Overview

• SHIELD is a real-time defense that lets hijacked drones detect intrusions mid-flight and restore control to complete missions.
• The system watches the full control stack, tracking sensor outputs plus hardware side-channel cues like battery surges and processor strain.
• Machine-learning models classify distinct attack signatures and automatically select a tailored recovery protocol.
• Hardware-in-the-loop experiments reported average detection in 0.21 seconds and recovery initiation in 0.36 seconds.
• Researchers position the work for expanded commercial use as the FAA proposes broader drone operations across industries.