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Phoenix666 [soylentnews.org] writes:

A team in the UGA College of Engineering has designed and tested a prototype that employs ultrasound technology [phys.org] to help unmanned aircraft operators map the interior of large structures and guide their craft to specific locations. The team is led by assistant professor Zion Tse and includes graduate research assistants Stan Gregory and Kevin Wu.

"GPS technology isn't a good option for what we're trying to accomplish because it's not very accurate or reliable indoors," Wu said. "The margin of error can be up to 5 meters, which is fine if you're driving your car and dealing with a scale of miles, but we're dealing with much smaller areas and need a much higher degree of precision."

The system Wu and the other researchers have designed uses onboard ultrasound sensors to relay information on the aircraft's location to its operator. The sensor emits sound waves that bounce off walls or other structures and return to the device, in much the same way a bat navigates in dark spaces. The data is then transmitted to a computer where a software program plots the area and tracks the drone's location.

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