Flying Robots Musicians Play the James Bond Theme on Piano, Drums, Cymbals, guitars and more. A team of Scientist at the University of Pennsylvania programed a swam of flying Robots to play music by flying into the pads mounted to a keyboard. Other QuadCopters (four rotor flying vehicles) strummed guitar

strings and banged drums. This demonstration was part of a project from Grasp Labs at University of Pennsylvania. The Robots are called QuadRockers and are developed by KMel Robotics. Quadcopter flying robots have been steadily gaining in popularity lately since the technology has become available at low cost. Thanks to the efforts of websites like DIYdrones and Aeroquad and the opensource release of Ardupilot hardware makers are easily able to create new flying robots. Using quadcopters in performance art is just a natural next step. Kmel Robotics also recently performed at the Cannes film festival using Quadcopters to direct a laser light show . Multicopters are being used in a variety of other ways including building,  Surveillance, photography, science and power generation station. One artist even turned the body of his dead cat into a flying robot. Talk about gruesome!

The spread of autopilot technology into the hands of makers all over the world is causing explosive growth in flying robot development.  Wide use of GPS and accelerometers in smartphones has made the cost of drone autopilot hardware affordable.  The Apple Ipad

has 3 accelerometers and a GPS built into it as standard equipment.  If fact Parrot A.R Drone is designed to use the hardware inside your iPhone/iPad to control it.

Parrot A.R. Drone controlled by iPhone.

If you would like to know more about quadcopters and drones I highly recommend you check out an interview  of Wired Magazine Editor Chris Anderson on C|NET.

General Robotics Automation Sensing and Perception.

Sources:

http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/1/2763172/nano-quadrotor-swarm-quadrocopter-GRASP-KMel