FlyTrap disables autonomous targeting drones with an umbrella

Researchers at the University of California Irvine (UC Irvine) have discovered a vulnerable spot in autonomous drones that target and track their objectives based on AI via cameras. Using an umbrella with a special pattern, the drones' tracking systems can be tricked, drawing the drones to ground level, thus allowing them to be captured or crashed.

Autonomous consumer drones, as well as those used professionally for security monitoring, border control, or law enforcement, often use AI-based target tracking systems via cameras. These systems allow drones to follow people or other previously marked objects like vehicles. However, target tracking that relies solely on optical recognition poses significant security problems, as the researchers demonstrate in the study “FlyTrap: Physical Distance-Pulling Attack Towards Camera-based Autonomous Target Tracking Systems,” which was published as a preprint on Arxiv. The research findings were also presented in a talk at the Network and Distributed System Security Symposium (NDSS 2026) in San Diego.

Drawing in and disabling drones

The scientists at UC Irvine found that such drones react to distance-pulling attacks. The researchers used umbrellas with specially designed visual patterns applied to them to outsmart the AI-based network tracking systems. They call the system FlyTrap. The drone's tracking system then believes that the person holding the umbrella with the pattern is moving away, even though they are staying in one place. In its misguided belief, the drone continues to approach the person and can be captured with a net or crashed.

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The researchers show that FlyTrap can be used, for example, to attract and then disable police drones or drones on security flights. The scientists tested FlyTrap with three commercially available drones equipped with tracking systems: the DJI Mini 4 Pro and DJI Neo, and the Hover Air X1. All three drones could be influenced and drawn in by a special FlyTrap pattern on the umbrella. The scientists demonstrated that it is possible to influence a drone under different weather and lighting conditions without requiring special electronic equipment.

Following their field tests, the researchers conclude that it is very easy to gain control over autonomous drones with camera-based target tracking systems. They recommend against deploying autonomous drones with camera-based target tracking systems used for security and police tasks in public spaces.

(olb)