Here's a fascinating video about what technology can do- and there were no humans controlling these flying robots! - Rob
Flying robot quadrotors perform the James Bond Theme by playing various
instruments including the keyboard, drums and maracas, a cymbal, and the
debut of an adapted guitar built from a couch frame. The quadrotors
play this "couch guitar" by flying over guitar strings stretched across a
couch frame; plucking the strings with a stiff wire attached to the
base of the quadrotor. A special microphone attached to the frame
records the notes made by the "couch guitar".
These flying
quadrotors are completely autonomous, meaning humans are not controlling
them; rather they are controlled by a computer programed with
instructions to play the instruments.
Penn's School of
Engineering and Applied Science 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.
This
video premiered at the TED2012 Conference in Long Beach, California on
February 29, 2012. 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.
The engineers from Penn,
Daniel Mellinger and Alex Kushleyev, have formed a company called KMel
Robotics that will design and market these quadrotors.
More information: http://www.upenn.edu/spotlights/penn-quadrotors-ted
Video Produced and Directed by Kurtis Sensenig
Quadrotors and Instruments by Daniel Mellinger, Alex Kushleyev and Vijay Kumar
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