Microsoft officially launch Project AirSim this week at the Farnborough International Air Show where it is available in limited preview for interested customers.
The company reports Project AirSim as a new platform running on Microsoft Azure to safely build, train, and test autonomous aircraft through high-fidelity simulation and that “AirSim uses the power of Azure to generate massive amounts of data for training AI models on exactly which actions to take at each phase of flight, from takeoff to cruising to landing. It offers libraries of simulated 3D environments representing diverse urban and rural landscapes as well as a suite of sophisticated pretrained AI models to help accelerate autonomy in aerial infrastructure inspection, last-mile delivery, and urban air mobility.
“In these realistic environments, AI models can run through millions of flights in seconds, learning how to react to countless variables much like they would in the physical world: How would the vehicle fly in rain, sleet or snow? How would strong winds or high temperatures affect battery life? Can the drone’s camera see a turbine’s arms on an overcast day just as well as a clear one?
“With Project AirSim, developers will be able to access pretrained AI building blocks, including advanced models for detecting and avoiding obstacles and executing precision landings. These out-of-the-box capabilities eliminate the need for deep machine learning expertise, helping expand the universe of people who can start training autonomous aircraft.”
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(Image: Microsoft)