Researchers at Delft University of Technology developed a drone that navigates by touch. Designed for drones under 100 grams, it uses two nose-mounted whiskers and pressure sensors to detect contact, avoid obstacles and build a basic picture of nearby spaces.
Airflow can disrupt whisker readings, so the team developed software that separates turbulence from surface contact in real time with millimetric precision. The onboard program uses 34 kilobytes of memory and processes data without relying on external computing.
The approach is not suited to the fastest drones, but the researchers say it could help small rescue units in smoke, dust, darkness or collapsed buildings, where cameras may struggle. Touch-based sensing could also be useful when GPS is unavailable.
