5 ms·

I wonder what level of accuracy they could manage with dead reckoning?

serf 9y ago
if you're thinking about how to get a drone to determine its' place in space without radio make sure to consider celestial navigation.[0] The SR-71 Blackbird used a navigation system that incorporated both methods (inertia and star-watching).[1] [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celestial_navigation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celestial_navigation [1]: https://timeandnavigation.si.edu/multimedia-asset/nortronics-nas-14v2-astroinertial-navigation-system https://timeandnavigation.si.edu/multimedia-asset/nortronics...
- ethbro 9y ago
  I remember we had a star tracking device come to us via some donation source for a prototype satellite build when I was in college. About as big as my fist, from memory. Unfortunately, it was Russian and the only documentation accompanying it was one page, in Russian. But there are certainly CotS parts that you can buy to provide a star-tracked location data source.
njharman 9y ago
Unless there is no wind at all, pretty poor.
- aw3c2 9y ago
  Even then, sensor drift is a huge problem.
- milankragujevic 9y ago
  Couldn't it use a camera pointed towards the ground and track objects on the ground to measure absolute movement in space? Like Parrot's drones do. Probably DJI drones as well, since they have ground-facing camera(s).
  - pjc50 9y ago
    Sure, although it would then be misleading to describe it as "dead reckoning" when it's actually some kind of SLAM system.
fest 9y ago
With MEMS based gyros and accelerometers: not enough to maintain position. With much larger and more expensive gyros/accelerometers dead reckoning is enough to navigate without external navigation systems for at least a few hours.
jrockway 9y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inertial_navigation_system https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inertial_navigation_system
dsfyu404ed 9y ago
Early ICBMs used inertial guidance systems. Some cruise missiles use terrain maps. With enough funding it shouldn't be a problem to get gps level accuracy with modern technology.

serf 9y ago

if you're thinking about how to get a drone to determine its' place in space without radio make sure to consider celestial navigation.[0] The SR-71 Blackbird used a navigation system that incorporated both methods (inertia and star-watching).[1] [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celestial_navigation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celestial_navigation [1]: https://timeandnavigation.si.edu/multimedia-asset/nortronics-nas-14v2-astroinertial-navigation-system https://timeandnavigation.si.edu/multimedia-asset/nortronics...

ethbro 9y ago
I remember we had a star tracking device come to us via some donation source for a prototype satellite build when I was in college. About as big as my fist, from memory. Unfortunately, it was Russian and the only documentation accompanying it was one page, in Russian. But there are certainly CotS parts that you can buy to provide a star-tracked location data source.

njharman 9y ago

Unless there is no wind at all, pretty poor.

aw3c2 9y ago
Even then, sensor drift is a huge problem.
milankragujevic 9y ago
Couldn't it use a camera pointed towards the ground and track objects on the ground to measure absolute movement in space? Like Parrot's drones do. Probably DJI drones as well, since they have ground-facing camera(s).
- pjc50 9y ago
  Sure, although it would then be misleading to describe it as "dead reckoning" when it's actually some kind of SLAM system.

fest 9y ago

With MEMS based gyros and accelerometers: not enough to maintain position. With much larger and more expensive gyros/accelerometers dead reckoning is enough to navigate without external navigation systems for at least a few hours.

jrockway 9y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inertial_navigation_system https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inertial_navigation_system

dsfyu404ed 9y ago

Early ICBMs used inertial guidance systems. Some cruise missiles use terrain maps. With enough funding it shouldn't be a problem to get gps level accuracy with modern technology.