mini-drone fleets form airborne LEGO animations at world expo

the combination of drones and LEGO is a much loved idea and not one unfamiliar with kitables already giving fans the chance to play, build and crash their own LEGO drone creation. but now a new system developed by scientists at queen’s university uses the play and build bricks to control drones which arrange in a desired formation during flight.

images courtesy of human media lab

the system allows users to arrange elements into a shape of their choice upon a LEGO board which acts as a controller which then directs a fleet of mini-drones equipped with sensors and gyroscopes. it has been developed by the human media lab at queen’s university in collaboration with the LEGO group’s creative play lab and will be demonstrated at the LEGO world expo in copenhagen this weekend.

the in-air animations evolve depending on the movements of users, tracking every twist and bend with faithful replication. the system is not currently offered as an actual LEGO product and is instead more a way of exploring the boundaries of what can be done with the combination of the play bricks and technology, especially with regards to education.

‘as an example, imagine us interactively reconstructing the movement of planets around our sun or distant stars in the milky way galaxy,’ says dr. vertegaal, head of the human media lab at queen’s university ‘with this technology, we are able to simulate the physics of the natural world like gravity, planetary orbits, and more, giving children a chance to see what they have long learned from textbooks and two-dimensional depictions, in a real physical environment.’

the new technology is on display at the LEGO world expo in copenhagen, where visitors can go hands-on with airborne brick creations through from february 15-18.