The futuristic looking miniature ‘quadrotors’, which fly by using four separate rotor blades, have been programmed in experiments to act like a swarm of like-minded creatures in nature, like birds or bees, resulting in an astounding display of robot technology.
The video, which has close to a million views on YouTube by science and technology fans, was filmed by scientists at GRASP Lab at the University of Pennsylvania in the US.
The team also run other high-tech projects; from help with stoke rehabilitation to football playing robots.
The project, called Autonomous Aerial Vehicles, shows the flying robots manoeuvring through obstacles, hovering in formation in complication patterns and landing all at the same time.
In the final display of awesomeness, the robots fly in a figure 8 pattern, crossing paths as they circle the room.
Anyone with Terminator-style visions of a dystopian robot future should turn away now; everyone else should just watch the incredible video below and applaud.
Images: GRASP Lab, University of Pennsylvania / Youtube
