“Athletic” is a term we use to describe human beings. But could it also be used to describe a machine?

In a demo recorded yesterday in his robot lab at TEDGlobal 2013, systems engineer Raffaello D’Andrea shows us that the answer is yes. He demonstrates with quadcopters, mechanically simple flying robots with four propellers.  Their design and small size makes them agile — able to zip and roll through the air — but they are fairly unstable, and need positioning feedback.

Read more: Kate Torgovnick on TED Blog

Photo credit: James Duncan Davidson.

See all the posts in Robohub’s TED Global 2013 coverage.