Training Drones to Avoid Obstacles at High Speeds

August 25, 2021

The faster drones fly, the more unstable they become and at high speeds, their aerodynamics can be too complicated to predict. Crashes, therefore, are a common and often spectacular occurrence. But if they can be pushed to be faster and more nimble, drones could be put to use in time-critical operations beyond the race course; for instance to search for survivors in a natural disaster.

MIT has devised an algorithm that helps drones find the fastest route around obstacles without crashing. The new algorithm combines simulations of a drone flying through a virtual obstacle course with data from experiments of a real drone flying through the same course in a physical space.

A drone trained with their algorithm flew through a simple obstacle course up to 20 percent faster than a drone trained on conventional planning algorithms.

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