Drone is 'invisible' thanks to super fast rotation

According to New Atlas, Phantom Twist rotates at a speed of 25 revolutions per second, exceeding the ability of the human visual system to process sharp details. The first demonstration of the new drone model took place at the Robotics: Science and Systems 2026 conference, held in Sydney (Australia) this month.

"Most efforts to hide drones focus on making them look like their surroundings. Meanwhile, we wondered if it was possible to design drones based on how humans perceive movement," said Professor Michael Rubenstein from Northwestern University, who led the research. Reducing visibility through constant movement is an idea that very few people have ever studied, he added.

Phantom Twist has a very different design from today's popular four-rotor drones, with only one engine and one propeller. While the propeller rotates in one direction, the rest of the drone rotates in the opposite direction.

Tom's Hardware said that the research team assigned the computational model to create about 20,000 drone configurations capable of stable flight, then used AI and several other optimization algorithms to rearrange the main components many times, including motors, propellers, circuit boards, counterweights, and batteries. After narrowing the list of potential designs down to about 500, the team of experts superimposed simulated images of the drone flying onto more than 100 real-life scenarios. A cognitive evaluation model further refines the design based on a visibility score.

The entire process is automated and the team only starts manufacturing when they believe the drone meets all criteria. As a result, according to the team's measurements, the Phantom Twist's ability to be seen is 10 times less than that of a conventional 4-rotor drone.

Associate professor of computer science Emma Alexander, co-author of the study, explained that the human eye needs time to accumulate signals, similar to the exposure time of a camera. "When an object rotates rapidly, we perceive it as blurring and losing clear features. The new drone model is nearly transparent, so the few remaining opaque parts are visually 'averaged' with the background, creating a slightly blurred overall image," she said.

However, the team admits that Phantom Twist is currently quite noisy, and that the visual impact from the wires and axle rods can still be reduced. Therefore, they plan to use more transparent materials and a quieter propulsion system in future versions, helping the drone increase its stealth capabilities. This ability is important in tasks such as observing wildlife, inspecting infrastructure or surveying lands, helping to avoid causing disturbance to animals and people.