Controlling drones via virtual reality

Deployment of flying helpers in logistics and production

Whether for monitoring and inspecting the flow of goods and facilities or for carrying out deliveries, the advantages of using drones for industrial and logistical purposes are now widely recognized. However, most discussions focus on land-based freight transport and pay less attention to their potential applications in warehouses or production facilities. Yet drones are equally well-suited for use indoors. It's just that controlling the aircraft can sometimes be a bit more complex in enclosed spaces.

Thanks to rapid technological advancements, drones of all sizes are available for a wide variety of applications. Even small devices now possess sufficient payload capacity, despite their compact dimensions, to transport objects or be equipped with high-resolution cameras and scanning technology.

Their agile flight characteristics enable drones to operate in confined spaces, making them well-suited for use in warehouses and production halls. Their advantage: While the floor of a warehouse or assembly hall is usually busy, the airspace above is largely unobstructed. This makes it logical to use it for the rapid delivery of items by drone to the assembly line or shipping station.

Control of the drones

Generally, it's simpler to program routes for drones' sometimes long cross-country flights than to prescribe paths through narrow aisles in warehouses or assembly halls, where the terrain is more complex and the risk of collisions is considerably higher. DHL with the Parcelcopter are just one example among many. In the future, outdoor flights are intended to be primarily controlled automatically using high-performance software. This software assigns the drones the most efficient tasks and routes and ensures that the small transporters don't collide with each other, other objects, or even people. However, this technology still has its drawbacks, especially when unforeseen situations arise or complex tasks are involved. These are, however, the prevailing conditions in industrial environments. When it comes to transporting sensitive parts worth several thousand euros, companies prefer to play it safe and leave the controls to a pilot.

The days of controlling drones with a traditional game console are slowly but surely coming to an end. Instead of a bulky controller, the aircraft can now be piloted with smartphones or tablets. Commands are triggered by tilting, rotating, and rotating the mobile device, which are then sent to the drone via an app and a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection.

Flight via Virtual Reality

As an alternative to smartphone or tablet control, drones can also be flown using VR glasses. Commands are given similarly to mobile devices: if the pilot leans in a certain direction, the drone flies in the same direction; if the pilot's head is tilted forward or backward, the drone follows the movement. If the pilot turns, the drone turns accordingly.

Compared to smartphones and similar devices, VR headsets allow for a more detailed flight experience , as the pilot controls the drone from a first-person perspective. Instead of a virtual world, the headset captures the signal from a camera mounted on the front of the drone, transmitting the live camera feed. This provides the pilot with an extremely authentic flight experience, almost as if they were sitting directly in the drone's cockpit. This realistic overview enables the pilot to control the drone with exceptional precision and react quickly to unforeseen situations. The latter, in particular, is not always possible with software-controlled models, despite all the high-tech advancements and rapid technological development.

For complex tasks, hybrid solutions are also conceivable, in which the drone flies automatically to the target location and the pilot takes over from there. In this case, manual intervention is limited to necessary tasks, saving working time and simultaneously ensuring that complex tasks are carried out by an expert, while routine flights can be handled by the software. One goal will be to further improve the coordination of drones with each other and their human partners in order to achieve even more effective results.

Use of drones in production and warehousing

Drones are suitable for various tasks within buildings, such as inventory management. Normally, stock levels are checked and counted manually by employees. However, to minimize downtime, this task must be performed alongside daily operations. Often, this is only possible by working overtime outside of normal business hours – with productivity-reducing factors such as overtime pay and the risk of increasing inaccuracies due to staff fatigue. It is partly for these reasons that the US retail giant Walmart is already conducting inventory checks using drones.

Drones can automate the inventory process, allowing it to be carried out at night or on weekends. During their flights, the devices use cameras and scanners to record existing stock, simultaneously checking inventory and reporting the results directly to the inventory management system. A system specifically designed for conducting inventories was developed by Linde Material Handling in collaboration with the French automation expert Balyo . The so-called "Flybox" is intended to significantly simplify inventory processes, saving companies valuable time and money. The drone, approximately fifty centimeters in size and equipped with a camera and barcode scanner, can operate fully automatically, thus enabling inventory counts outside of regular business hours.

Drones are also well-suited for supporting production processes, for example, for transporting spare parts within a factory. Speed ​​is crucial to minimizing machine downtime and production losses. The fast and efficient transport of spare parts by drone within large factory facilities helps to successfully meet this challenge. Where people or AGVs quickly lose track of things or have to accept long travel times, these intelligent transport systems fly directly to the desired parts and deliver them to where they are needed as quickly as possible.

The car manufacturer Audi is testing drones at its Ingolstadt plant. There, the possibility of automated drone transport of parts to the assembly lines is being tested during ongoing operations. The starting point for this approach was the faster delivery via the direct route through the air compared to floor-based transport vehicles. If such tests prove successful, little will stand in the way of a wider introduction of drones in industry in the future.