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IPFS News Link • Drones

Gliding Algorithm Lets Drones Surf The Winds For Hours

• http://www.popsci.com, By David Hambling

Launch an unmanned SBXC sailplane into the air with a catapult and it glides lazily down again in about three minutes. But when the sailplane is equipped with software to find plumes of warm air rising from the ground, known as thermals, it can ride them upward and extend its flight to a record-breaking five hours.

The software, known as ALOFT, for Autonomous Locator of Thermals, was developed by Dr. Dan Edwards and colleagues at the Naval Research Laboratory. The team tested and launched more than 20 flights with the software at the Phillips Army Airfield in Maryland last October. In total, those flights lasted more than 30 hours, proving that using algorithms to update data on thermals can help unmanned sailplanes fly much longer than previously possible.


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