Researchers train drones to use Wi-Fi to look through walls(X-ray Eyes in the Sky: Drones and WiFi for 3D Through-Wall Imaging)

Researchers train drones to use Wi-Fi to look through walls

A new system by University of California, Santa Barbara
researchers Yasamin Mostofi and Chitra R. Karanam uses two drones, a
massive Wi-Fi antenna, and a little interpolation to literally see
through solid walls.

The system is two-fold. The one drone blasts Wi-Fi through the
structure and another picks up the signal. Then, working in tandem, the
two drones fly around the solid structure until it maps the differences
in wave strength at different points. Using this information the
researchers have been able to create a 3D model of a closed building.


In the video below you can see the drones idly flying around a brick
structure. They cannot see inside. As the waves penetrate the brick they
change as they pass through other structures behind the wall. After a
few passes the drones start mapping the entire structure in high
resolution.


“Our proposed approach has enabled unmanned aerial vehicles to image
details through walls in 3D with only WiFi signals,” said Mostofi. “This
approach utilizes only Wi-Fi RSSI measurements, does not require any
prior measurements in the area of interest and does not need objects to
move to be imaged.”


The team was first able to create 2D models of objects using this
technique but quickly graduated to 3D models. The system uses
off-the-shelf devices including a simple Wi-Fi router and a Google Tango
tablet. It also uses a Raspberry Pi and Wi-Fi card for the receiver.
Drones talk to each other and act autonomously.


While you’re not going to get a Predator-like view of living things
through walls – yet – this project does have a lot of potential for
indoor mapping and emergency situations when you need to know what’s
inside a building without breaching the door. The researchers even
expect some interesting archeological applications as well