Microsoft Teaches Autonomous Gliders to Make Decisions on the Fly<br />Guided by computer algorithms that learned from onboard sensors, predicted air patterns<br />and planned a route forward, these gliders could seek out thermals — columns of rising hot air — and use them to stay aloft.<br />Led by Mr. Kapoor, who is an artificial intelligence researcher and a licensed pilot, the project was part of a growing effort to build aircraft, automobiles and other machines<br />that can make decisions on their own when faced with uncertainty — an essential skill for any machine trying to navigate the world on its own.<br />Microsoft is building an autonomous glider guided by artificial intelligence, part<br />of an effort to help machines make decisions when faced with uncertainty.<br />“It found a thermal.”<br />Last week, in the desert valley surrounding Hawthorne, Nev., 130 miles south of Reno, Mr. Kapoor<br />and his fellow Microsoft researchers tested two gliders designed to navigate the skies on their own.
