For instance , imagine an orchard swarming with drones that have the ability not just to count the number of apples that are currently on the trees , but to determine whether they ’ re ripe . Or emergency humanitarian aid delivered directly to survivors who can ’ t be reached by emergency workers . Or drones equipped with thermo-imaging , finding exactly where heat is leaking out of buildings , saving energy and money for companies , homeowners , or even universities ; Professor Kastner ’ s research group has already tried this last one on campus .
Flying HigH Angelo and fellow Tritons founded Spark Aerial , a systems integration company focused on aerial robotics , between classes at UCSD . The business has since taken the team to destinations around the world . Visit sparkaerial . com for more .
As computing speeds and data transfer rates increase , all of these possibilities could become reality , and UC San Diego is positioning itself to be on the leading edge . The Qualcomm Institute has recently dedicated new resources to developing the technology , and assuming everything is in line with FAA regulations when it comes to drones , the sky ’ s the limit . In any case , one thing is clear : the drone future is coming , and it has yet to even come close to realizing its potential . As Angelo says , “ We ’ re not even at the Model T phase of this technology yet .”
See UC San Diego ’ s best drone footage at TRiTOnmAg . COm / DROnES
THIS WATCH WATCHES YOU
When Jelena Jovanovic , M . S . ’ 04 , was dissatisfied with the cell phone video of her daughter ’ s first steps , the former engineering product manager at Google set out to make the ultimate personal camera — easy to carry and fast to access . The result was Nixie , a quad-copter camera that doubles as a bracelet , able to capture images from wherever you toss it and needs no operator or remote control to use . The prototype alone showed enough promise to best more than 500 other entries in Intel ’ s Make It Wearable challenge , earning the fledgling company $ 500,000 in funding .
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