The researchers mounted a radio relay on a UAV whose signals are converted into digital messages that software developed by Cloutier and his team can interpret and turn into a voice message. Flight controllers can then decide on the appropriate instruction in response. The drones will also be able to listen to conversations on the network as human pilots do.
Australian researchers have developed a talking drone that can have a conversation with the control tower just like a human pilot. This is reported by the website of the Chinese news agency Xinhua.
Dr Rhys Cloutier, unmanned aircraft systems team leader at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, said it was essential to enable drones to fly safely in civilian airspace.
Drones are the fastest growing sector in the aviation industry, with sales expected to reach $6 billion this year.
According to him, the communication systems his group designed will allow air traffic controllers to verbally communicate with drones and enable their integration into the existing air traffic management systems. "They will sound just like a human pilot," Cloutier said. "There will be no change from the point of view of the flight controllers. The goal is to allow unmanned aircraft to appear and communicate as smoothly as possible with the flight path management system."
The researchers mounted a radio transmitter on a UAV whose signals are converted into digital messages that software developed by Cloutier and his team can interpret. and become a voice message after which the flight controllers can decide on the appropriate instruction in response. The drones will also be able to listen to conversations on the network as human pilots do.
"The next step is to imitate the intelligent decisions that the pilots make in seconds, for example suggesting an alternative route to the instructions of the control tower instead of blindly following them.
"Improvements are still needed. Right now the decision-making component is very simple," he said. "A lot of work is still needed to replace the decision-making process of the pilots with drones with a high level of artificial intelligence, but the basic interface and the basic commands work"
When the owners will be able to choose a specific voice for their drone, like in the GPS systems in cars and phones - the sky will be the limit.
