Researchers create tiny drones with greater agility and resiliency than large craft

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DroneDrone researchMIT

Despite surging tech advances that allow drone makers to both reduce craft size and increase their onboard capacities, one vexing problem remains: The more apped-up uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAV) are shrunk down, the less able they are to withstand adverse events like wind gusts and collision. That may soon change.

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Drone sanitation project takes home MIT innovation prize

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LIDARMITfuture drones

You know you must be doing something right when the judge you’re trying to impress offers to team up with you for an early demonstration of your solution. This is what happened at this year’s Rabobank-MIT Food and Agribusiness Innovation Prize pitch event.

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These insect-like drones turn to nature to stay flying

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Drone researchMIT

Researchers from MIT and other universities have managed to create a drone that can stay in the sky after being struck, much like insects can. The drone uses a tiny rubber actuator to flap the wings rather than a motor used by most consumer and commercial drones.

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Researchers use stereo cameras for drone collision avoidance

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Drone researchMIT

Researchers from MIT, Texas A&M University, and Universidad Politécnica de Madrid have managed to create a relatively low-cost and effective method for drones to detect and avoid obstacles in flight using stereo cameras to build a depth map of the world around it in real-time.

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Fleets of drones may come to the rescue of lost hikers

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Drones to the RescueSearch & RescueMIT

Finding lost hikers in a forest can be very difficult as the thick canopy prevents helicopters and manned aircraft from getting a glimpse of what is down below. Using drones may be difficult as well as flying in between the trees, GPS signals may be very difficult to pick up. This is where autonomous fleets of drones outfitted with LIDAR systems may come to the rescue of lost hikers, as presented by MIT researchers at the International Symposium on Experimental Robotics conference.

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Nano-drones can navigate with help from new tiny and super efficient MIT chip

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MIT

A team of MIT researchers has built a fully customized chip from the ground up. They focused on developing a chip with reduced power consumption and size while at the same time increasing its processing speeds. The new chip design will allow drones the size of a honeybee or so-called nano-drones to determine their location and navigate obstacles during flight.

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