[LINK] } Quadracopter Privacy Heads-up

[Tom Worthington]

Tom Koltai wrote:
> The Hybrid Systems Lab at University of  Berkeley  has developed a 3D
> viewing object aware Quadracopter ...

Use of 3D video is not new for aircraft control. The Airbus A330 Multi
Role Tanker Transport, ordered for the the Royal Australian Air Force,
is offered with an optional 3D interface for flying the refuelling boom
from aircraft:
<http://www.a330mrtt.com/MRTTSolution/Tanker/tabid/160/LiveTabId/6305/Default.aspx>.

The boom is a fuel pipe extended from the tail of the aircraft with
small wings on it. An operator "flys" the boom remotely, guiding it into
a receptacle on a receiving aircraft.

Previously the boom operator had to sit in a cramped cabin in the tail
of the tanker aircraft, looking out a window and try to judge the
location of the end of the boom (aided by lights at night). Now they can
sit in the cockpit at the front of the plane and use a 2D/3D screen with
cameras zoomed in on the end of the boom, with low light vision for night.


-- 
Tom Worthington FACS CP HLM, TomW Communications Pty Ltd. t: 0419496150
PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617, Australia  http://www.tomw.net.au
Adjunct Senior Lecturer, School of Computer Science, The
Australian National University http://cs.anu.edu.au/courses/COMP7310/
Visiting Scientist, CSIRO ICT Centre: http://bit.ly/csiro_ict_canberra