Robohub.org
 

The secret to small drone obstacle avoidance is to just crash into stuff | IEEE Spectrum


by
01 November 2016



share this:

At the University of Pennsylvania’s GRASP Lab, where they’ve been working very, very hard at getting quadrotors to fly through windows without running into them, Yash Mulgaonkar, Luis Guerrero-Bonilla, Anurag Makineni, and Professor Vijay Kumar have come up with what seems to be a much simpler solution for navigation and obstacle avoidance with swarms of small aerial robots: Give them a roll cage, and just let them run into whatever is in their way. Seriously, it’ll be fine!

Click here to read the full article.




Alex Kirkpatrick is a passionate writer and science communicator...
Alex Kirkpatrick is a passionate writer and science communicator...





Related posts :

Robot Talk Episode 141 – Our relationship with robot swarms, with Razanne Abu-Aisheh

  23 Jan 2026
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Razanne Abu-Aisheh from the University of Bristol about how people feel about interacting with robot swarms.

Vine-inspired robotic gripper gently lifts heavy and fragile objects

  23 Jan 2026
The new design could be adapted to assist the elderly, sort warehouse products, or unload heavy cargo.

Robot Talk Episode 140 – Robot balance and agility, with Amir Patel

  16 Jan 2026
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Amir Patel from University College London about designing robots with the agility and manoeuvrability of a cheetah.

Taking humanoid soccer to the next level: An interview with RoboCup trustee Alessandra Rossi

and   14 Jan 2026
Find out more about the forthcoming changes to the RoboCup soccer leagues.

Robots to navigate hiking trails

  12 Jan 2026
Find out more about work presented at IROS 2025 on autonomous hiking trail navigation via semantic segmentation and geometric analysis.

Robot Talk Episode 139 – Advanced robot hearing, with Christine Evers

  09 Jan 2026
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Christine Evers from University of Southampton about helping robots understand the world around them through sound.

Meet the AI-powered robotic dog ready to help with emergency response

  07 Jan 2026
Built by Texas A&M engineering students, this four-legged robot could be a powerful ally in search-and-rescue missions.

MIT engineers design an aerial microrobot that can fly as fast as a bumblebee

  31 Dec 2025
With insect-like speed and agility, the tiny robot could someday aid in search-and-rescue missions.


Robohub is supported by:





 













©2026.01 - Association for the Understanding of Artificial Intelligence