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9_Second place in the field of technology
© Stiftung Jugend forscht

Second place in the technology category this year went to Jonathan Fulcher and Luis KLeinwort. In their eyes, the standard remote controls for quadrocopters - civilian mini drones with four rotors - are still too unwieldy. They therefore developed an alternative. The basis for this is a y-shaped wooden rod to which several LEDs are attached in a row. The pair also placed a smartphone with a camera on board their self-built quadrocopter, which they equipped with image recognition software that they programmed themselves. This recognizes the LEDs on the wooden pole during the flight and aligns the drone accordingly. This means that even inexperienced pilots can perform flight maneuvers - simply by moving the "magic wand" back and forth with one hand.

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