Autonomous drones count Antarctic penguin colonies in record time

Counting penguins is a difficult job. Research scientists need two full days to map the location of 300,000 nesting pairs of Adélie penguins on Antarctica's Cape Crozier, using helicopters and hand-flown drones. Additionally, the flight windows for these labor-intense surveys are constrained by harsh temperatures, freezing rain, and snow. Now, with special software and autonomous drones, they can cut down the survey time of wildlife to a mere three hours.

Autonomous drones count Antarctic penguin colonies in record time

By equipping their drones with a new flight path algorithm, scientists have cut the duration to just 3 hours. They previously piloted single drones over swaths of land back and forth, but a new algorithm, called POPCORN automatically sets the path for several drones to fly over the same area in record time, preventing collisions and complying with strict regulations for airspace.

Autonomous Drones Count Antarctic Penguin Colonies In Record Time 1

In ‘Science Robotics' last month, researchers announced the latest program with autonomous drones, was a more than a 10-fold improvement on previous techniques.

Researchers hope that one day their software will help count animals, or even help with control, as would have the means to easily analyze fragile brush by pressing a button, according to Science Magazine.

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Haye Kesteloo
Haye Kesteloo

Haye Kesteloo is the Editor in Chief and Founder of DroneXL.co, where he covers all drone-related news, DJI rumors and writes drone reviews, and EVXL.co, for all news related to electric vehicles. He is also a co-host of the PiXL Drone Show on YouTube and other podcast platforms. Haye can be reached at haye @ dronexl.co or @hayekesteloo.

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