Hacker changes Google Glass drone into controller: Will it be deployed in Afghanistan?

27 Aug 2013

If you thought that the high priced Google Glass was just meant to do only one job, think twice. A Phoenix-based developer has come out with a code using which one can fly drones controlled by the Google Glass. The wearer of the gadget can manoeuvre the drone by making slight head movement.

Developer Blaine Bublitz, who has been working for coding company IcedDev, introduced the app during the annually organised Nodebots Day, an event attended by the robo fans across the globe.

The code was originally developed to work with the wheeled robots that are capable of moving back and forth. Later the same was tweaked to add right and left movements along with the up and down so that it could be used with NodeCopter, the drone.

Later, explaining about the code developed by him, Bublitz wrote on his blog: ''I began by creating code that controlled wheeled robots on a table top, before adding left and right steering using a palm-controlled device. I wanted to control a robot that could be steered and seen from at least eye height.''

In a video demonstration of the drone posted on the blog, Bublitz, explained that he had developed the code using the Face app which was earlier unveiled during an event in Portland.

''The app can send sensor information, the data needed to fly the drone that is usually sent to the device using a joystick or remote control, to a web server which then rebroadcasts it. This new broadcast can then be picked up and used by the Google Glass headset,'' said the developer.

The developer further adds in his video that even though the pitch and roll movements were incorporated, the rotation option could also be brought in. The A and B button on the Google Glass controls the landing and takeoff of the drone.