Stanford University computer scientists developed "autonomous" helicopters that fly on their own using techniques they learned on their own as well. The helicopters for the project were equipped with an artificial intelligence system that's responsible for teaching the choppers how to fly. These AI systems were taught by making them "watch" human-controlled four-foot-long helicopters maneuvered by expert radio control pilots.

The AI system doesn't just record the movements and try to execute them. There are external factors that would prevent just simple mimicry from being executed such as winds. To be able to fly independently, the helicopters equipped with AI systems had to "watch" an entire airshow. Watching the varying trajectories when maneuvers are repeated, the AI's algorithms figure out the target trajectory aimed for each particular movement and use those during flight. In the future, autonomous helicopters could be used to search for landmines and wildfire hot spots in real time.

Check out a video of the Stanford autonomous helicopter in action here.