Computational Design of a Low-Visibility UAV Using a Human-Aligned Perceptual Metric

TL;DR

This paper presents Phantom Twist, a low-visibility UAV designed using a perceptual metric and an automated pipeline to optimize component placement for minimal visual detectability while ensuring flight stability.

Contribution

It introduces a novel design pipeline that combines perceptual metrics with aerodynamic constraints to create low-visibility UAVs, validated through prototype fabrication and flight tests.

Findings

The optimized UAVs show significantly reduced visual perceptibility compared to conventional designs.

The design pipeline successfully balances perceptual concealment with flight stability constraints.

Prototypes demonstrate controllability and stability in real-world flight tests.

Abstract

We introduce Phantom Twist, a type of single-propeller UAV designed to achieve low visibility through high-speed spinning and the exploitation of motion blur. We develop a two-stage automated design pipeline that optimizes the placement of functional components including batteries, control PCB, motor-propeller assembly, and counterweights. The pipeline minimizes visibility as measured by a human-aligned perceptual metric (LPIPS) while strictly satisfying inertial and aerodynamic constraints required for stable flight. We validate this approach through fabrication and flight testing of multiple prototypes. These tests confirm that our pipeline produces stable, controllable designs and that the optimized UAV exhibits significantly reduced visual perceptibility compared to conventional quadcopters.