ETH Zurich Unveils Drone That Survives Collisions
Researchers at ETH Zurich have built a 400-gram quadcopter whose flexible ring-shaped airframe bounces back after hard impacts.
Updated on Nov. 15, 2026 in Robotics
ETH Zurich researchers announced the Flexi Quad, a ring-shaped drone whose airframe does not break on collision. The team says the glass-fiber composite body dents on impact and returns to its original shape.
Why it matters
Drones that can absorb crashes without breaking could operate in cluttered or hazardous spaces where conventional aircraft are at risk of damage. The design offers a different approach to durability in autonomous flight research.
The Flexi Quad measures 25 cm in diameter and weighs 400 g, and the team reports it can pass through an 18 cm gap and reach 80 km per hour. These figures come from the researchers' own demonstrations, and the extraction does not indicate independent verification.
The players
ETH Zurich
ETH Zurich is the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, a leading public research university known for engineering and robotics research.
The details
The Flexi Quad is a ring with an empty center and four propellers at regular intervals, made from a glass-fiber composite whose thickness was reduced to increase elasticity. In an online video, the drone hits a large tree trunk and regains its shape, and the team states it bounces away when charging a hard wall at 25 km per hour.
Timeline
Last week: ETH Zurich announced the drone on the arXiv preprint site.
The Tech Race
Unlike cage-protected quadcopters that shield rotors with rigid external frames, the Flexi Quad relies on an elastic glass-fiber ring that deforms and recovers. This positions the design as an alternative approach to crash durability in the autonomous drone field.
The team says the drone could be used for exploration in difficult terrain and for search and rescue operations. The extraction does not indicate when or whether the design will be available outside the research setting.
The takeaway
Designs that absorb impacts rather than resist them may expand where drones can safely operate. Readers following robotics should watch whether the Flexi Quad's claims hold up under independent testing.
Further reading
For more on the machines driving this research, explore our Robotics coverage.
Source note: This article includes information reported by 경향신문.
