MIT’s MiFly Could Make Warehouse Drones Smarter and More Reliable

Autonomous drones could soon navigate dark, massive warehouses with pinpoint accuracy thanks to a new system from MIT called MiFly. Instead of relying on GPS, which doesn’t work indoors, or expensive cameras and sensors, MiFly helps drones find their way using radio frequency (RF) waves and a single small tag—which could be placed on a wall like a sticker.

MIT researchers tested MiFly in dimly lit tunnels, warehouses, and labs, and the results were promising: Drones could locate themselves within 7 centimeters, even when the tag wasn’t fully visible.

“As our understanding of perception and computing improves, we often forget about signals that are beyond the visible spectrum,” said Fadel Adib, senior author of the study. “He…