Created by researchers at Canada's University of Sherbrooke, the S-MAD uses microspines to attach itself to rough surfaces. These are commonly used on quadrotor drones, where landing is generally less of a problem. Fixed-wing landing presents more challenges, even before you throw perching into the mix, as the device needs to have slowed almost to a stop to prevent it from bouncing off the surface it's trying to land on. And if the device is moving too slowly, it'll stall. The researchers observed birds' take-off and landing manoeuvres and installed similar mechanisms, and now the device will land successfully on vertical surfaces 100 percent of the time.

The S-MAD is a proof of concept creation, but the team is now working on further features, such as sensors to help with wall contact and thrust-assisted repositioning. It's hoped that with a bit of refinement, the device could become to go-to drone for data gathering in logistically-challenging situations, such as inspecting a building or monitoring an area after an earthquake.