Virtual top hats allow swarming robots to fly in tight formation: Researchers also building face-detecting blimps

Both projects will be presented at the 2017 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) May 29 -- June 3 in Singapore. In the first, five swarm quadcopters zip back and forth in formation, then change their behaviors based on user commands. The trick is to maneuver without smacking into each other or flying underneath another machine. If a robot cuts into the airstream of a higher flying quadcopter, the lower machine must quickly recover from the turbulent air or risk falling out of the sky. "Ground robots have had built-in safety'bubbles' around them for a long time to avoid crashing," said Magnus Egerstedt, the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering professor who oversees the project.