Rodent-inspired whiskers help tiny drones navigate where cameras cannot see

Researchers at Delft University of Technology created a tactile navigation system for microdrones: a pair of artificial "whiskers" with three pressure sensors at the base measures surface contact in three dimensions. Processing runs onboard and requires only 34 KB of memory. In tests the drone flew in total darkness, mapped rooms and found exits without cameras.

• Drone weighing up to 100 g uses tactile navigation instead of LiDAR and cameras
• Three miniature pressure sensors at each whisker base give millimeter accuracy
• Turbulence filtering algorithm from propellers runs on 34 KB of memory
• Uses: finding people in smoky buildings, pipe and lunar crater inspection