Tiny drone with artificial 'whiskers' navigates in dark and smoky areas

Researchers at Delft University of Technology developed a sub-100g drone that uses two artificial whiskers for tactile navigation. Pressure sensors at the whisker base detect surface contact, and onboard software processes the data using only 34 kilobytes of memory.

• Drone weighs under 100g with two whiskers and base pressure sensors
• Onboard tactile navigation software uses just 34 KB of memory
• System separates airflow turbulence from real contact with millimetric precision
• Use cases: rescue in rubble, smoke, dust, and GPS-denied environments