ETH Zurich FlexiQuad: flexible ring-shaped drone survives 25 km/h crashes and keeps flying
ETH Zurich researchers have built FlexiQuad, a four-rotor drone with a soft, ring-shaped frame and no central body. The rotors, batteries and flight controller sit along the ring, which bends sideways when the drone hits something but stays stiff vertically so it can keep flying.
ETH says the drone flies at up to 80 km/h and kept flying after crashing into obstacles at about 25 km/h, a test speed limited mainly by lab space. It also grabbed and carried a soft first-aid kit and lifted a payload heavier than itself. The frame materials cost under 15 Swiss francs.
It's still a lab prototype. Vibrations after a crash can blur its camera and disrupt navigation, so the team is training a reinforcement-learning controller to steady the drone and resume autonomous flight. The researchers have filed a patent application on the frame design, and it's nominated for ETH's 2026 Spark Award.
More on drones.
Sources
- ETH Zurich: New flexible drone can withstand collisions
- Interesting Engineering: New collision-proof drone bounces off obstacles without losing speed and agility
- DroneLife: ETH Zurich develops flexible drone that survives collisions
- heise online: Flexible quadcopter deforms on impact and keeps flying
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