Drone Racing
Scientists from the University of Zurich have developed an autonomous artificial intelligence Swift, which for the first time beat human pilots in drone races. AI has previously shown its superiority in chess and Go, but now it has surpassed humans in real sports for the first time. The speed and maneuverability with which the drones flew along the highway under his control will impress even the most seasoned people. They also impressed two recognized world champions and the Swiss champion in drone racing, who could not resist the power of artificial intelligence.
Before the competition, Swift, as a professional athlete should, thoroughly prepared. He started by mastering a complex route, launching 100 drones in virtual space at the same time. They gave primary information about the situation on the highway, laid routes and optimized them. In terms of time, it took no more than an hour, but it turned out to be equivalent to a whole month of training with a drone. Then the AI optimized the control strategy based on information about air turbulence, a decrease in the quality of the visual signal and some other moments that introduce uncertainty. The result of the training became visible during the competition. The fastest AI lap was a full half second faster than a human-controlled lap. But it's too early to write people off. When the lighting conditions in the hangar suddenly changed, Swift quickly lost its position as a leader. Human pilots quickly adapted and showed excellent results.
Alexander Kozyrev
