Already commercially available is the Intel RealSense camera and an Intel processor. In 2015 Intel and Ascending Technologies partnered to build a system capable of sense and avoid. (Intel, 2015). As we already know these systems can be dangerous in that they are flying through the air and can cause bodily harm if one is to come into contact with the system. This type of technological advance is also very important as it relates to the integration of these systems into the national airspace and the very important safety aspects to commercial aircraft operations. In small UAS under 55lbs this is a fantastic option for those wanting to protect themselves and others from what can possibly be a very dangerous situation. The system is comprised of 6 RealSense cameras mounted on top of a quadcopter to create a 360 degree view and the Intel processor which is used to extract all relevant data (Intel, 2015). This information is then passed to a triple redundant Ascending Technologies
trinity autopilot which calculates position data and processes obstacle awareness commands allowing the quadcopter to sense and avoid anything in its path, autonomously without the need of GPS (Intel, 2015). An educated guess, the heaviest part of this design is the cameras atop the quadcopter which are the R-2003D variety. After reviewing the Ascending Technologies site it appears they are using an x86 board and atom processor but other research points to the ability to utilize a Core I7 processor and unspecified board capable of the size, weight and power (SWAP) needed to allow for an adequate period of flight. The AscTec triple redundant IMU ensures quick and reliable data fusion that can verify and precisely maneuver the systems position, altitude and orientation (Ascending Technologies, 2015). The triple redundancy allows the IMUs to test information against each other so it can verify the most reliable position and signal possible plus allows for backup in the case of IMU failure (Ascending Technologies, 2015).
References
Ascending Technologies. (2015). Amazing technology. Retrieved from http://www.asctec.de/en/
Intel. (2014). CES 2015 Intel keynote: Intel RealSense technology and AscTec drones. Retrieved from http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/events/ces-2015-intel-keynote-realsense-technology-asctec-drones-video.html