Drones

Remote sensing specialist Petra D’Odorico likes to fly drones. Not as a hobby, but rather to record high-resolution multispectral and thermal images, which can be used to create an early warning system to detect drought stress in forests before it becomes apparent.

An AI program can train neural networks, using just a handful of images, to rapidly characterize in satellite and drone data new objects like ocean debris, deforestation zones, urban areas and more.

The SailMAV drone can fly and sail on water due to its foldable wings. Its special design also allows it to record wildlife behavior, as animals do not perceive the drone as a hostile intruder.

A team led by researchers from ETH Zurich and the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) advances to the finals of the XPRIZE Rainforest Competition. The international competition aims to promote the development of autonomous technologies for collecting data on biodiversity.

Researchers from Empa and Imperial College London are developing a heat-resistant drone that can analyze the source of danger at close range in the event of a building or forest fire. This allows firefighters to optimize the strategy of a high-risk operation before entering the danger zone.

They maintain and repair buildings, observe natural phenomena and transport goods: Drones and robots could play a major role in our lives in the future. With the DroneHub, a kind of aviary is to be created in the NEST research and innovation building on the Empa campus in Dübendorf, where Empa researchers will explore and further develop the interaction of drones, infrastructure and natural habitats together with industrial and academic partners.