Researchers at Michigan Tech University's Human-Interactive Robotics Lab have developed a new method of capturing rogue drones in mid-flight. An interceptor drone is equipped with a net gun so it can chase down an errant drone and pluck it out of the sky.

This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

Although other systems for capturing a drone with a net have been developed, Michigan Tech's net gun has some clear advantages. The net is tethered to the drone, but it still has a range of 40 feet, and it travels fast enough to catch a drone in the process of flying away. The net-firing system was also specifically developed to incapacitate a drone without letting it fall to the ground.

"If the threat is a drone, you really don't want to shoot it down—it might contain explosives and blow up. What you want to do is catch it and get it out of there," says Mo Rastgaar, an associate professor of mechanical engineering who designed the net gun, speaking to Michigan Tech News.

Rastgaar's system allows for the predatory drone to be flown by a human, operate autonomously, or a combination of the two. A patent for the drone-catching system has been filed by the creators.

With drones crashing on the White House lawn and falling out of the sky at ski races, it's not hard to see why the FAA would be interested in Michigan Tech's drone-netting gun, especially considering that they just required that drone-owners register their UAVs.

"It's like robotic falconry," says Rastgaar.

Source: Michigan Tech University via The Guardian

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io