Navigating with the eyes of a camera: How can helicopters navigate on Mars?

Machines usually use navigation systems such as GPS to locate themselves in outdoor areas. However, other planets do not have such a system yet. Thus, different methods need to be found to use helicopters for the exploration of another planet. In Austria, a team at the University of Klagenfurt is researching the question, “How can a robot navigate and localize itself without GPS”. The project AMAZE aims to answer this question. Read more →

Helicopter flies to Mars: Researcher based in Klagenfurt provided the navigation technology

According to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, on 30 July the new Mars Rover “Perseverance” will take off from Cape Canaveral, bound for Mars. Also on board is the first ever “Mars helicopter”, which will undertake exploratory flights. The helicopter is navigated using a technology that Stephan Weiss, Professor at the Department of Smart Systems Technologies, was instrumental in developing.

Successful testing of UWB sensor network in industrial setting

Wireless communication is becoming increasingly important in industrial companies, as production processes frequently have to be adapted and optimized. Laying new cables each time would reduce flexibility. Together with the companies Messfeld and Dewesoft and the research institutes JOANNEUM RESEARCH DIGITAL and FH Campus 02, the University of Klagenfurt and Lakeside Labs GmbH have now tested a UWB network in an industrial setting.

Drone flight using 5G: Initial experiments

Drones are used in an ever-increasing number of applications, including the autonomous delivery of medication and the inspection of industrial plants. To fulfil these tasks safely and reliably as they move through our airspace, drones need to be linked to high-performance cellular networks. The new mobile telecommunication generation 5G promises new possibilities with high data rates and low latency. Working with a 5G base station operated by Magenta in the Austrian community of Feichtendorf, a team of researchers from the University of Klagenfurt, Lakeside Labs GmbH, Magenta Telekom GmbH and Deutsche Telekom AG has recently conducted drone tests in a commercial 5G network. The scientific results were presented at the ACM MobiSys conference in mid-June.