By John D. Sutter, CNN
(CNN) –- File this in the don't-know-why-someone-thought-of-this-but-it's-amazing drawer:
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania developed flying robots - they kind of look like fat, square hummingbirds - that play the theme song from "James Bond" films. Not "play" in a passive sense. These little guys (or gals, since robot voices are usually female, as Brandon Griggs writes) actually hit notes on keyboards and drag sticks across chimes. One dips up and down onto a cymbal to accent the piece.
It's all pretty incredible. Check out it out in this video, shown recently at the TED conference in California:
According to a Penn press release, these robots are training for real missions:
Figuring out how to move in unison without crashing into obstacles, or one another, is a critical skill for robot teams to develop, especially since they may one day be used to survey landscapes, build structures, or even play music.
Here's more on how the actual performance worked:
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 positions 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.
And, finally, here's another cool video that shows what the robots are up to when they're not playing music. Seeing them training to fly in formation is awesome in a semi-threatening way. (You can insert your favorite robots-are-taking-over-the-world joke here).
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Ok, that's all well and good and awesome. I'll just sit and hold my breath for when the military comes up with all kinds of ways to kill humans with this remarkable invention.
It's long ways off field application, but still the US have the drones that are nowadays killing people on their own. It's not like this is anything new, just a demo of stuff that can be done. The robot rebellion is is still some years off, because they don't have the ability to think as such yet. When the complexity arrives at the point of, let's say a cat, and has a body, the robots will not follow our commands. A cat doesn't follow your commands, he does what he likes. Nobody knows what an intelligence as smart as a cat can do in a network. If confined to a mechanical body, that's ok. Just don't let them out on the internet.
DavidJewlian March 10, 2009 I agree with most all your points made here. People shulod be intellectually curious all the time, not just when it is convenient.I do find a point of consternation with how you find the answer My girlfriend! to be astonishing when asked about his passion. Yes, you shulod have a passion for your employment, but I don't believe it has to be the driving force in your life. If all you live, eat, and breathe is your job, you're bound for burnout and bound to be the bore of every party. While I understand it may seem a bit of a juvenile thing to say in an interview, I wouldn't discount the answer as foolish (not that you do). I give the man props for answering outside the realm of classic interview responses. Otherwise, great post and, as stated before, I definitely agree. Be curious all the time, not just when it's necessary.
Ok – two students invented the thing. Which was not really invention – they just made the existing robot smaller. The questions is – HOW DOES THAT INDIAN KUMAR FITS IN? Why was he presenting this "invention" on the show and not the real "inventors"? I never seen Indians invent anything – they just talk.
Unbelievable waste of tax payer money.
Well, if you don't want to contribute to the trillion dollar "defence bill", you can always try to vote for reasonable people. For some reason, it's not possible in the "democracy" of the US, just like it's not possible to vote for change in Russia. Somehow the same person or the same idea is still the only thing there.
Where in this article does it say that taxpayer money was being used? It's Penn State University. Are you saying that SCHOOLS are a waste of taxpayer money? Or maybe you're suggesting that finding innovative ways to do things without putting people in harm's way is a waste of taxpayer money. Or perhaps you mean that advancing our technological capabilities in robotics is a waste of taxpayer money.
It's from the University of Pennsylvania, a private school - not Penn State.
I want one...scratch that. I want twenty.
LOL
Gosh, y'all always have something negative to say. Be positive for once. Anyways...
Cool invention. This would be great on spy missions and discovering things around earth that we normally wouldn't go look. Glad to hear we are advancing to the future.
Next, the Intrigal Quadrotor Happy Time Band will perform a piece of their own creation: "KILL.ALL.HUMANS."
LOL
When they start doing that song from the movie apocalypse now, kiss your butt good bye.
Posted on I do think Domu would make an excellent movie. Back in the late 90 s, when they were imndolipg a bunch of the old projects in Chicago, I kept thinking to myself that this was a perfect opportunity for a filmmaker to step in and use one of those as a set.I think the new Blue Beetle would be a good candidate for adaptation.
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Neal W. Dias
No one cares.
Stop spamming CNN.
CNN again trying to make people fearful of technology (with some narrative) because it does not play well into their plans for global domination by destorying the free market typical. pshhh.
imma eat some bread now.
Neal, you're in the GOP lion's den.
But, someone does care. I'll read it.
I liked Rudy.I LOVED Eddie Koch, even though he stmmoiees drove me nuts. Mr Guliani? Sir, you are NO Ed Koch.And you couldn't even beat either of our currently sitting United States Senators.
