Startsville speaker talks drones and smart homes
USC assistant professor Xiaofeng Wang talked to Startsville guests about the various uses for drones. Photo by Samantha Lyles
By Samantha Lyles, Staff Writer, slyles@newsandpress.net
The Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics Foundation’s Innovation Center held a Knowledge Café program on February 15 with speaker Xiaofeng Wang, a USC instructor specializing in drone development.
Wang, a PhD and assistant professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of South Carolina, talked about how drones are taking on expanded roles in our world, and how they can contribute to a smart home and a better quality of life.
While consumer-grade drones are becoming popular, with entry level models equipped with high resolution cameras available at hobby shops and through the Internet, Wang noted that industrial and public safety usage of drones is increasingly common.
“There are numerous products on Amazon, and if you search Google you can find different types of drones,” said Wang. “But you can also use drones in public safety. For example, to go over a nuclear plant or structure to detect if there is nuclear or chemical leaking.”
Wang said that drones can be utilized to increase efficiency in the agricultural industry. Drones equipped with special cameras and sensors can survey fields and measure water conditions and fertilizer levels.
“The drone can be used to collect that data, and the data would then be passed back to a ground station,” said Wang.
He said that urban delivery of packages – and maybe, eventually, take-out food orders – is another interesting area of growth and development.
As for drones integrating into smart home systems, Wang says that drones could be programmed to respond to voice commands and ordered to retrieve objects ranging from medication to children’s toys.
He discussed the various methods programmers have for teaching a drone to navigate through a new environment, such as a home or office, or even through city streets. These methods include laser scanning to create a 3-D map, cameras and object/environment recognition software, and motion capture technology.
Wang noted that while development of integrated smart home drones is ongoing at USC, he believes the price point for such a drone will be in the $2,000 to $3,000 range when they reach the market.
The Knowledge Cafe Speaker series is hosted by Startsville, located at 145 W Carolina Avenue in Hartsville.
For more information about the Knowledge Café speaker series, visit www.startsville.com or contact Kathryn de Ridder-Vignone, Director of Startsville, at director@startsville.com.