PX4 Developer Summit 2021

With drones being able to fly autonomously over reasonable distances and airspace authorities working to legalize autonomous flight, drone delivery is becoming a reality. It promises great advantages to deliver all kinds of goods right to your backyard in a short time and at low cost. But what if you don’t have a backyard? What if you live in an apartment building, how will the drone reach you? It already starts with the problem that your position is not exactly known: In the best case, you have a GNSS fix and can determine your position within +/-5m. In densely built-up areas, only cell-based positioning might be available with even larger tolerances. And 5m off already means a deviation of two floors up or down. Using a camera on the drone to recognize a marker is not an option because of privacy issues. This new precision navigation algorithm allows to define a safe approach corridor from the drone’s cruising altitude to the customers location and to guide the drone through that corridor into unknown territory. The solution does not require the drone to have a camera, so it does not cause privacy issues with other people. It even allows deliveries to places with no landing spot, like balconies or windows of apartment buildings.