Drones against meteorites

  • Reading Time:2Minutes

At least 500 meteorites fall to Earth every year, but less than two per cent of them are ever discovered by humans. Researchers have now trained drones to search for impacted asteroids. It may seem like a surprising number, but up to 500 meteorites fall to Earth’s surface every year – we just don’t detect them all. Two percent of them remain undiscovered.

Researchers have now developed a new way to find asteroids that touch Earth: they have trained drones to find them. The drones fly autonomously and in a grid formation, taking pictures of large areas – and using artificial intelligence to find potential meteorites in the photos.

In most cases, meteorite impacts go unnoticed because they fall in places that are inaccessible – for example, in the ocean. In other cases they are not found in time. The drone, developed at the University of California, Davis, was tested in the vicinity of Lake Walker in Vegas, where a meteorite hit in 2019. “The images can be analysed using a machine learning classification system – so meteorites can be identified, among many other things in the area,” said Robert Citron, a doctoral researcher at the university.

The concept-aware meteorite classifier “uses a combination of different convolutional neural networks to recognise meteorites from images of drones in the field,” the research team wrote in an article published in the journal Meteoritics & Planetary Science.

However, the software has not yet been perfected. While it could identify test meteorites placed in dry lake beds, it also had several false detections. But experts are optimistic about the results already achieved. As Robert Citron explains, with each field test, more data is acquired that can be incorporated into the dataset and used to retrain the object detection network and improve precision.

They will therefore continue to improve detection accuracy. What they need now is a better drone with a higher resolution camera. It takes approximately 100 hours to find a meteorite using conventional methods. In other words, the technology could save researchers a huge amount of work.

Recent article

Air taxi News & Articles

Economic Dynamics of Urban Air Mobility

EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles

Suzuki to produce a flying car

Air taxi News & Articles

You can now order a flying taxi from the online shop

Additional aircraft News & Articles

Other notable aircraft

Air taxi News & Articles

Autonomous Air Traffic Control Systems

Drones News & Articles

Swarm Technology for Drones

News & Articles Propulsion-Fuel

Stratolaunch’s hypersonic vehicle launched for the first time

News & Articles Propulsion-Fuel

Centuries-old technology could revolutionise aviation

Flying Cars News & Articles

Alef’s flying car preparing for take-off

News & Articles Points of interest

Achieving Market Dominance in the eVTOL and Flying Car Industry

EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles

Enhancing Emergency Response with eVTOL Technology

News & Articles Points of interest

The first large-scale rocket backpack competition was organised

Drones News & Articles

Red Bull has created the world’s fastest drone

Flying Cars News & Articles

Alef Aeronautics’ Model A could be in production in 2025

News & Articles Propulsion-Fuel

Unveiling the Energy Dynamics of eVTOLs

News & Articles Propulsion-Fuel

What are the requirements for building a vertiport ?

Drones News & Articles

The role and future of military drones in wars

Flying Cars News & Articles

What are the safety concerns about flying cars and Evtol ?

Flying Cars News & Articles

How Will Flying Car Technology Evolve in the Next Decade ?
More articles you may be interested in...

Flying Cars News & Articles

Alef Aeronautics’ Model A could be in production in 2025

At first glance, the Model A by Alef Aeronautics might deceive you into thinking it's.......... READ MORE

EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles

CycloTech Raises 20 Million Euros for Revolutionary Aviation Propulsion System

In a landmark move for aviation technology, CycloTech, an Austrian pioneer in innovative flight propulsion.......... READ MORE

Flying Cars News & Articles

The Switchblade Flying Car: A Milestone in Personal Air Travel Featured in Pioneering Publication

In a significant nod to the future of transportation, the Switchblade Flying Sports Car has.......... READ MORE

News & Articles Propulsion-Fuel

What are/will be the impacts of Evtol and flying cars on infrastructure ?

Unlike traditional aircraft, eVTOLs are designed to operate in densely populated areas, offering a swift,.......... READ MORE

News & Articles Propulsion-Fuel

Unveiling the Energy Dynamics of eVTOLs

Typically, the energy appetite of an eVTOL ranges between 200 to 300 watt-hours per kilometre.......... READ MORE

Flying Cars News & Articles

Evolving Skies: The Surge in eVTOL and Flying Car Production

This niche, once relegated to the realms of science fiction, is now on the cusp.......... READ MORE

News & Articles Propulsion-Fuel

What are the requirements for building a vertiport ?

Building a vertiport, the infrastructure necessary for the operation of electric vertical takeoff and landing.......... READ MORE

Drones News & Articles

The role and future of military drones in wars

The role and future of military drones in warfare have become increasingly complex and multifaceted,.......... READ MORE