MIT Working on iPhone Drone App

A team of thirty aeronautics students at MIT has written an app allowing users to control airborne drones via the iPhone’s accelerometer.

The group, led by Professor Missy Cummings, spent six weeks working on the software before their first flight test. The commercially-available flying robot used for the test is robust enough to carry a camera and collision avoidance systems, which would make this app a great tool for cash-strapped spies if it was ever to become commercially available.

Professor Cummings’ has an altogether less sinister use for the app, though: “Being able to launch one out of the window and fly it down to the Starbucks, to tell me how many people are in line, so I know when to get coffee.”