Human-Approved Autonomous Drone System
PURA UAV Team | Published: April 2025
What is Autonomous Flight?
With the advancement of technology, electronic devices like UAVs can now perform tasks without human intervention. This capability is known as autonomous flight—where drones follow a mission plan and operate independently. While this sounds impressive, full autonomy is not always safe, especially in critical missions.
Why Can Autonomy Be Risky?
Even though computer vision and AI systems have greatly evolved, they are still prone to errors. A drone in a search-and-rescue mission might mistake a fence for a person or misidentify a civilian as a threat in a warzone. That’s why human approval remains essential in sensitive operations.
Why Is Communication with the Ground Station Necessary?
It's not just about flying. The drone must instantly transmit what it sees and how it evaluates situations to the pilot (or human operator). The operator then reviews the information and, if necessary, intervenes. This two-way communication allows us to benefit from both technological efficiency and human judgment.
Our Solution: A Drone That Operates With User Consent
We created a balance between full autonomy and manual control. The drone can make decisions but requires final approval from the human operator.
How We Did It
- We deployed computer vision and AI systems on the onboard mission computer.
- When the system detects a person or object, it flags it and sends the marked image to the ground station.
- The image is transmitted in real time via 5.8 GHz radio frequency.
- The user selects an action for the detected target using a predefined key.
- The drone performs the task only after receiving confirmation.
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Conclusion: Technology + Ethical Balance
With this system, drones operate more safely, reliably, responsibly, and ethically. User approval is a small but meaningful feature that reminds us that technology should not replace human oversight entirely.