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At the Drones and Aerial Robotics conference in New York City this morning, aerial robotics postdoc Sergie Lupashin demonstrated a drone on a leash. The drone, which he calls the Fotokite, acts like a steadicam and does two things very well: fly places where you probably couldn’t stick a camera and then hover in place, filming. The leash adds stability, anchoring the drone.

This isn’t the only way to generate steady aerial imagery; Lupashin showed a collage of blimps, crane cameras, and really tall tripods. All of these technologies can create a steady overhead image, but only one of them acts like a futuristic robotic dog.