Crafty drones programmed to automatically weave bridge out of extra-strength rope

Researchers in Switzerland have used drones to weave together a rope bridge that humans can cross.

A video uploaded to YouTube by researcher Federico Augugliaro shows the drones delicately going about their work as they create a 7.4 metre bridge between two scaffolding structures.

Augugliaro told the BBC the technology could be used to save lives in search and rescue scenarios.

The incredible technological feat was performed at the ETH Flying Machine Arena as part of research into aerial construction.

Manual measurements of the bridge area were taken and input into a system allowing the drones to adapt the correct trajectories.

The automated quadrocopters then made the bridge without human intervention using a motorised spool.

The bridge was made from a lightweight tensile material called dyneema and was easily able to support the researchers as they walked across.