Defense contractor Thales Group has developed a unique setup for controlling drones, which is essentially an intense computer chair with monitors hanging in front of it.
Almost all of drone flight can be handled remotely by software so Thales Group built a chair that would allow one person to control up to three drones at once, from takeoff and landing to flight trajectory.
The main purpose of the chair, however, is to provide a way for one person to keep an eye on real-time surveillance footage and adjust flight paths as needed.
This proof-of-concept demonstrator is built around a control station capable of supervising multiple [unmanned aerial vehicles] for surveillance missions. It allows the operator to plan and then automatically track a mission flying up to three UAVs simultaneously. It also manages the UAVs’ sensors (visible and infrared cameras, etc.) and detects potential targets for the operator, who can then designate and track a target with one of the UAVs.
