The FPV video shows the sight of a Ukrainian kamikaze drone approaching a Russian armored vehicle for the last time. The video transmission was cut off, interrupted due to Russian radio interference, and the pilot lost control. This would normally be the end of the mission, but the video from A Second Drone shows the AI-powered FPV guiding itself directly to the target and achieving a direct hit. It’s one of the first moves a new intelligent autopilot provided through the U. S. company Auterion, which avoids interference and has a higher good luck rate than human pilots.
The Skynode S autopilot, revealed last week, is already on the front lines in Ukraine. The ability to fix a long diversity makes interference unnecessary; I have noticed a number of combat videos that I cannot percentage for safety reasons, and warnings apply, however, as far as we know, the formula proves effective. As Dr. Lorenz Meier, CEO of Auterion, told me, reaching goals automatically with FPVs is just the beginning.
Auterion Apps asks developers to write their own apps for Skynode S and download whatever they need. Meier says terminal management programs for attack drones are the most popular lately.
“Operating the terminal is like MS Office on a laptop,” Meier says. “This is the minimum requirement that everyone expects. “
The Pentagon obviously believes in Auterion’s open-source software, as it puts it at the center of its Blue sUAS initiative for small military drones made in the United States. This was implemented as an option for Chinese-supplied drones, which come with such a popular built-in security threat and are banned by the U. S. military. U. S.
In the past, Auterion developed the Skynode X, a rugged autopilot and project computer to provide autonomy to drones by adding device vision, object recognition, visual navigation, and a variety of third-party applications. The new Skynode S offers similar functions but at a particularly reduced price. cost.
“In Ukraine we offer a ‘help to Ukraine’ point,” Meier explains. “It’s usually worth the variety of an Android phone, which costs several hundred dollars. “
This puts the Skynode S in the same elegance as thermal imaging in terms of particularly expanding the payload of a $500 FPV, but providing particularly improved capabilities. And the load can be minimized as production increases.
“Skynode S. . . it will be manufactured in tens of thousands, which is a scale,” Meier says.
Not surprisingly, Auterion is also concerned about the Pentagon’s Replicator program aimed at deploying large numbers of cheap AI drones.
The steering formula allows for optical lock-on: the operator identifies the target and signals it to the autopilot while the drone is outside the jamming range. It can then continue to pass through the “interference bubble” even if the operator loses contact. According to General Pierre Schill, chief of staff of the French army, 75% of drones are recently destroyed through jamming.
Meier says his AI terminal steering formula used in Ukraine has hit all targets in the initial deployment so far, compared to 20-40% for human-controlled FPVs. He doesn’t expect an uninterrupted run of success, but he believes they can continue to achieve a particularly higher pace than human drivers.
In this way, the two main reasons for failure (pilot error and interference) can be eliminated.
The implication is that with a steering formula like Auterion S, 4 times as many drones could pass, and then they would have a higher success rate thanks to intelligent steering. It is troubling to think that the already high rate of destruction of the FPV may be particularly higher thanks to such an undeniable modification.
And while the current edition only guides drones toward the target, long-term advancements will likely come with aiming point selection, where the AI chooses the most vulnerable point. For example, they could circle to hit the rear of a Russian tank’s turret, which tends to cause a catastrophic explosion, or the ammunition magazine of a self-propelled gun.
Open-source software makes it less difficult to expand new applications. In June, the nonprofit Dronecode hosted a 48-hour hackathon in Krakow for NATO, challenging groups of coders to expand a formula for visually identifying targets and mapping out a flight path to intercept them. They used an earlier edition of Skynode S with AuterionOS for the newly released product.
“It’s a world first,” says Meier. “Developers were able to just focus on building the app. “
But the generation is capable of much more.
GPS and other satellite navigation systems are heavily blocked in Ukraine and Russia, affecting even some military-grade systems and deflecting Excalibur guided artillery shells and JDAM guided bombs supplied by the United States, as well as drones. The same old solution to this challenge is to use expensive inertial navigation modules, but those that are wrong over longer distances are expensive.
