BURSTNature, Published online: 08 October 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-03238-7
Close cooperation in flight between vertically stacked multirotor drones is widely regarded as dangerous, because there is persistent and intense ‘downwash’ interference. A ‘flying toolbox’ has been developed that achieves high-accuracy docking despite the downwash, enabling mid-air tool exchanges and unlocking diverse aerial manipulation tasks.