Author Topic: Microsoft Research creating an AI to help autonomous gliders stay up indefinitel  (Read 142 times)

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Microsoft is testing an artificial intelligence agent which can control a glider much like a hawk does, remaining in the sky indefinitely by predicted air patterns and planning a route forward by seeking out columns of rising hot air and using them to stay aloft.

Microsoft researchers tested the technology in Nevada last week using two gliders guided by sensors and onboard computers.

The effort is in part to help machines make decisions when faced with uncertainty and specifically the hope is that the autonomous aircraft can eventually ride the air for hours or even days at a time while consuming very little power, helping to, say, track weather patterns, monitor farm crops or even deliver the internet to places where it’s otherwise unavailable.

The glider is testing a mathematical technique called the Markov decision processes as a way of identifying and responding to uncertainty in predicting the future in a relatively safe environment.

“The core problem for robotics is uncertainty,” said Ken Goldberg, a professor at University of California, Berkeley. “This is what differentiates robotics from a game like Go or chess.”

“With a glider, you can test these algorithms with minimal risk to people and property,” Mr. Kochenderfer, a Stanford University professor of aeronautics and astronautics.

Interestingly the techniques are already being used by Bing and Windows but will eventually also be relevant in self-driving cars and other dynamic environments.

“The A.I. systems of tomorrow will face all the same challenges,” said Mr. Kolobov, a member of the Adaptive Systems and Interaction group (ASI) at MSR Redmond.  “The number of applications where these methods are used is growing.”



Read more about the trails at the New York Times here.

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