Alkyon, a companion that flies at home.

It changes shape to fit through

Alkyon has four arms, each turned by its own small motor. It picks its shape from what it sees:

• XTo cross a room: about 30 cm across.
• HFor a narrow door: arms folded along its body, about 23 cm wide.
• OTo turn in tight spots: all four arms wrapped round the body, turning within a circle of about 31 cm.
• TTo see ahead: front arms swept back, so its camera and front sensors have a clear view.

Each side folds only as far as it needs, and it opens its arms only once a gap is behind it, towards space it has already seen.

Built to keep its distance

• A metre of room. Designed to keep at least 1 m from people, and to slow to walking pace, 0.5 m/s, when someone is in the room.
• Guards a finger cannot pass. Every propeller sits in a hoop with grilles above and below, designed against the standard test finger. How we got there.
• Stops on contact. If anything touches it, its motors are made to stop.
• Two presses on the ring. They stop it and bring it down; nearby, no internet is needed.
• The AI proposes; code decides. Whatever model you use, it has no access to the motors. A fixed safety layer, one that does not learn, checks every move.

What stays at home

Alkyon’s camera images, its sound, the map of your home and who is in the room are processed on the dock, in your home. Curtains and tulle are off limits, because propellers pull fabric in, and balconies and gardens are no-go zones on its map.

Where we are

Alkyon flies in simulation today: thousands of test flights, landings and narrow-gap passes, in still and in moving air. Next comes a test stand that measures real thrust, power and noise. It has not been tested with people yet, and we will publish our safety tests before anyone flies one at home. Read what goes wrong when a drone flies indoors and what to ask of a robot’s camera, and the rules in its design.