The life of an Intel UAV can be very colorful, helping scientists travel to the polar region to study polar bears, helping repair and maintain the German cathedral and the Great Wall of China, and even taking the U.S. super bowl and NBA all-star stage.
With the change of economic and technological situation, many enterprises have begun to expand the sideline business to get more development opportunities. As one of the world's leading technology companies, Intel has been actively carrying out transformation in recent years, not only accelerating its layout in the field of artificial intelligence, but also increasing its investment in the UAV industry.
2015 was a key year for Intel to power its UAVs. In the year, Intel invested in a number of UAV companies around the world, buying Altera, a UAV array technology solution provider, for $16.7 billion, and has also struck a partnership with AscendingTechnologies, a UAV maker. By 2016, Intel acquired AscendingTechnologies, as well as MAVinci, another UAV maker.
For now, Intel's main focus is on small UAVs. But Intel's ultimate success in this competitive field will require a big leap. As a leading global UAV giant, DJI has dominated almost the whole field of consumer UAVs and has considerable strength in the field of professional UAVs.
So can Intel successfully challenge DJI's throne? It will take time to verify. Now, Intel's UAV development seems to be taking a different path, such as scientific research, cultural relic maintenance and so on.
Helping scientists research polar bears
In 2017, Intel UAV helped scientists delve into the arctic and document polar bears' lives. In the past, scientists have used helicopters and small aircraft to observe arctic wildlife from high above. However, these vehicles are so large and noisy that they often scare away animals, which can affect their behavior and make it impossible for scientists to observe the animals' natural state.
Also, because of the rapid climate change in the arctic and the harsh climate, taking a helicopter is a big risk. According to statistics, the crash ranks first among the accidental deaths of wildlife scientists. Now, with the development and popularization of the UAV, it will become an important assistant for scientists to carry out polar research.
Intel introduced footage of its UAV falcon 8+ tracking polar bears in harsh conditions. The UAV is equipped with infrared thermal sensors that can directly sense the polar bear's temperature and accurately position it from the snow-white polar regions, allowing scientists to observe polar bears' behavior patterns, feeding, migration and reproduction on a safe boat to further analyze the effects of climate change.
Assist in maintaining German cathedral
There is a famous cathedral in the German state of Saxe-Anhalt. It is the cathedral of Haberstadt. Built between 1235 and 1491, this church is one of Germany's finest gothic cathedrals, as well as a unique and well-preserved medieval chapel.
Today, the church, which has been weathered for centuries, is old and in need of protection and repair. To solve the problem of repair, the Bauhaus university in Weimar, Germany, and the heritage conservation foundation of Saxe-Anhalt have teamed up with Intel to use UAVs to help detect and assess damage to the church.
In a case that affected the surrounding environment, Intel's UAV visually detected hard-to-reach and vulnerable structures, collecting nearly 1,000 detailed images in an hour. After processing, these data are generated into an accurate 3D structure model for decision makers to make reference to determine the repair plan.
Help protect the Great Wall of Jiankou
With more than 450 years of history, the Great Wall of Beijing Jiankou is severely damaged by natural erosion and human trampling. China cultural relics protection foundation, national key laboratory of surveying and mapping remote sensing information engineering of Wuhan university and Intel have reached cooperation to jointly implement the Great Wall protection project in Beijing.
In the implementation of the protection project, the field survey is an important part, which is also the main task of Intel. Traditional exploration methods are time consuming and face certain security risks. With the help of falcon 8+ UAV and artificial intelligence software, Intel is able to conduct rapid exploration, solve the problem of difficult access for surveyors and provide high-resolution aerial imaging.
Intel's UAVs have also featured at the super bowl in the city of the Spring Festival gala and NBA all-star events that have drawn the attention of basketball fans around the world. Obviously, the application in the above different scenarios not only provides valuable experience for the development of Intel UAV, but also creates more opportunities for Intel to find market breakthrough.
