Small helicopters have learned to fly themselves through challenging aeronautic routines with an "apprenticeship" to an expert radio control pilot, researchers say. The clever robots were first steered through the maneuvers several times by the pilot while the helicopters' computers recorded every movement; then the computers used an algorithm to determine the "ideal trajectory" that the pilot was aiming for on each loop or flip, and replicated those motions when they set off on their own into the wild blue yonder. Researchers say the helicopters' self-taught skills are particularly impressive due to difficulty of flying helicopters
and their nature to always tend to an unstable state. "The helicopter doesn't want to fly. It always wants to just tip over and crash," said Garrett Oku, the pilot [TG Daily].
Because helicopters have to constantly adjust to changing wind currents, the inventors couldn't simply program them to fly a set routine.
The ...