Artificial intelligence systems are also capable of visual navigation, a drone’s camera to locate the path through matching elements on the ground, just like the first pilots, images from previous reconnaissance flights. Some Ukrainian drones already have artificial intelligence software called Eagle Eyes for this.
Long-range attack drones like Ukrainian Bobrs can receive accurate AI guidance for a few hundred dollars.
Meier says that Skynode S can charge an extra touch: terminal guide. Once the drone reaches the target area, an object popularity app can visually capture the target and hit it with pinpoint accuracy. In principle, this means that even an attack from several hundred miles away can locate an express device in an oil refinery, hit the center of a radar antenna or pass through a specific window. Or simply head to a tank stationed far from the front line that has been detected via satellite.
This configuration has already been tested on Ukrainian drones from the Russian Lancet and Shahed.
“The tests showed that it can hit targets accurately,” Meier says. “The formula will be deployed on the front line in the coming weeks. “
Skynode S can also assist in air-to-air combat. Meier hopes that autonomous “air combat” programs will soon become available, allowing an FPV drone to plot an interception trajectory, outwit an adversary trying to avoid it, and destroy it without operator intervention, exploding when it enters. destructive distance.
Ukrainian FPV drones have recently intercepted Russian reconnaissance drones at the highest altitudes. Skynode S could particularly increase the number and rate of good luck of those engagements, while ensuring that Ukrainian drones can outperform Russian interceptors.
An AI driving force can also help with other tasks. For example, some experienced FPV pilots must perform dive bomb attacks, providing the accuracy of a kamikaze attack but without sacrificing a drone. The main limitation turns out to be the lack of an experienced motive. forces. But a dive-bombing app may be downloaded soon.
Automated mine-laying via drones, or employing anti-jamming drones to launch tire-destroying traps on the fast tracks of enemy lines, or simply resupplying friendly forces can also prove much easier.
Looking at the bigger picture, Meier says Skynode S is already embedded with Ukrainian battlefield control software like ATAK and Kropyva. These systems and commands collect data from drones, satellites and other resources and mix it into a single visual symbol for commanders on the ground. He demonstrates this with a video of an AI-powered reconnaissance drone that detects items and sends back data.
Skynode S hardware is small and sufficient to install on reconnaissance quadcopters
The targets are still verified through a human operator, but the AI formula has already done most of the work to locate the pieces of interest in the video stream. As all drones do not need an operator, this makes it possible to ensure more detailed surveillance of the front, 24/7, in real time. And because you only want to talk when you discover something, AI-based popularity requires much less bandwidth to send much more useful information.
AI also provides the ability to incorporate functions such as replacement detection, comparing a scene with its previous appearance to detect new minefields, trenches, vehicle tracks or camouflaged positions.
Putting AI at the forefront of generation can especially accelerate the process of collecting, processing, and disseminating intelligence on the battlefield. Thousands of intelligent, autonomous reconnaissance drones may be more vital to warfare than terminal guidance.
Skynode S also supports drone swarms: a single operator can control multiple drones. Therefore, an operator can have several reconnaissance drones and a stack of FPVs ready to launch, employing the scouts to locate targets and guiding the FPVs to interact with them.
This gives the impression that the entire destruction chain could be automated. In this case, it is vital that there be a human on the plant to oversee operations, even if you no longer wish to be in the loop.
Meier emphasizes that Skynode S is not intended to create autonomous killing machines. He compares the point of automation to the current use of guided missiles. The targeting FPV operator does exactly the same thing as a Javelin missile operator: they are “fire and forget” weapons that aim at targets previously designated by a human.
“I would seriously consider anything more autonomous,” Meier says. “But there is still a lot to be done without allowing drones to reach targets autonomously. “
It will take work to fully explore the new features introduced through Skynode S. But with a giant group of software developers, cheap hardware and an inventory of drones to achieve compatibility, and a war to win, things are likely. quickly.
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