Research from ETH Zurich demonstrates the construction of a human walkable bridge using flying drones working in unison:
The video shows quadrocopters autonomously assembling a rope bridge.
This is part of a body of research in aerial construction, a field that
addresses the construction of structures with the aid of flying
machines.
In this work, a rope bridge that can support the
crossing of a person is built by quadrocopters, showing for the first
time that small flying machines are capable of autonomously realizing
load-bearing structures at full-scale and proceeding a step further
towards real-world scenarios. Except for the required anchor points at
both ends of the structure, the bridge consists exclusively of tensile
elements and its connections and links are entirely realized by flying
machines. Spanning 7.4 m between two scaffolding structures, the bridge
consists of nine rope segments for a total rope length of about 120 m
and is composed of different elements, such as knots, links, and braids.
The rope used for these experiments is made out of Dyneema, a material
with a low weight-to-strength ratio and thus suitable for aerial
construction. Of little weight (7 g per meter), a 4 mm diameter rope can
sustain 1300 kg.
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