Autonomous drones can now almost ‘see in the dark’ with this new camera

导读

瑞士苏黎世大学的一个研究小组日前研发了一款能让无人机在夜空中视物的相机,因为它搭载了一种叫做DVS动态视觉传感器的设备。传统的无人机可以在光线理想的情况下拍摄高质量的照片和视频,而只有传统相机可以胜任低质量的光环境。所以如果像无人飞机这样的高运行速度会让它拍摄的照片模糊到无法为计算机算法所用的程度。然而这个DVS系统并非对所有光线一视同仁,而是选取对于飞行有重要意义的来利用。该系统只寻找光线强度的变化以及专注于这些变化。研究者把这些光线的变化成为一个又一个的“事件”,这些事件则会像人眼视物的原理,帮助无人机“视物”。该研究工作受到Darpa的赞助,因为后者正在寻找解决方案以利用军用无人机来从事街道级别的军事工作以及GPS定位或者其他视觉数据获得困难的相关场合工作。这样的无人机将可以被用在人口密集的城市环境,提供侦察数据以及支持巷战。研究小组做了两个实验。一个是让无人机在有灯光闪烁的障碍物的室内飞行。这就迫使无人机基于“事件”看清屋内环境以及通过灯光的闪烁来进行空间测量。而在第二个测试当中,无人机在暗光或者接近黑暗的环境当中加速飞行。这个实验是为了检测无人机是如何实现高速飞行的。实验结果标明,同样是在暗光或者黑暗当中飞行,搭载了DVS的无人机能够比仅仅是基于“事件”的照相机飞得号130%,比使用标准数据的无人机好85%。因此,这种无人机除了可以参与军事行动,还将可以被用在平民救援的场合里,比如上个月的飓风厄玛当中。

更多剧透

第一步:解决高频单词

drone [drəʊn]

n. 无人驾驶飞机

capture ['kæptʃə]

vt. 捕捉

blur [blɜː]

vt. 弄脏,使模糊

pixel ['pɪksl]

n. 像素

militarised [ˈmɪlətəraɪzd]

adj. 军事化的,军用的

autonomous [ɔː'tɒnəməs]

adj. 自治的,独立的

reconnaissance [rɪ'kɒnɪsns]

n. 侦察,勘察

civilian [sɪ'vɪljən]

adj. 平民的

scenario [sə'nɑːriəʊ]

n. 场景

60p

第二步:精读重点段落

(Tips: 双击文中单词可以查释义并加入你的生词本哦)

第三段:
Traditional cameras work by capturing light and its intensity and treat all data received equally. While moving rapidly as would a drone, and when in a low light situation, the pictures that a drone would have to work with would be blurred and they would not be very useful for computer vision algorithms.

  • capture 捕捉
  • intensity 强度
  • blur 弄脏,使模糊
  • algorithms 算法

第四段:
The DVS system does not treat all light as being equally important, but picks certain points on the frame that are necessary for flight. "Instead of wastefully sending entire images at fixed frame rates, only the local pixel-level changes caused by movement in a scene are transmitted – at the time they occur," explained Davide Scaramuzza, one of the paper's authors and the head of the Director of the Robotics Perception Group at the University of Zurich.

  • fixed frame rates 固定帧率
  • local 局部的
  • pixel 像素

第六段:
The research was funded in part by Darpa, which is looking for solutions to make use of militarised drones that can wage war from a street level and in locations where GPS data and other visual data might not be freely or readily available. Such a drone with a DVS camera could possibly be used in dense urban environments where an autonomous UAV could be useful for not only reconnaissance but also offer close-air support during street battles.

  • militarised 军事化的,军用的
  • wage 从事,进行
  • autonomous 自治的,独立的
  • reconnaissance 侦察,勘察
  • UAV 无人驾驶飞行器
85p

第三步:攻克必学语法

由make use of想到的常见的use的搭配

1. find a use for sth. 让……排上用场
例句:The cupboard if full of things I can never find a use for.

2. make use of sth. 利用……以达到某种目的
例句:There is an answering machine for you to make use of.

3. be (of) no use (to sb.)  对某人完全没有价值
例句:Take this – it’s of no use to me any more.

4. it’s no use doing sth. 做……是徒劳的
例句:It’s no use complaining.

5. sth. or sb. has its uses spoken ……有时候还有点儿用
例句:Being stubborn can have its uses.

100p

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(Tips: 双击文中单词可以查释义并加入你的生词本哦)

Autonomous drones can now almost 'see in the dark' with this new camera

第一段:
A research team from the University of Zurich, Switzerland, has developed a type of camera that will allow drones to essentially "see in the dark" using what they call Dynamic Vision Sensor (DVS).

  • drone 无人驾驶飞机

第二段:
While drones are great at taking pictures and high quality video during the day or in camera-ideal lighting, traditional cameras can suffer in low light situations. If they need to be guided through or if they need to guide themselves through a darkened area they need to be able to see in a way that is comparable to the way eyes work, notes a report by Defense One.

