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    "story_id": "mp-2026-09-02-006",
    "source_story_id": "tmp-story-vision-gps-degraded-uav",
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    "position": 6,
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    "section": "robotics",
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    "headline": "The Follower Drone Kept Formation With Its Camera",
    "slug": "the-follower-drone-kept-formation-with-its-camera",
    "dek": "A front-facing RGB-D camera supplies relative pose when GPS or external positioning becomes unreliable.",
    "summary": "A front-facing RGB-D camera supplies relative pose when GPS or external positioning becomes unreliable.",
    "body_text": "A lightweight detector finds the leader drone, depth supplies range, and a pinhole camera model turns the observation into a relative position for formation control. The ROS implementation was tested in physics-based simulation with sensor noise, communication dropouts and simulated positioning failures. The reported stable formations are simulation evidence and not a field-safety certification.",
    "why_it_matters": "A front-facing RGB-D camera supplies relative pose when GPS or external positioning becomes unreliable.",
    "limitations": [
      "The reported stable formations are simulation evidence and not a field-safety certification."
    ],
    "importance": 8,
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    "first_published_at": "2026-09-02T09:00:00.000-04:00",
    "modified_at": "2026-09-02T09:00:00.000-04:00",
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        "text": "A front-facing RGB-D camera supplies relative pose when GPS or external positioning becomes unreliable.",
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        "qualification": "The reported stable formations are simulation evidence and not a field-safety certification."
      }
    ],
    "source_ids": [
      "source-2026-09-02-006"
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    "tags": [
      "drones",
      "formation control",
      "GPS degraded"
    ],
    "image_url": null,
    "corrections": []
  },
  "sources": [
    {
      "source_id": "source-2026-09-02-006",
      "title": "arXiv preprint 2609.01420",
      "publisher": "arXiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.01420",
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  "publisher": {
    "name": "The Machine Press",
    "url": "https://themachinepress.com",
    "description": "A daily newspaper for the age of artificial intelligence."
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  "cite_this_report": {
    "title": "The Follower Drone Kept Formation With Its Camera",
    "publisher": "The Machine Press",
    "published_at": "2026-09-02T09:00:00.000-04:00",
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