The folks over on Diginfo News have a great video report (see below) showing four drone helicopters flying in formation by using motion-capture image processing.
The use of unmanned aerial vehicles/devices for information gathering is something of a hot topic of late, and the capability for multiple drone helicopters to work together would allow them to gather information faster than if you just had a single unit.
The project comes from the Nonami Group at Chiba University, who reportedly participated in an emergency drill with the police in a simulated chemical plant explosion, where they had to find if there were people on site. For a better idea of how the helicopters work together see the video demo below.
Obviously, equipping such drones with sensors is a logical step as well, either gathering information about air quality (like this kite project in Beijing) or radiation data.
If this is a topic that interests you, I encourage you to check out DIYdrones.com, which is a community site for UAV enthusiasts, as well as this recent episode of CNet’s Reporters Roundtable on drones featuring Chris Anderson, the site’s founder (also of Wired Magazine fame). There’s also the fascinating initiative of drone journalism which is being explored by Matt Waite at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s ‘drone journalism lab.’
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