Robot Helicopter Teaches Itself How to Fly
 

Thought this was a little interesting:



Robot Helicopter Teaches Itself How to Fly - Yahoo! News

A new artificial intelligence system allows a robotic helicopter to teach itself how to fly and even do challenging stunts, just by watching other helicopters perform the same maneuvers.

The result is an autonomous helicopter than can perform a complete airshow of complex tricks on its own, its inventors say.

The stunts are "by far the most difficult aerobatic maneuvers flown by any computer-controlled helicopter," said Andrew Ng, a Stanford University professor directing the research of graduate students Pieter Abbeel, Adam Coates, Timothy Hunter and Morgan Quigley.

A new video demonstrates the robot's capabilities.

Rather than using software to control flight, the robot learns by observing an expert in what the Stanford team calls "apprenticeship learning." Radio-control pilot Garett Oku operates the 4-foot model helicopter that serves as the expert.