Will drones define the future of aviation?

From photography to agriculture, from transport and rescue to advanced engineering applications.These are just a few examples of how drones, seen as one of the cornerstones of the fourth industrial revolution, are being used in different areas of personal and professional life. Prof. Alessandro Giusti of the Dalle Molle Institute for Artificial Intelligence (IDSIA USI-SUPSI) was interviewed by Falò, a RSI LA 1 programme, as part of a report on drones and their increasingly important role in various sectors of our society.

In the wake of what is happening on the national and international scene, the Canton Ticino is also showing increasing interest in this rapidly expanding sector and the Dalle Molle Institute for Artificial Intelligence (IDSIA USI-SUPSI) is one of the leading centres for research and development activities in this field.

As research advances, drones, as robots, will become smaller, more autonomous and more intelligent. "Our goal is to create drones that behave intelligently, i.e. that are able to make the right decisions and navigate correctly in their environment, even indoors, and that are able to accomplish their goals safely", explains Prof. Giusti, who leads the Robotics Lab at IDSIA. The Lab is involved in research in the fields of machine learning and cognitive robotics, and is part of the National Competence Centre for Robotics, NCCR Robotics, which involves various laboratories of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology in Zurich and Lausanne, as well as other universities throughout Switzerland.

To watch the report and interview of Prof. Giusti (in Italian), click here:
www.rsi.ch/play/tv/redirect/detail/14284026?startTime=2000