A Swarm of Nano Quadrotors
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN refers to it as the viral university video that showed what autonomous multicopter swarms can do and helped spark interest in multicopters.
What it is
A short demo from the GRASP Lab at the University of Pennsylvania showing a swarm of nano quadrotors flying in coordinated formations. The vehicles were developed by KMel Robotics.
Recommended by 0 HN commenters across 0 different months, 2013 to 2018.
What Hacker News said
Cites sp332 · 2013-02 · on “OpenSource Nano Quadcopter Kit”
Here are some papers that might be useful for budding quadrotor hackers and pilots: [LINK] and a video made by that school: [this video]
Cites glenra · 2013-06 · on “The 800 Pound Gorilla Amazon Tried to Kill is Google's Trojan Horse”
You are postulating a group that is willing to hijack an unmanned truck in order to steal the goods being delivered and doesn't mind the risk of being seen because they "have a bandana and shades on". Question: What is so special about an unmanned truck given that circumstance? Wouldn't it be at least as easy for a group like that to hijack a manned truck? Why don't the same gangs pull a gun on the UPS guy and take all his stuff? That would be in some ways easier than taking stuff from an unmanned delivery van. The unmanned van can go into lockdown mode and doesn't have a driver who can be threatened to make him give up the key to the back. The cost for any private party to send up their own
Cites arsey · 2015-05 · on “Ask HN: Why did multicopters suddenly take off?”
Pun intended? Anyways, a university experiment video that went viral [0] is the first I recall seeing a quadcopter in action. Maybe the tipping point if you care to investigate further. [0]: [this video]
Cites maxander · 2018-05 · on “Autonomous Boats Could Service Some Cities, Reducing Road Traffic”
Have you ever tried to fly a quadcopter drone manually? It's really hard ; I could barely get one to hover, after hours of practice. Yet AI quadcopters that can fly in ornate formations and execute complex maneuvers are well known [1]. Don't discount what AI can or can't do just because it's hard for humans. Other advantages in ferries' favor; unlike most streets, the docks for autonomous ferries could be designed around the AI's capabilities. Also, ferries don't travel at 70 MPH. :) [1] [this video] (6-year-old video!)