Helicopters that teach themselves to fly by observing other helicopters!

Stanford University scientists have developed AI Robot helicopters that learn by observing other helicopters in motion.  The maneavours performed are not simple ones of just taking off but complex heart pounding motions that would make the passengers throw up.  Luckily for us, these are not full size choppers but an off-the-shelf radio controlled toy helicopter, with instrumentation added by the researchers.

Stanford's artificial intelligence system learned how to fly by "watching" the four-foot-long helicopters flown by expert radio control pilot Garett Oku.  This is no mean feat and is an indication of the world we are heading to - Super intelligent machines. Hopefully, it doesn't mean destruction of man. Visit Stanford's Autonomous helicopter website for related publications, pictures and videos of this project.

Source: Stanford Report