A video just released by the Aerospace Robotics and Control Laboratory at the University of Illinois shows a group of ten small, highly manoeuvrable commercially available quadrotors made to act as a squadron, using autonomous control/guidance algorithms inspired from the lab’s work in distributed, cooperative control and a Vicon motion capture system.
Wearing a pair of gloves, a student is able to control the entire squadron in either a single group, or to split it into two separate groups. The quadrotors can also fly in formation, but the real trick here is their ability to sense people in their midst.
Walking into the swarm can trigger a number of different human avoidance formations. The aircraft can split up, allowing you to step directly into their formation. They can also maintain their formation and act as a group to keep human intruders at bay.
Source: YouTube