Zebras, wild horses and teams of flying robots

It started with robots playing soccer. "In my doctoral thesis, I dealt with interaction between robots using ball sports as an example," says Jun. Prof. Aamir Ahmad, Deputy Director of the Institute of Flight Mechanics and Flight Control (iFR) at the University of Stuttgart. In subsequent projects at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS), Ahmad then sent teams of robots into the air: The civil engineer developed 3D motion capture systems in which several aerial robots equipped with cameras were used. "With the help of AI, we have trained the multi-robot system to recognize people and their postures in unstructured environments - i.e. in the wild. Several aerial robots track one person. They cooperate in planning their flight paths in order to get a better view of the person being tracked." The flying robots communicate with each other and, as a team, can create a much more meaningful overall picture from a large number of individual data points than a single robot.

Teams of autonomous aerial robots, for example, could help in the search for people who have had accidents, says Ahmad. A research trip to Kenya also revealed that the new technology has great potential for species conservation: "In Kenya, I spoke to a group of biologists from Princeton University. The researchers are developing strategies to protect endangered wild animals from extinction. As a basis for this, they need as much information as possible about the behavior of animals in the wild. However, the current methods of animal observation have various weaknesses. Camera traps, for example, cannot observe herds that cover large distances every day. GPS collars or tags attached to animals pose a risk, as the animals must be anesthetized for the procedure." The vision of developing intelligent aerial robots for animal observation was conceived in collaboration with the researchers in Kenya. The idea for the Wildcap project was born.

"Drones have also been used to observe animals in the past. But the approach of developing a team of intelligent aerial  robots that recognize wild animals, follow them independently and evaluate their movements and behavior is unique so far," says Ahmad, who has held a junior professorship at the Institute of Flight Mechanics and Flight Control (iFR) at the University of Stuttgart since 2020 and heads the research group "Flight Robotics and Perception" there. At the same time, he also heads a research group at the MPI-IS.  

Wildcap is financed by the Cyber Valley Research Fund. Robotics specialists from Stuttgart are working together with biologists and ecologists in Kenya and Hungary on this interdisciplinary project. Partners include the American Princeton University and the Hungarian Hortobágy National Park. "In Hungary, we are testing the use of aerial robots to monitor rare wild horses. In Kenya, we are tracking herds of zebras," says Ahmad. Observation from the air means fewer disturbance factors and therefore less stress for the animals than monitoring from the ground. The autonomous aerial robots can also cover much larger areas than camera traps, for example.

The Stuttgart team has developed various aerial robots for the project: Blimps, large balloon-like airships equipped with an intelligent control system and camera, are particularly energy-efficient and are suitable for long missions. Much smaller quadrocopters weighing just two kilograms are used to get closer to the animals. Commercially available drones were also retrofitted. These are used for short reconnaissance flights. "All our aerial robots work as a team and communicate with each other. With the help of formation flight strategies, we achieve the best possible visual coverage of the animals."

The team also relies on AI and machine learning methods. The systems are trained not only to recognize and track certain animal species, but also to classify their behavior.  "For example, an aerial  robot approaching a zebra determines whether the animal becomes nervous as it approaches. If this is the case, the robot could change its flight path independently." The systems could also draw important conclusions about an animal's activities from its posture: "Among other things, the robots recognize whether a zebra is grazing and collect data on how often and for how long an animal eats. In turn, this data can be used to draw important conclusions about the zebra's health."  

Aamir Ahmad and the Wildcap team have now been recognized for their innovative approach as part of the "AI Champions Baden-Württemberg 2024" competition. The title "AI Champion Baden Württemberg 2024" stands for outstanding, innovative examples of application-oriented artificial intelligence solutions from Baden Württemberg. A total of nine projects received awards. It was presented by Baden-Württemberg's Minister of Economic Affairs Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut on July 11 at the Start-up BW Summit in Stuttgart's Haus der Wirtschaft.

About Cyber Valley
The Wildcap project is financed by the Cyber Valley Research Fund. Cyber Valley is Europe’s largest and leading center for excellence in artificial intelligence and modern robotics. Its mission and public mandate are to advocate for research, development, application, and acceptance of technologies and methods in the field of intelligent systems. Cyber Valley encourages entrepreneurship by uniting scientific excellence with innovation and technology transfer. In addition, Cyber Valley facilitates critical reflection on the ethical and social implications of AI through public engagement. Cyber Valley envisions a future in which the full potential of intelligent systems is leveraged for the greater good of the world. The Cyber Valley Community is a network of AI researchers, entrepreneurs, investors, and start-ups, alongside partners from academia, industry, and society. Cyber Valley GmbH is owned by the State of Baden-Württemberg and the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft. It acts as the service provider, central organizer, and host for the Cyber Valley Community. While Cyber Valley GmbH is located in Stuttgart and Tübingen, it operates across Baden-Württemberg with a global reach, attracting the best talent from across the world to create the future with AI. The University of Stuttgart is one of the founding partners of the initiative.