News Open Source Robo-Choppers

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2005/06/01/Linux_Choppers/

 

I, for one, welcome our new helicopter overlords.

Swarm intelligence is a really incredible field. The whole practice is based on the idea that by programming individual agents with simple instructions and basing their actions on the actions of other identical agents, the entire group will behave more intelligently than the sum of its parts. I'd only heard of computer simulations of this type of research, so it's good to see them really start to implement something.

 

exactly what i was thinking!

 

Master Ninja, why is it that your post count seems permanently stuck on 42? I know you've been around a while!

Swarm intelligence seems like a really great idea...individual instructions are minimal, so the best part is that even if something got captured, you couldn't really understand the whole program behind it. On the other hand, I'm glad this is happening over in GB instead of the states...I'm getting little flashes of Minority Report, 1984, and The Matrix...

 

anyone read michael critchtons - prey

this is the beginning

iv seen these up close in person on a essex open day.

there pritty damm cool and cheap. they got the helicopters from a gadget style shop and just modded them a bit. they chose them cos if you let go of the controls they just maintain there hight rather then crashing to the ground- always useful when you need to blue tooth some new instructions to it while its airborn.

 

Mattt, I was just thinking that, at least these can be shot down though.

 

It's great to see people coming up with these things... The only downside I can see is that they didn't mention any sort of proximity sensors... As the flight duration increases and they're trialed in increasingly more uncontrolled environments (Outside in a strong breeze comes to mind) they're going to drift out of formation and collide.

Not good.