(screenshot from YouTube video)
it seems like Kinect has more potential than just for gaming, which i supposed Microsoft should be proud of. this particular quadcopter, dubbed the Pelican UAV, is rigged with the Kinect, which serves as its ‘eyes’ by sending visual data to a Linux box onboard. this flying machine is thus capable of flying autonomously following the predefined waypoints, maintaining its own altitude and avoiding obstacles along the way.
this Kinect-rigged quadcopter is part of the STARMAC project of UC Berkeley’s Hybrid Systems Laboratory which is a multi vehicle testbed used to demonstrate new concepts in multi-agent control on real-world platform. this is really awesome and besides, using Kinect on this flying machine sure beat the hell out of trying to look silly in front of your TV.