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Mambo mini drone

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About the project

Parrot Mambo mini drone

Automatically flying drones - what technology is behind them?

In his bachelor's thesis, Maximilian Kleist investigated how images from a camera on a drone can be used to control the drone. To this end, an image analysis algorithm was designed that evaluates the camera images and uses the results for autonomous navigation.


Strong growth is predicted for the drone market. Applications for commercial use include drones for parcel delivery, for monitoring production facilities or as helpers in medical emergencies, for example to quickly bring a defibrillator to a patient.

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For an illustrative demonstration (see video above) of autonomous drone control, three signs with different colors were built as part of the bachelor thesis and a graphical user interface was developed that enables the operation of the image analysis algorithm. The signs are uniquely identified by special patterns (so-called markers), which are captured by the camera, processed by a special algorithm and used to control the drone. This algorithm was implemented using knowledge from image processing. In the demonstration, the drone controls all three signs one after the other - without human intervention.


After completing his Bachelor's thesis, Mr. Maximilian Kleist, B. Eng. is now in the 3rd semester of his Master's degree in Information and Electrical Engineering. Mr. Kleist reflects on his Bachelor's degree:

"In my opinion, studying at Fachhochschule Dortmund is characterized by the fact that, in addition to learning the theoretical basics, you get the opportunity to apply this content in practice. This teaches you to familiarize yourself with certain topics independently and quickly."


Further details are explained in a detailed video (see video below).

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Notes and references

Photo credits

  • Fachhochschule Dortmund | Maximilian Kleist

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