Robohub.org
 

TED talk with Davide Scaramuzza on visual control of MAVs


by
29 November 2012



share this:

Davide Scaramuzza leads the Robotics and Perception Group at the University of Zurich and is Adjunct Faculty at ETH Zurich.

In the excellent TED talk below, he tells us about his work in visual control of Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs). Rather than use GPS, which is sometimes unavailable indoors and in obstructed environments, or external sensing such as a Vicon system, Scaramuzza relies on vision and onboard sensing and computation to control flying robots. Using this visual information, the robot is able to build a map of the environment and self-localize within this map (SLAM). He tells us about the principles behind onboard visual SLAM, how multiple robots can work together to build a map and shows us a demo of the technology in action.



tags: ,


Sabine Hauert is President of Robohub and Associate Professor at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory
Sabine Hauert is President of Robohub and Associate Professor at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory

            AUAI is supported by:



Subscribe to Robohub newsletter on substack



Related posts :

How to teach the same skill to different robots

  11 May 2026
A new framework to teach a skill to robots with different mechanical designs, allowing them to carry out the same task without rewriting code for each.

Robot Talk Episode 155 – Making aerial robots smarter, with Melissa Greeff

  08 May 2026
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Melissa Greeff from Queen's University about autonomous navigation and learning for drones.

New understanding of insect flight points way to stable flapping-wing robots

  07 May 2026
The way bugs and birds flap their wings may look effortless, but the dynamics that keep them aloft are dizzyingly complex and difficult to quantify.

Robotically assembled building blocks could make construction more efficient and sustainable

  05 May 2026
Research suggests constructing a simple building from interlocking subunits should be mechanically feasible and have a much smaller carbon footprint.

Robot Talk Episode 154 – Visual navigation in insects and robots, with Andrew Philippides

  01 May 2026
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Andrew Philippides from the University of Sussex about what we can learn from ants and bees to improve robot navigation.

Ultralightweight sonar plus AI lets tiny drones navigate like bats

  29 Apr 2026
Researchers develop ultrasound-based perception system inspired by bat echolocation.

Gradient-based planning for world models at longer horizons

  28 Apr 2026
What were the problems that motivated this project and what was the approach to address them?

Robot Talk Episode 153 – Origami-inspired robots, with Chenying Liu

  24 Apr 2026
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Chenying Liu from University of Oxford about how a robot's physical form can actively contribute to sensing, processing, decision-making, and movement.



AUAI is supported by:







Subscribe to Robohub newsletter on substack




 















©2026.02 - Association for the Understanding of Artificial Intelligence