Quadrocopters enter the Flying Machine Arena, must bounce a ping-pong ball to survive (video)

We don’t need another hero. We don’t need to know the way home. All we want is life beyond the Flying Machine Arena, a test ground at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ( ETH ) where quadrocopters can learn new abilities and stretch their fan blades without injuring too many scientists. One such new ability is juggling balls — well, one ball, anyway. This particular quadrocopter has learned to identify a ping-pong ball and is quite adept at keeping it in the air while the robot itself stays flying. Interestingly the last project we heard about from ETH also involved table tennis , so hopefully the next one involves a full-scale humanoid player that won’t stop hunting until it has crushed every opponent. Continue reading Quadrocopters enter the Flying Machine Arena, must bounce a ping-pong ball to survive (video) Quadrocopters enter the Flying Machine Arena, must bounce a ping-pong ball to survive (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Dec 2010 14:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

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