The fact that the further technological leap of FPV-drones is associated with the development of so-called "machine vision" is already obvious, as it allows to simultaneously reduce the impact of enemy EW and the dependence of the operator's skill.

Both Ukraine and russia are actively moving in this direction. The main challenge is to make this solution as cheap as possible. And well-known Ukrainian serviceman, commander of the Madyar's Birds unit with a call-sign Madyar Robert Brovdi, told what russians are already using.

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One of russian FPV-drones with a machine vision system, which is auto-tracking of the target, was equipped with a mini-computer that is installed as an additional equipment and connected to a regular drone camera. According to Ukrainian UAV operators, the cost of such a solution is $120-150. This solution allows capturing an object after it was fixed by the operator.

We are talking about using a ready-made solution in the form of a single-board computer from Orange Pi. It has an 8-core 2.4GHz processor, 4 GB of LPDDR4 SDRAM, a wide number of ports in the basic version, and low power consumption in the Orange Pi 5 4G version. A ready-made hardware and software converter are used to transfer the image from the analog camera to the computer.

Of course, the Orange Pi supports more than just the auto-tracking function. Its functionality depends on the software and algorithms built into the memory. In particular, in this sample, it also has the functionality of warhead initiation, which works in parallel with the standard solution of closure of metal wires, the so-called "whiskers".

Thus, the addition of such a cheap solution, although it raises the price of FPV-drone, does not make it huge. But considering the cost of targets, it can be even cheaper than an FPV-drone without machine vision.

It is worth noting that Ukrainian FPV-drone operators are also using machine vision solutions. But on both sides, this technology is still at the stage of finding the most effective and cheapest solutions.

Earlier Defense Express reported that russia had obtained weapons from EU while Ukraine was suffering ammunition shortage.

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