The quadcopters at the University of Pennsylvania’s Grasp Lab have been a particular source of joy for us ever since the lab began posting videos of their flying ‘bots’ antics. We’ve seen them maneuvering through tight windows, lifting payloads as a team, and autonomously working together to build towers. What we haven’t seen them do is crash.
Until now. The Lab’s Daniel Mellinger has strung together a blooper reel of quadcopter FAILs, from payloads mishandled to maneuvers missed to midair collisions. Here’s what was left on the cutting room floor--no doubt alongside some bent propellers. Enjoy.
[via YouTube]
Five amazing, clean technologies that will set us free, in this month's energy-focused issue. Also: how to build a better bomb detector, the robotic toys that are raising your children, a human catapult, the world's smallest arcade, and much more.


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First! What up tosh.o?
The videos are amazing. The throwing hoop one...if he was just a wee bit faster, he would have nailed it. Or she...whatever. And in another he seems to go through all the hoops perfectly but the last one hoop causes an issue.
Are the helicopters learning from their mistakes? When they fall - do they get pain points and when they do things correctly, do they get happy points? I guess that's the AI group that has to get involved too. Just don't reward them with coins...or you'll have that Yale monkey research project gone haywire.
Cool Article!