Local Motors made headlines for 3D printing an entire car body. Now, with the help of Grant Imahara of "Mythbusters" fame, the company's car packs both autonomy and a deployable drone. Why? Good question!
The aforementioned teamed up with Mouser Electronics, an electronics supplier, to add autonomous capabilities to the Local Motors Strati 3D-printed car. While the car is driving itself, the drone can take off and relay a camera feed to the car's screens. You can look at traffic jams or just explore your surroundings, whatever helps. The driver has to control the drone, which is why it's best used during autonomous driving.
Mouser and the 11 billion other people involved in this project see this kind of technology moving beyond traditional cars. It can provide an extra set of eyes to farmers and utility companies, for example.
The drone could also tell the autonomous car when it's driving over the centerline, which it does constantly in this video. Hopefully they're filming on a closed road.