They began racing drones. Now these students are using AI to build a fleet of them | Research - News@Northeastern

A mother ship dispatching a half-dozen drones on a search-and-rescue mission is the vision of engineers Noah Ossanna and John Buczek, explains Ian Thomsen, Writer at Northeastern University. 

By next fall, the students say, their large drone will carry a fleet of six smaller drones that will be dispatched on a theoretical search-and-rescue mission.
Photo: Modoono/Northeastern University

They’ve spent the past three years leading a team of fellow Northeastern students to design, build, and complete the adventure by next fall.

It’s a dream scenario that engineers Noah Ossanna and John Buczek have been building from scratch for the past three years.

hey’ve been leading a team of fellow Northeastern students to design and build the drone hardware, develop its software, and create a fleet of drones that could perform any number of public services. Their self-made deadline is to fulfill a theoretical mission by next fall on behalf of Aerospace NU, a student club...

They considered forming their own club before joining Aerospace NU, which is open to all students, regardless of academic background. Buczek, Ossanna, and other team members began teaching themselves how to develop and build drones—they had no experience in the area—and the project took off organically.

The more they learned, the higher they reached. The desire to make the drones autonomous introduced them to the Robot Operating System which enables the fleet of drones to work together.

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Source: News@Northeastern