Can an entire airplane journey happen without a pilot? You would say a big fat NO. Well the day isn’t far my friend. Numerous times, the steps have been taken into producing mind controlled drones, and finally a Portuguese company is successful in making a mind controlled drone. We could expect scientists to soon make the airplane fly without a pilot.
Tekever’s Mind Controlled Drone Success
The Portugal-based aeronautics company called TEKEVER was successful in controlling a drone with the mind of a human. They called this project the “Brain Flight” project. The idea to fly an object with the mind is something terrifying and exciting at the same time. Exciting as you can make your drone or anything fly anywhere by merely thinking, but at the same time its terrifying. Terrifying, because since it’s controlled by the brain; what if the person controlling it gets a mental trauma or is distracted? In that case, various algorithms were written to kick in at the time and avoid any misshaping.
How is the drone controlled by the mind? The pilot is made to wear a special cap, which is covered with electrodes. It measures the thoughts and all other electrical activities going in his/her brain. This acts as an input, allowing the pilot to get control on the drone and make it move higher in the sky with the help of his/her thoughts.
The pilot who was chosen to do this project is Nuno Loureiro. Before the actual flight, he was given a training where he imagined to move a dot on a screen that would move the drone. During the flight, Nuno Loureiro was asked to focus on simple thoughts within the format he was taught during the training period. By being focused on simple thoughts the drone will receive clear signals in the form of brain signals, which can easily be processed.
The Main Goals of Creating Mind-Controlled Drones
The company’s target is to apply this technology so that the pilots can just use their mind to fly an airplane. Though for now they are focusing on larger drones, as the framework required to control an entire aircraft hasn’t been prepared yet. The company Tekever is positive to change the mindset of people regarding their approach towards transportation. It would be more cool to fly an airplane or drive a boat in the river or any other vehicle on the road, but Tekever wants to develop a technology that will help disabled people. Its motive is to help people who have injuries, are using prosthetic limbs to operate stuff, and navigate them just with high focus. They want them to make their interaction with their surroundings in an easy way.
