This Drone Can Mimic Your Sketches and Draw on Walls

Creative Drone

Drones were made to fly. But then the world decided it wasn’t enough. Soon, we started hearing about drones that could deliver your packages to your doorstep, or go on search-and-rescue missions, or climb walls and perch on them. There are drones you can race, drones that you could control by hand, drones that could catch other drones…

It sure seems like the world can’t get enough of them—and with the addition of this new one created by MIT, you can now add 'drawing' to this growing list of drone features.

Flying Pantograph

The Flying Pantograph, is, as its name suggests, a drone that can basically mimic what you draw onto its chosen canvas. It’s a drone, so it flies, which means whatever you’re trying to sketch can get copied on whatever vertical surface the drone is using.

To copy your art, it weaves and bobs as it tries to follow the movement of your hand, which doesn’t necessarily deliver a faithful copy of your work. The lines are shaky and unsteady at best, but the researchers behind the study like to think of it as the drone adding its own signature touch to the artwork.

The technology illustrates just how humans and advancements in robotics can interact. With further improvement, the Flying Pantograph can be used to allow people with limited mobility to create art or allow artists to draw on larger and higher surfaces.

It is early work yet, and may vastly improve in the future.