The award winning MAV Robot

Humans can’t fly through windows or over molten lava, and most humans can’t go anywhere without a wireless connection. (How else will they can check in on FourSquare?)

So 9 students, led by Professor Nick Roy from MIT’s Computer Science and AI department developed the Micro Aerial Vehicle (MAV) robot capable of exploring and mapping unknown, possibly treacherous, GPS-less environments.

MAV looks like a giant WowWee flying helicopter, but it is actually a miniature bad-ass, autonomous military helicopter. The lightweight laser scanner provides high resolution real time mapping to estimate the vehicle’s position at all times and send data to home base.  And its laser and stereo cameras allow the robot to avoid obstacles in 3D.

This past summer, the team’s robot won the AUVSI International Aerial Robotics Competition and the $10,000 prize. This win marked the first time in 19 years that any team has won during the first year of the mission. For more information on the competition, click here.

Click on the link below to see a full video of MAV navigating through walls and windows:

Artificial Intelligence and Robotics: MIT’s Micro Aerial Vehicle (MAV).