Flying robots learn mind-boggling tricks - CNN.com

Raffaello D'Andrea heads ETH Zurich's Flying Machine Arena Arena is at forefront of research into autonomous flying robots Quadrocopters learn amazing throwing and catching maneuvers D'Andrea says technology education needs to promote "unconstrained creation" D'Andrea says technology education needs to promote "unconstrained creation" Professor Raffaello D'Andrea isn't short of admirers for his autonomous flying robots and the amazing tricks they perform. Every week, he receives a flood of e-mails from excited people telling him how to use them, he says. "Folks have contacted me about using them to deliver burritos and pizzas, paint walls, do search and rescue, monitor the environment, flying cameras for movies ... It's just endless," D'Andrea says. "I'm not going to pass judgment on whether they are good or bad ... my role is to show people what is possible." It appears those possibilities are growing by the day at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich) where D'Andrea leads a team of researchers at the Flying Machine Arena (FMA).