Parrot SLAMdunk is an open hardware and software kit that enables the development of drones or unmanned aircraft. It is based on Ubuntu technology and ROS operating system for robots. SLAM stands for Simultaneous Localization And Mapping, and allows the design of advanced applications that allow understanding and mapping GPS signals in 3D. And although it is designed for drones, being based on ROS and a Linux development environment, it could be oriented to other types of robots such as articulated arms, traveling robots, etc.
SLAMdunk applications include autonomous navigation for drones and ground robots, 3D cartography, prevention of obstacles that can be found on the way these artifacts, creation of prototypes of drones and robots, robotic solutions and data collection through stereo cameras and integrated sensor matrix (among which are IMU, barometers, magnetometer , ultrasound, etc.), in addition to other functions.
In short, this development hardware / software kit can help you create your own toys or develop for research, projects academics, etc. All with the support and trust of the French company Parrot, which already has a good track record in creating robots and drones at affordable prices. And if you are interested in this type of development kits and the world of robots and drones, from LxA we recommend you also visit the website of Erle robotics, the Spanish company has super innovative and interesting developments.
Finally, I would like to say that this Parrot kit allows autonomous navigation and avoidance of obstacles fully automatically. Regarding the SLAM algorithm, allows the rum or robot to create a 3D copy of the environment to locate its own position and that of the obstacles that may be in its movement. All this processed by a powerful NVIDIA Tegra K1 SoC, and systems to optimize the battery life of the drone, providing greater autonomy. It also includes USB connection, jack cable and only weighs about 140 grams.