Researchers at the University of Würzburg want to send a small satellite with artificial intelligence (AI) on board into space to detect phenomena in space. New AI hardware and software technologies will be tested.
“The goal is to automatically detect anomalies on planets or asteroids in the future,” the university announced on Tuesday. The nanosatellite is called SONATE-2 and is expected to be launched into orbit in March on a rocket from the US west coast equipped with four cameras.
“The unique thing about our mission is that the AI is trained on board,” explains aerospace engineer Hakan Kayal. Such training normally takes place on Earth using powerful computers.
AI is supposed to detect anomalies on the Earth’s surface
The AI will initially learn, among other things, conventional geometric patterns on the Earth’s surface. “This knowledge then helps her to independently detect abnormalities,” say Kayal’s researchers. Using AI, interesting objects and phenomena on an asteroid could potentially be detected much faster than any other method.
The satellite is about the size of a shoebox and weighs twelve kilograms. Scientists hope that SONATE-2 will work for at least a year. The research project is supported by the German Ministry of Economic Affairs with 2.6 million euros.
Source: Krone
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