Flying Robots Synced So Well They Play Music Together

An amazing display of the synchronous capabilities of flying quadrotor robots was staged at TED today.

In an article earlier this month, we discussed the ability of these machines to be programmed to fly in tight formations, including in three-dimensional setups, and to avoid objects. (See that video below.)

At the conference today, the machines were set about a task so synchronous that its accomplishment was downright musical.

With one machine playing a drum, another on a hi-hat cymbal, five on a keyboard, and other cobbled-together instruments for the occasion, the entire ensemble was able to make music.

Here is the original video of quadrotors in a lab setting, flying in formation.