Flying robots are a hit on YouTube
JAN 25, 2011
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.024999
New Scientist : A graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Daniel Mellinger, has been posting videos on YouTube of mini helicopters that he has outfitted with advanced software and sensing devices. Mellinger uses quadrotors—helicopters with four rotors, made by German manufacturer Ascending Technologies—and has fitted them with custom microcontrollers, open-source software, and grippers that allow them to hover and pick up and maneuver small payloads. The goal is to make the quadrotors autonomous, which may be a long way off, however, according to another grad student, Abe Bachrach, at MIT.
© 2011 American Institute of Physics
