This is definitely one of the more astounding advancements in robotics

Feb 22, 2013 12:52 GMT  ·  By

As if the previous stunts achieved by quadrotors, otherwise known as quadrocopters, weren't enough, researchers from Zurich's Institute for Dynamic Systems and Controls have managed to give them another astounding ability.

The video above says it all: the flying robots, with four rotors each, can throw poles (inverted pendulums) to one another.

They don't even catch them per se. Instead, they fly under them and balance them perfectly upright, without help.

This is something that we lowly humans would be hard-pressed to achieve without practice, and even after some.

Robohub has an explanation of how the quadrotors manage this. Go here to read it all, or just hit play above and watch the glory unfold. Sure, the shock absorber blows up around 1:33, but that's all in good fun.