Flying robot quadrotors play the James Bond theme at TED

JamesPageJamesPage Administrator, Moderator, Director
edited February 2012 in News Posts: 1,380
<a href="http://www.upenn.edu/spotlights/penn-quadrotors-ted"; target="_blank">Penn’s School of Engineering and Applied Science</a> is home to some of the most innovative robotics research on the planet, much of it coming out of the General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception (GRASP) Lab. On Wednesday, Feb. 29, Deputy Dean for Education and GRASP Lab member Vijay Kumar presented some of this groundbreaking work at the TED2012 conference, an international gathering of people and ideas from technology, entertainment, and design.

He also debuted a video of the lab’s quadrotors doing something they have never done before: play the James Bond theme!



In this demonstration, the “stage” is in a room fitted with infrared lights and cameras. The nano quads all have reflectors on their struts, which allows the camera system to plot their exact position and relay that information wirelessly to each unit.

Lab members can then assign each unit a series of waypoints in three-dimensional space that must be reached at an exact time. In this case, those times and places translate into notes on a keyboard or a strum of a guitar. Figuring out how to get from waypoint to waypoint most efficiently and without disturbing their neighbors is up to the robots.

Comments

  • Samuel001Samuel001 Moderator
    Posts: 13,355
    I've seen these robots retrieve a book before, it was part of my Uni course - but this is even better! Wow, the future is scary.
  • Posts: 5,767
    Brilliant! I like how they play the final guitar chord.

    Looks like there´s a lot to be expected from such technology in the future.
  • Posts: 278
    Good stuff!!
    And what a good choice to play, very classy! :-B
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,187
    I hope David Arnold doesn't get any ideas from this. ;-)
  • Posts: 278
    DarthDimi wrote:
    I hope David Arnold doesn't get any ideas from this. ;-)

    Spot on Sir, I was thinking that same thought!!!! :-SS
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