From left, researchers Giuseppe Loianno, Aaron Weinstein and Adam Cho stand for a portrait among a swarm of quadrotor drones using visual inertial odometry on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2018 at the Pennovation Center in Forgotten Bottom. Penn Engineering's GRASP, or general robotics, automation, sensing & perception lab, has programmed the drones to fly into formations autonomously using a combination of a camera, accelerometer and gyrometer rather than GPS. (Tim Tai/Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS)
The flying robots called drones were used in a dramatic light show for the Olympics opening ceremonies in South Korea, executing elaborate routines that humans had programmed in advance.
Other drones are piloted by remote control, ranging from low-cost toy versions to the sophisticated devices used in the military.
