Posted on 02/02/2012 4:55:44 AM PST by ShadowAce
The General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception (GRASP) Lab, located at the University of Pennsylvania, is already well known for its work with quadrotors. In the past the quadrotor research team has managed to get a quadrotor flying aggressively, meaning it could land on angled surfaces and maneuver through small windows at high speed. Then the quadrotors were taught to work together to build a tower structure.
A new video posted by the GRASP Lab shows that development of quadrotors isn’t slowing down. Alex Kushleyev, Daniel Mellinger, and Vijay Kumar have advanced the quadrotor’s behavior to the point where they now can carry out some quite complex autonomous swarm behavior.
In the video below, teams of up to 20 nano quadrotors demonstrate movement in multiple formations. First of all we get to see formation flight where each autonomous quadrotor manages to hold their position in the formation perfectly during movement. Formations can also transition between many 3D shapes.
The intelligence of the swarm is such that formation flight can take into consideration obstacles. So, for example, 20 quadrotors flying in a 4 x 5 formation will automatically adjust their positions to travel through a small gap such as a window. Once through the gap they will move back into formation.
The nano quadrotors have been developed by KMel Robotics, but few specifics are known about their make up. The aggressive movement of the quadrotors is impressive, but it’s their ability to work autonomously and as a team that will get most people, and companies, excited.
Have you ever wondered if some people watched the movie “Terminator” and thought “Gee wouldn’t it be great to be responsible for Skynet? I bet their IPO was through the roof!”
It is an amazingly cool video, but what is nano about them?
Did these guys not read Michael Crichton’s “Prey” ??? ;-)
And Skynet comes one step closer to fruition . . .
Good question. I don’t know either.
Very cool, but they’re “cheating” a bit. The reason why there’s white sheets on the wall and floor is so that a computer can pick out each quadrotor in a camera image. The quadrotors are only responding to commands from the centeral computer. Impressive, but hardly swarm-like.
That will never happen as long as humans control the power to create electricity. Without electricity, nothing electronic can “live.”
... a gripping story ... and a little too scary.
O. M. G. !!!
I’m speechless beyond saying that anyone with a good imagination will have their heads spinning with the vast possibilities suggested by these videos.
Michael Caine to a patient crazed by bee stings: "There's no bee here. There's no bee here".
I knew what you meant! ;-)
It shouldn’t take artificial intelligence very long to figure that one out.
Maybe the AIs will turn humans into artificial batteries and keep our minds alive with an elaborate construct called the Matrix.
No wait, that’s retarded. Maybe they’ll just dig up some coal.
There is nothing nano about them but calling them nano quadrotators sounds so much cooler than tiny toy helicopters!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.