While other UAVs use sophisticated sensors and algorithms to navigate, EPFL’s tough little Airburr uses a random-direction algorithm and a bare minimum of sensors to make its way around places other bots wouldn’t dare fly.
Robots clean rivers and sort waste, monitor ecosystems, and inspect renewable-energy infrastructure. But even the greenest robot has an environmental footprint.
EPFL engineers have designed acoustic cavities that convert sound waves into thrust, propelling small robots and ultralight aerial vehicles without on-board actuators or electronics.