第三段:
Traditional cameras work by capturing light and its intensity and treat all data received equally. While moving rapidly as would a drone, and when in a low light situation, the pictures that a drone would have to work with would be blurred and they would not be very useful for computer vision algorithms.

  • capture 捕捉
  • intensity 强度
  • blur 弄脏,使模糊
  • algorithms 算法

第四段:
The DVS system does not treat all light as being equally important, but picks certain points on the frame that are necessary for flight. "Instead of wastefully sending entire images at fixed frame rates, only the local pixel-level changes caused by movement in a scene are transmitted – at the time they occur," explained Davide Scaramuzza, one of the paper's authors and the head of the Director of the Robotics Perception Group at the University of Zurich.

  • pixel 像素

第五段:
DVS systems work by looking only for changes in light intensity, focusing on such changes. Researchers call these changes "events" which help the drone to see, much like the way eyes do.

第六段:
The research was funded in part by Darpa, which is looking for solutions to make use of militarised drones that can wage war from a street level and in locations where GPS data and other visual data might not be freely or readily available. Such a drone with a DVS camera could possibly be used in dense urban environments where an autonomous UAV could be useful for not only reconnaissance but also offer close-air support during street battles.

  • militarised 军事化的,军用的
  • wage 从事,进行
  • autonomous 自治的,独立的
  • reconnaissance 侦察,勘察
  • UAV 无人驾驶飞行器

第七段:
In a video released by the team, there are two experiments that clearly show how the DVS event system works using an autonomous drone. First, the drone flies around a room with obstacles with the lights flashing on and off. This forces the drone to see the room based on events and use measurements that it was able to make with the light on.

第八段:
The second experiment had the drone fly around in low light in near darkness, with all the lights switched off in circles with increasing speeds. This was done to see how it would manage rapid flight.

第九段:
The results of the experiments showed that the DVS-equipped drone was able to fly 130% better in low light or darkness than a camera that is based exclusively on event data and 85% better than a drone that is flying using standard data.

第十段:
The DVS could be used, says the head of the research team, not only in military operations, but also in civilian rescue scenarios like how drones were used to rescue hurricane Irma victims last month.

  • civilian 平民的
  • scenario 场景
200p

drone [drəʊn]

n. 无人驾驶飞机

capture ['kæptʃə]

vt. 捕捉

blur [blɜː]

vt. 弄脏,使模糊

pixel ['pɪksl]

n. 像素

militarised [ˈmɪlətəraɪzd]

adj. 军事化的,军用的

autonomous [ɔː'tɒnəməs]

adj. 自治的,独立的

reconnaissance [rɪ'kɒnɪsns]

n. 侦察,勘察

civilian [sɪ'vɪljən]

adj. 平民的

scenario [sə'nɑːriəʊ]

n. 场景

不要一时兴起,就要天天在一起

明天见!


下载音频

Autonomous drones can now almost ‘see in the dark’ with this new camera

第一段:
A research team from the University of Zurich, Switzerland, has developed a type of camera that will allow drones to essentially "see in the dark" using what they call Dynamic Vision Sensor (DVS).

第二段:
While drones are great at taking pictures and high quality video during the day or in camera-ideal lighting, traditional cameras can suffer in low light situations. If they need to be guided through or if they need to guide themselves through a darkened area they need to be able to see in a way that is comparable to the way eyes work, notes a report by Defense One.

第三段:
Traditional cameras work by capturing light and its intensity and treat all data received equally. While moving rapidly as would a drone, and when in a low light situation, the pictures that a drone would have to work with would be blurred and they would not be very useful for computer vision algorithms.

第四段:
The DVS system does not treat all light as being equally important, but picks certain points on the frame that are necessary for flight. "Instead of wastefully sending entire images at fixed frame rates, only the local pixel-level changes caused by movement in a scene are transmitted – at the time they occur," explained Davide Scaramuzza, one of the paper's authors and the head of the Director of the Robotics Perception Group at the University of Zurich.

第五段:
DVS systems work by looking only for changes in light intensity, focusing on such changes. Researchers call these changes "events" which help the drone to see, much like the way eyes do.

第六段:
The research was funded in part by Darpa, which is looking for solutions to make use of militarised drones that can wage war from a street level and in locations where GPS data and other visual data might not be freely or readily available. Such a drone with a DVS camera could possibly be used in dense urban environments where an autonomous UAV could be useful for not only reconnaissance but also offer close-air support during street battles.

第七段:
In a video released by the team, there are two experiments that clearly show how the DVS event system works using an autonomous drone. First, the drone flies around a room with obstacles with the lights flashing on and off. This forces the drone to see the room based on events and use measurements that it was able to make with the light on.

第八段:
The second experiment had the drone fly around in low light in near darkness, with all the lights switched off in circles with increasing speeds. This was done to see how it would manage rapid flight.

第九段:
The results of the experiments showed that the DVS-equipped drone was able to fly 130% better in low light or darkness than a camera that is based exclusively on event data and 85% better than a drone that is flying using standard data.

第十段:
The DVS could be used, says the head of the research team, not only in military operations, but also in civilian rescue scenarios like how drones were used to rescue hurricane Irma victims last month.

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