Public Lectures: Quadrocopter Dynamics: A demonstration

On Friday, 29 August we were pleased to offer a public lecture in 2 sessions. Attendance wais open to all IFAC 2014 delegates as well as the public free of charge.

The team of Professor Raffaello D'Andrea from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich) displayed their flying quadcopters. A video on this lecture and demonstration on autonomous technology can be viewed here.

A lecture similar to this one can be seen here on TED or on Kyknet’s Dagbreek program: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7Ss5GsDlJE

Raffaello D'Andrea combines academics, business and the arts to explore the capabilities of autonomous systems. As part of his research as professor of dynamic systems and control at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), he and his collaborators created works such as the self-destructing, self-assembling Robotic Chair, and designed a system that allowed quadrirotor drones to construct a 6-metre tower, brick by brick.

The Flying Machine Arena he and his team created features airborne robots performing acrobatics, juggling balls and more, while the Distributed Flight Array is a flying platform consisting of multiple autonomous vehicles that are able to dock with their peers and fly in a co-ordinated fashion. His explorations also have practical business applications. He co-founded Kiva Systems, a robotics company that develops intelligent automated warehouse systems, and which was recently acquired by Amazon.

Source: http://www.ted.com/speakers/raffaello_d_andrea.html