The IMSIT Navigator youth engineering team has developed an automatic route planning program for drones that, unlike its counterparts, runs not only on powerful laptops but also on tablets. This was reported by the press service of University 2035, the operator of the federal project "Personnel for UAVs."
The program works on any operating system and does not require connecting a video camera to the drone; obstacle recognition occurs at the data level. The system loads information from a database where each building is marked as a geographical object with specific coordinates. For the algorithm, the building becomes a "forbidden zone" on the digital map, which cannot be crossed when calculating the trajectory. The program searches for the shortest path between takeoff and landing points, automatically bypassing obstacles.
Route planning occurs before the flight; the operator builds the route on a computer or tablet, then uploads the finished course into the drone's memory. The team tested the development on a site in Krasnodar: first, they plotted the route in the program, then went to the area and compared the digital maps with real objects. Tests showed planning accuracy of 95%.
The main advantage of the new system is its low hardware requirements. The program consumes less than 2 GB of RAM, compared to 8–16 GB for professional counterparts. This makes it accessible for cheap field tablets, whereas competing software often requires powerful workstations. The development was created by students of the Russian New University as part of the "Personnel for UAVs" project.
In the future, the technology is planned to be adapted not only for drones but also for other types of equipment and transport. The program's light weight opens up the possibility of using it in the field, where access to high-performance equipment is limited.