New Engineering Project Aims to Create AI for UAVs

Drastic wing failure, as shown in the above illustration, would probably result in irreparable damage to an unmanned aerial vehicle. Learning must start and finish within a single execution. But, the newly proposed vehicle would have more than just sparse data at its disposal. Physical information about its immediate environment could also be used as it learns "on the fly." Cockrell School of Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin AUSTIN, Texas - Thanks to a Department of Defense grant, researchers are planning for a future when unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have the ability to fly themselves in emergency situations. A research team from the Cockrell School of Engineering and the College of Natural Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin has been selected by the DOD to lead a $7.5 million Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) project aimed at developing artificial intelligence for UAVs. While almost all artificial intelligence, or AI, technology is reliant on the availability of massive amounts of data, Texas Engineers have been charged with the task of developing machines that can learn "on the fly" in situations where there is little data to inform them. The interdisciplinary team hopes their combined efforts will assist the Department of Defense in the development of truly autonomous systems that can not only operate in challenging environments but also survive disruptions or recognize when they are fatal.