Inspections by drone have obvious financial, speed and safety benefits, especially for cell towers, roofs and infrastructure to ensure the supply of electricity, gas and oil, or the safety and integrity of various structures. Yet, the manual process of watching a drone video in prone to error and is tiring for the inspector. Advances in Neuroscience and Computer science have made available new paradigm to add ‘brain-like functions’ to autonomous systems, such as drones, to help in these very tasks. Neural Networks, Deep Learning, Reinforcement Learning are today able to take over basic functions of unmanned vehicles and perform increasingly human-like activities, such as object recognition, obstacle avoidance, and inspection of complex machines and objects.

Massimiliano “Max” Versace, CEO of Neurala and Director of the Boston University Neuromorphics Lab, will explain how drones use embedded GPUs coupled with relatively inexpensive sensors to enable machines to sense and navigate intelligently, and safely, inspect their environment. The talk will illustrate GPU-compatible working “mini-brain” that can drive drones and power smart inspections.