Researchers Are Racing Drones to Train AI

The European Space Agency, in collaboration with the Delft University of Technology, is racing drones so that AI can autonomously fly spacecraft.

• Their efforts will no doubt attract the military.
• The military has a long history of weaponizing civilian innovations.

The European Space Agency (ESA) and the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) are racing drones to train AI on autonomous spacecraft flights, possibly attracting the military.

At times, it feels like there is no limit to human innovation. Every generation has masterminds that push us further into a future, of which we previously only dreamed. Many inventions were meant to be for the greater good, or perhaps lucky and happy accidents. Fun fact, Percy Spencer invented the microwave oven by accident. He was working on a German U-boat detector during World War II when he noticed the radiation had melted a chocolate bar in his pocket. Imagine that, from detecting boats to nuking noodles in 3 minutes or less.

And just like how many military inventions find civilian uses, many civilian technologies get adopted for military use.

Military Benefits

Human history is filled with instances where the military saw an invention or research and decided to use it for its own purposes. Airplanes, for example, were originally designed for civilian and commercial use. However, during World War I, the military used them for combat, reconnaissance, and transport.

Radar was originally created for innocuous things like weather observation and ship navigation. That was until World War II, when militaries worldwide recognized its potential for detecting enemy aircraft and ships.

For years, world governments have been trying to develop autonomous aircraft, with varying degrees of success. But with AI now on the table, their dystopian hopes might just come true. All it needs is racing drones.

Unwittingly Doing the Legwork

The ESA’s Advanced Concepts Team (ACT) and TU Delft’s Micro Air Vehicle Laboratory in the Netherlands have taken up racing drones to train their AI systems to autonomously operate a spacecraft. The point of the research is to teach the AI how to handle complex maneuvers so that, in the future, unmanned spacecraft can go on successful missions.

While AI cannot “think” the way we do, it can learn the way we do to a certain extent. The researchers are hoping to ditch pre-planned maneuvers and instead teach the AI how to conduct them on the spot. A “think fast!” kind of exercise. They want it to be able to make near-instant course corrections. So, by racing drones, the AI can collect data and learn to take it in real time.

It Won’t Be Long Now

Since the AI boom, and maybe even before that in some secret underground facilities, the military has been looking for ways to utilize AI for all its worth. They’ve been using it for weapons, decisions, and logistics, among other stuff. An aircraft that can fly by itself and decide to remain intact would be any military’s dream come true.

Final Thoughts

Don’t be too surprised. Space agencies are Santa’s little elves if Santa were their countries’ militaries. The US’ NASA and Russia’s Roscosmos have a long history of military contracts. During the space shuttle era, for example, NASA routinely ferried classified payloads into orbit for the Department of Defense. Roscosmos has developed several rockets and spacecraft that were of use to the Russian military.

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