Imagine a chick that never gets fat, always does what you say "fetch my shoes biayytch", never talks back, and has a "voice off" button. Ohhhh yea tech is great!
Anyone seen my swatter?
Could use them for search and rescue or the other....search and destroy. If someone goes missing hiking or whatever, put a few dozen of these in the area with infrared cameras and mics.
but monkeys are not as smart
Cool beans
COOL BEANS!
Wow! Great to find a post kconikng my socks off!
CCCCCOOOOOOlll beans
MONKEYS ARE SO MUCH BETTER
Totally awesome dudes
How about programming them to do search and destry missions over mine fields? Millions of mine set off and/or marked for destruction, loss of human life = 0! Could be of great use against IEDs also!
True, but they wanna use them for a retarded use.
Jesus youre here too. Are you the same Rainbow on Saber of exar kun lol?
As long as the name of the company is not "Skynet."
skynet was the computer. but cyberdyne was the company. and there is a cyberdyne company.
http://www.cybdyn.com
Greeaattt...then cyberdyne needs to be put out of business before they kill us allllllll!!!!!!!!!
And the terrminator movies were actually signals sent from the future to warn us because they never really figured out how
to send humans or machines back just thought patterns that were picked up by a writer who wrote the movies. So be warned..... Judgement day dec 21,2012.....
The movie Contact was part of the message
Many practical, global, military applications. Picture formations of thousands of armed flying robots tasked to target sources of firepower in Syria or Afghanistan. The solution to tyrants is at hand.
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We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistence is futile!
you spelled assassinated wrong. stupid computer
YAY robots!
Very cool, but I'll wait for the cybernetic implants to come out…
I am Dyslexia from Borg, You're ass will be laminated!!!!
Robot skeeters...get the repellent..
Are batteries included?
what's old is new again. Nice reference.
I imagine they would do for a search and rescue in the forest. But outside the lab, they gotta have the equivalent of a mothership for refuelling and AWACS to scan and plot the area ahead.
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The Flight of the Valkyries would have been more appropriate
I want one!
I want a mini flying robot!
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i'm too lazy to read the comments. SKYNET IS HERE!
I can envision a fleet of these becoming proficient in scratching a person's back. What a cool idea.
That song sucked.
So, I'm not completely sure this does not creep me out!
Fry the little sucker.
skynet by cyberdyne
Great job .. guys! This is one-small-step-one-giant-leap-type progress .... fantastic!
Does this mean that we are that much closer to hover boards?
soon...
http://www.slashfilm.com/future-real-life-working-hoverboard-amazing-science-quantum-locking/
Ok, The space invader formation was classic! especially since the first time I saw one of those fly, that was the first thing that popped into my head.
This is one of many examples that prove that we need better means of energy storage. These cool little things probably don't fly very long. Do they use a conventional chemical storage or charge storage?
The lifepo4 battery has a 2,000 complete charge-discharge longevity. Thousands more for partial charges. It can be recharged to like 80% in less than 1/2 hour (still a bummer for these quick little guys) and does not have the thermal issues that their cousin, the li-ion has (hence the longevity).
So, I imagine these guys "hooking up" to the charger every 1/2 hour or so. The lifepo4 is also much lighter than nimh. Its drawback is that it require slightly more volume than the li-ion (but still less than nimh).
Everybody's rooftop will have "quad hookups"... and apps that tell them to spy on their facebook friends.... lol
In 2009 a couple companies also achieved the first flights of fuel-cell powered model helicopters. They aren't as small as the ones in this video yet. But they can achieve longer flights and refuel instantly.
all i can think of is these being used to assemble and build. amazing...
That was actually one of the first videos of these that came out, a group of them assembling prefabricated building structures.
Um. So they need the camera system to communicate? Seems like that is a huge limitation to them performing any task outside of the laboratory.
It's a starting point. The theory is that as they develop robots like this further, they each will be able to examine their immediate surroundings and relay that information to all the others. When you get all of the robots sharing their surroundings they will collectively have an accurate layout of the larger area.
We use commandos to "paint" targets with lasers that enable 'smart bombs' to be dropped down chimneys of buildings from miles away.
...bet you won't say that to their sensors.
@joe
I for one welcome our swarming microbot overlords!
(Hey, he said to insert my favorite 'robots-are-taking-over-the-world joke', after all.)
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Most amazing thing ever. I cant imagine the power source lasting more than a few minutes. i can see potential in these. however the james bond song they picked stinked!
We should listen to the opinion of someone who thinks "stinked" is a word?
oops. "how could" = "how cool"