Technisches Englisch
Self-navigating Drone
Elektrotechniker sollten englischsprachige Dokumentationen und Pläne lesen können. Dieser Beitrag erleichtert den Zugang zur englischen Sprache und vermittelt elektrotechnische Fachausdrücke.
Während in der aktuellen Ausgabe des Elektropraktikers 03/2018 in der Rubrik „Lernen und Können“/Technisches Englisch eine Drone per Katapult auf Kollisionskurs geht, steuert sich die selbst navigierende Drone wie nachfolgend beschrieben autonom.
Self-navigating Drone
The Spiri-Quadrocopter relieves the pilot from the tricky job of navigating by steering itself until its batteries run out. As opposed to other drones Siri can be individualised. It is based on a flying robot equipped with GPS, several cameras, four rotors, WLAN,
Bluetooth, a 4 GB memory, a USB port and a 1 GB-dual-core-processor. Its operating system is an Ubuntu Linux version featuring the open-source-software ROS (Robot Operation System). Its rotors are covered with reinforced carbon fibre to cushion
potential crashes. In case of damage individual parts can be reordered. Spiri will not be piloted via remote control or App but will be fully automatic. It is intended to start on a predefined route, steer to a destination and land safely when its batteries run out. Possible applications are versatile and promising. It could explore caves or be a courier, transporting objects from A to B, or act as a reporter. Several Spiris are able to coordinate a joint airspace so that they could even be used for mapping. Its creator, Patrick Edwards-Daugherty, used crowdfunding to successfully raise the 125,000 dollars needed to finalise Spiri.
Vocabulary
| Englisch | Deutsch |
|---|---|
| accelerometer | Beschleunigungsmesser |
| acoustic range finder | akustischer Entfernungsmesser |
| altimeter | Höhenmesser |
| as opposed to | im Gegensatz zu |
| avoid | vermeiden |
| brush | Bürste |
| cave | Höhle |
| charging perch | Ladeplatz, Ladestütze |
| crowdfunding | = Finanzierung eines Projektes durch eine Community |
| cushion | Kissen: hier: (vb) abfedern, abfangen |
| downward facing | nach unten gerichtet |
| drift off course | vom Kurs abkommen |
| equip with | ausstatten mit |
| expansion port | Erweiterungsanschluss |
| explore | erkunden |
| host of sensors | mehrere Sensoren |
| joint airspace | gemeinsamer Luftraum |
| keep s.th. level | gerade ausgerichtet halten |
| mapping | das Kartografieren, Kartieren |
| obstacle | Hindernis |
| promising | vielversprechend |
| protective ribbon | Schutzband |
| raise | aufbringen; anheben |
| reinforced carbon fibre | verstärkte Kohlefaser |
| tricky | schwierig, knifflig |
| versatile | vielfältig |
How does Spiri know how to fly? Spiri has a host of sensors to tell it where it is, and what is around it. First, the gyro and accelerometer keep Spiri level, the acoustic range finder and the pressure sensor tell Spiri how high off the ground it is. The downward facing camera is used to keep Spiri from drifting off course by watching the ground and making sure it is moving as expected. The range finding camera combined with the forward video camera is used to locate objects Spiri either needs to avoid, or interact with. In uncontrolled environments, programmers should always move Spiri forward so that the cameras can be used to identify obstacles in it’s path.
Autor: Petra Zillmer
Lesen Sie den Artikel in unserem Facharchiv. Der Artikel ist in der Fachzeitschrift ep Elektropraktiker 10/2014 erschienen.
Bilder: Patrick Edwards-Daugherty