VIDEO
The Autonomous Drone
Researchers at our Unmanned Air Systems Research Team (UASRT) have developed an autonomous soaring drone by studying the natural flight patterns of birds.
Transcript: The Autonomous Drone - RMIT University
VISUAL: Soft focus, moving drone footage of RMIT Bundoora campus.
TEXT ON SCREEN: RMIT University Presents
AUDIO: Calming, ambient music.
TEXT ON SCREEN: Drones of a feather - inspired by birds in flight, RMIT researchers have developed an autonomous soaring drone.
VISUAL: Professor Simon Watkins is being interviewed against a black background with an RMIT logo and type on the wall on the left of frame out of focus.
TEXT ON SCREEN: Professor Simon Watkins, Professor of Automotive Engineering
PROF. SIMON WATKINS SPEAKS: So updrafts are where the air is pushed out for either the reasons of the topography
VISUAL: Slow motion of flocks of birds flying
PROF. SIMON WATKINS SPEAKS: with hills, for example, and maybe thermals, and birds have used these to try to gain altitude or to try and
VISUAL: Slow motion of birds near cliffs, over the ocean.
PROF. SIMON WATKINS SPEAKS: extend their flight range so they really use it an energy-saving method.
VISUAL: A small flock of birds soar past a lighthouse.
VISUAL: Doctor Reece Clothier is being interviewed against a black background with an RMIT logo and type on the wall on the left of frame out of focus.
TEXT ON SCREEN: Dr Reece Clothier, Senior Lecturer
DOCTOR REECE CLOTHIER SPEAKS: At RMIT, we developed a small fixed-wing unmanned aircraft that's capable of autonomously soaring on these updrafts, exactly like a bird would in nature.
VISUAL: Doctor Abdulghani Mohamed is being interviewed against a black background with an RMIT logo and type on the wall on the left of frame out of focus.
TEXT ON SCREEN: Dr Abdulghani Mohamed, Research Fellow
DOCTOR ALBDULGHANI MOHAMED SPEAKS: To develop such a UAV, we initially wanted to investigate the flow field through flow simulations
VISUAL: Birds eye view of an animations showing turbulence round buildings, the turbulence is represented by blue, green, yellow, orange and red swirls, red representing the highest velocity and blue the lowest.
VISUAL: Side on view and moving 3D views of the same animation.
DOCTOR ALBDULGHANI MOHAMED SPEAKS: these flow simulations allowed us to understand the flow environment of birds and identify the soaring hot spots around the buildings.
VISUAL: Moving animation with a simulated model bird flying around the buildings.
VISUAL: Dr Alex Fisher is being interviewed against a black background with an RMIT logo and type on the wall on the left of frame out of focus.
TEXT ON SCREEN: Dr Alex Fisher, Research Fellow
DOCTOR ALEX FISHER SPEAKS: By using an unmanned air vehicle and doing some preliminary flight trials, we were able to demonstrate
VISUAL: A man throws (launches) a model of a bird into the air from the top of a building; this is the autonomous drone test flight. The drone is lifted in to the air and flies by itself using the updrafts surrounding the building.
DOCTOR ALEX FISHER SPEAKS: that autonomous soaring is feasible. By utilising the updrafts, we're able to sustain flight for about five times as long as what we could with the propeller-driven version of the aircraft.
VISUAL: Doctor Abdulghani Mohamed is being interviewed against a black background with an RMIT logo and type on the wall on the left of frame out of focus.
DOCTOR ALBDULGHANI MOHAMED SPEAKS: The next stage in the research is to replicate physical features of birds to enhance
VISUAL: Students in a workshop gathered around the bird-shaped drone model, they are tinkering with electronics and making modifications to the sensors.
DOCTOR ALBDULGHANI MOHAMED SPEAKS: the flight performance of UAVs. It's part of an ongoing research program here at RMIT University investigating bio-inspired UAV designs.
VISUAL: Moving drone footage rising up over RMIT City Campus, Alumni Courtyard, the city in the background. Video becomes soft in focus.
TEXT ON SCREEN:
RMIT Researchers- Sir Lawrence Wackett Aerospace Research Centre, School of Engineering,
Dr Reece Clothier, Professor Simon Watkins, Dr Abdulghani Mohamed, Dr Alex Fisher, Mr Mohamed Elbanhawi, Dr Robert Carrese, Chung Leung
External Researchers - Dr Jennifer Palmer (DSTG), Professor David Fletcher (University of Sydney)
TEXT ON SCREEN: RMIT Unmaned Aircraft Systems Research Team
www.ruasrt.com
VISUAL: Animation revealing RMIT Logo and logotype.
AUDIO: Ambient music fades out
[End of Transcript]
The following instructions will assist you to control the video player using the keyboard.
Starting and stopping the video
- Use the Tab or Shift + Tab keyboard combination to navigate the video player controls.
- Navigate to the Play button using the Tab or Shift + Tab keyboard combination.
- Press the Spacebar or Enter key to toggle between play and pause.
Closed captions
- Navigate to the closed captions button using the Tab or Shift + Tab keyboard combination.
- Press the Spacebar or Enter key to open the closed captions menu.
- Navigate to the preferred close captions option using the Tab or Shift + Tab keyboard combination.
- Press the Spacebar or Enter key to activate the close caption option.
Volume
- Navigate to the volume slider using the Tab or Shift + Tab keyboard combination.
- Press the left or right arrow to decrease and increase the volume.
Full screen
- Navigate to the full screen button using the Tab or Shift + Tab keyboard combination.
- Press the Spacebar or Enter key to toggle between full screen video and normal size.
Copyright statement
Copyright © 2016 RMIT University. All rights reserved.
Conditions of use
This item is available to RMIT University staff for official RMIT educational or promotional purposes. All uses outside of official educational or promotional purposes must be used with permission. Please contact copyright@rmit.edu.au for permission.