include Prasad Calyam, Filiz Bunyak and Joshua Fraser. Researchers from Saint Louis University, the University of California-Berkeley and University of Florida also are involved.
Roger McKinney is the Tribune's education reporter. You can reach him at rmckinney@columbiatribune.com or 573-815-1719. He's on X at @rmckinney9.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: $3.3M grant to MU could lead to AI drones surveying disasters
