From discovery.com: Helicopters Learn Tricks ‘Watching’ Other Helicopters.

Birds learn to fly by watching other birds. Now helicopters can watch each other to learn complex aerial tricks and maneuvers.

In 10 minutes, a computer algorithm developed by Stanford University scientists learned, and then flawlessly replicated, more than 20 years of radio-controlled helicopter expertise.

The team has already been approached by private companies who want to use the software, which isn’t specific to helicopters, to create helicopters that could monitor humanitarian disasters, track wildfires or locate land mines. [continue]

• Helicopters teach themselves to do aerial maneuvers – Stanford News Service