Drones navigate unseen environments with liquid neural networks

Makram Chahine, a PhD student in electrical engineering and computer science and an MIT CSAIL affiliate, leads a drone used to test liquid neural networks. In the vast, expansive skies where birds once ruled supreme, a new crop of aviators is taking flight. These pioneers of the air are not living creatures, but rather a product of deliberate innovation: drones. Rather, they're avian-inspired marvels that soar through the sky, guided by liquid neural networks to navigate ever-changing and unseen environments with precision and ease. Inspired by the adaptable nature of organic brains, researchers from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have introduced a method for robust flight navigation agents to master vision-based fly-to-target tasks in intricate, unfamiliar environments.