First swarming mini choppers

A team from General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception (GRASP) Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania, USA, has developed a fleet of mini-helicopters, properly named quadrotors, to carry out autonomous, synchronous flying. They are about the size of the human hand and each is equipped with four propellers. When flying together as a swarm, they are capable of carrying items through small openings, and it is envisaged that they will operate in environments dangerous to man such as on oil rigs or in war or disaster zones. They have been demonstrated operating in multiple, formations of up to 20 aircraft.