Micro-Helicopter Hive Displays 3D Images
Find out what these micro-helicopters have to do with Winnie the Pooh and honey.
Flyfire is a system of micro-helicopters that fly in formation to display images and animations in two- or three-dimensions. Each helicopter is self-sufficient, with its own LED light, dual-rotor blades, and battery. The helicopters organize themselves based on the instructions emitted wirelessly by a control system.
Every one of these tiny flying craft is effectively a pixel, capable of displaying different colors as needed. When organized as a floating plane, Flyfire mimics the typical two-dimensional display, altering colors on demand much like the screens of our LCD TVs and computer monitors.
But it's Flyfire's ability to operate in three-dimensions that gives it vast potential. The helicopters can first flash a picture of an object, and then change formation to form a 3D version of what it displayed. As a team member responsible for the project says: "It's like when Winnie the Pooh hits a beehive: a swarm of bees comes out and chases him while changing its configuration to resemble a beast."
Flyfire is currently in the prototype phase. The team responsible for the project, of MIT's SENSEable City Lab, is working on adding support for more micro-helicopters, over the current "handful". What do you think is the best application for Flyfire? Other than entertainment of course.
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Awesome!
Very clever as a tech demo, but the batteries won't last long in those tiny 'copters, so no good for advertising and I imagine any kind of wind would blow these out of alignment with each other.
Maybe larger versions could be used as landscape scanners to quickly search a large area for small objects (to search fields for a murder weapon or jewelery for example) while flying in formation?
Im really enjoying Rico's articles on these cool inventions. Keep them coming!
first person to say 'porn' needs to get a girlfriend. Wait, no, everyone.
Anyway, cool invention, I could imagine using them as surround lights. Like, when you go into a pitch black forest, you could command them to keep a certain radius of light around you or something. Smart lighting admittedly, that removes their pixel purpose, but whatever.
Keeping the pixel purpose, it could be interesting to add sensors to them, like radiation sensors, and make them create visible colour maps over a terrain. It'd give scientists a wet dream.
Amazing! I could see these being used in business modeling, e.g., 3D CAD models of orthopedic implants. Why limit models to 2D on a screen?
cool, but you would need a HUGE display (2,000,000 helicopters) for this to be useful. The pixel density is just play awful.
Good, now take this same consept, and apply it to nanobots.
Michael Crichton’s prey anyone?
I have several of these helicopters, specifically the falcon-X model.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0n [...] re=related
(not my video, just something I grabbed off youtube)
They are so lightweight that they must be used indoors and the slightest draft blows them out of position. For example: they can not fly past a lamp without being drawn in and up by the hot air rising off the bulb or past an air conditioning vent without being blown out of the sky. Also, notice how in the video, there is never a moment when the helicopter is in the air that it is motionless. The small movements are beyond the control of the pilot to stop.
My point is that they are highly maneuverable but station keeping is basically impossible and we should keep that in mind when coming up with applications
Very clever as a tech demo, but the batteries won't last long in those tiny 'copters, so no good for advertising and I imagine any kind of wind would blow these out of alignment with each other.Maybe larger versions could be used as landscape scanners to quickly search a large area for small objects (to search fields for a murder weapon or jewelery for example) while flying in formation?
I've been thinking about this type of application and my Graduate Thesis will probably be looking into creating a simulation environment to test the control logic these type of drones and their communications without having to build real hardware initially.
I've been thinking about this type of application and my Graduate Thesis will probably be looking into creating a simulation environment to test the control logic these type of drones and their communications without having to build real hardware initially.
Cool, if it's good, one of the big hardware makers may buy it (multi-threaded cpu showcase maybe?) :
^^ My link was removed :-(
^^ Dammit toms fix your f-ing comments script. Drethon - was trying to link to the toms article titled students robot becomes intels processor demo
Cool, if it's good, one of the big hardware makers may buy it (multi-threaded cpu showcase maybe?) :
Looking at multithreaded/multi-computer application.
cool, but you would need a HUGE display (2,000,000 helicopters) for this to be useful. The pixel density is just play awful.
You can not compare it with the pixel count of standard displays. In display pixels can not move to have a fractional position.
I was thinking a new type of fireworks display... but not sure how to get sound without having them self-destruct (or just use high-wattage ground speakers). Power supply would need to last 10-20 minutes and they would need controlled decent for recovery.
At last! It'll pave the way to:
1) floating camera/recorder that follows you
2) floating battle ball that shoots laser
etc
To control with such a precision a mini helicopter (which is very hard to control) is just mind blowing!
Military
Reusable Fireworks without the mess and danger! No garbage floating down. No stash of gunpowder waiting to blow up when someone tosses a cigarette... Could get much more creative with the displays too.
Got to admite the whizz kids at MIT!
Think of the advertising potential of these things!!!
Your at an open air concert and millions of micro helicopters swarm and the resulting display is 'Drink Coke'
This is sounding eerily like the final Matrix movie.
Now we all be killed by "Rainbow Goo" instead of "Grey Goo". ;-)
will. I swear there was a "will" in my previous post... damn these rented fingers...
But can it play Crysis?