Dance of the Flying Machines: Methods for Designing and Executing an Aerial Dance Choreography

Imagine a troupe of dancers flying together across a big open stage, their movement choreographed to the rhythm of the music. Their performance is both coordinated and skilled; the dancers are well rehearsed, and the choreography well suited to their abilities. They are no ordinary dancers, however, and this is not an ordinary stage. The performers are quadrocopters, and the stage is the ETH Zurich Flying Machine Arena, a state-of-the-art mobile testbed for aerial motion control research (Figure 1).