Ultralightweight sonar plus AI lets tiny drones navigate like bats
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A new sonar-based sensing system inspired by bats enables tiny drones to navigate through darkness, smoke, and dust.
AI Summary
A research team led by scientific engineer Nitin Sanket developed an ultrasound-based sonar system for small aerial drones that mimics bat echolocation to navigate in low-visibility environments like smoke, fog, and darkness where cameras and lidar fail. The system uses an acoustic shield inspired by bat ear cartilage to reduce propeller noise and a neural network called Saranga to recover weak echo signals from noisy measurements, enabling the drone to estimate obstacle locations in 3D using only milliwatt-level sensing power. The technology could enable small, inexpensive drones for search-and-rescue operations in confined spaces such as collapsed buildings, forest fires, and caves where traditional sensors become unreliable. The research reduces power consumption by 1,000 times, weight by 10 times, and cost by 100 times compared to current solutions. Sanket's team is now working to improve flying speed, sensing range, and system size with the goal of real-world deployment in search-and-rescue operations.
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