SmartCopter drone uses a smartphone as the processing unit

A group of researchers in Vienna have created an inexpensive drone that uses a smartphone as the processing unit. According to Annette Mossel, the creator of the project, using a smartphone in the design helps to cut costs and makes it easier to update the drone’s software.

Researchers are using a smartphone as the brains behind a small, inexpensive drone—the phone enables it to find its way around enclosed indoor spaces without using GPS or a remote guide. Although it’s still at an early stage, the so-called SmartCopter could eventually make it safer and cheaper to scout out disaster scenes before human responders plunge in.