GoKawiil
Tech News
Engineers at Delft University of Technology built a lightweight whisker sensor system that lets tiny drones under 100 grams navigate by physical contact rather than cameras or LiDAR. Two whiskers mounted at the front connect to miniature pressure sensors that detect surface contact, letting the drone estimate depth, avoid obstacles, and map its surroundings using just 34KB of software.
An industry commentator argues that software engineers face far less accountability than structural engineers, despite code failures already causing mass casualties, citing examples like AI-driven military drones and safety-critical AI systems. The piece contrasts civil engineering's licensing system, born from disasters like the 1928 St Francis Dam collapse, with software's near-total lack of formal oversight. It also outlines why regulating code is structurally harder than regulating physical construction, including the sheer number of self-taught coders and software's borderless nature.