AI simulator will teach UAVs to operate without human help

Experts from the Moscow Aviation Institute have developed an innovative digital platform for simulating drone flights. Thanks to this platform, it is possible to train artificial intelligence (AI), which is used to control unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), in a safe environment, before installing it on operational drones. The system was created primarily for use in the defense industry. But it can also be used for civilian vehicles.

They catch on the fly: which drones are being developed to combat UAVs

And why is it more profitable to use them than anti-aircraft missile systems?

The program is able to implement any possible scenario in flight so that the neural network learns how to respond to it correctly. The development is already being used at MAI in the design of new algorithms for UAVs. And its pilot version is being tested by an industrial partner.

"The goal of the project is to safely and comprehensively work out the algorithms of artificial intelligence that we want to integrate on board. For example, one of the practical tasks that can be solved using a simulator is to practice drone navigation in conditions where the communication signal is lost and you need to safely find your way home to your base," said Vadim Kondarattsev, head of the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at the MAI Institute No. 8 "Computer Science and Applied Mathematics".

The difference between development and taxes is that it can be used to embed and test various AI algorithms, such as computer vision or reinforcement learning (a method based on rewarding AI for successful actions), at any stage of a virtual flight. The system uses game engines, including Russian ones. This allows you to create a photorealistic image that reproduces what the drone "sees".

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:

Flying on a VR plane: An AI simulator will teach UAVs to operate without human help