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NAA verifies new US record for human-powered helicopter flight (video)
A team at the University of Maryland has been taking human powered flight to new heights. Or, rather, lengths, by setting a new US record for flight duration of 49.9 seconds with its Gamera II rotorcraft. The benchmark event actually took place in June, but only received the all important plaudits from the National Aeronautic Association on August 9. Gamera II builds on its predecessor (unsurprisingly, Gamera I) by featuring improved transmission, rotor design and a redesigned cockpit. Not content with smashing the previous craft's record of 11.4 seconds, the team plans to fly a further refined version of the copter with longer blades and other fine tuning later this month. The 49.9 second flight has also been submitted to the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale for World, rather than American-record verification. The guys at Maryland might want to keep an eye over their shoulders though, as it looks like someone else already has their eyes on that prize. Video evidence after the break.
Swarming quadrocopters complete trial recon mission for Japanese police (video)
Formation-flying quadrocopters have already given us hours of entertainment, but now they've also accomplished something serious. Earlier this month, mini choppers developed at Japan's robot-loving Chiba University assisted in an emergency drill that simulated an explosion at a chemical plant. Four machines and a host computer (shown off after the break) used spherical markers, image processing and a heck of a lot of math to autonomously scan the site for survivors. The researchers claim the exercise went "very well" and that the local police force would like to "introduce this system" for genuine reconnaissance. That could include monitoring volcanic eruptions or inspecting power lines, but alas there's no mention yet of using quadrocopter swarms to sneak up on yakuza.
Parrot AR.Drone 2.0 ready for May takeoff, pre-orders start March 1st
It's been a few weeks since we stumbled upon the AR.Drone 2.0's unattended self-promotion back at CES. And, shortly thereafter took it for a spin. Now, Parrot's finally announcing its $299 next-gen quadrocopter will be ready to take off in May, with you early adopters being able to pre-order as soon as March 1st. The company's also added two fresh bits that were absent during our time with the 720p-packing drone in Vegas, one of which will let you bust out a barrel-roll move while in flight. The other is the inclusion of a USB port that'll let you grab whatever creepy amazing pics and vids you've been shooting with it and record them on any jump drive. You still have a couple months to go before you can grab one of these, in the meantime be sure to check out the glamorous press shots and PR below.
Acrobatic quadrocopters hunt in packs, seduce you into submission (video)
We've kept a pretty stern eye on the development of GRASP Lab's quadrocopters, and with good reason it seems, now that the four-bladed aerial ninjas have even more alarming abilities at their disposal. In the video after the break, watch them hold a variety of complex formations like it's no thing -- even while on the move. The 'copters can also take flight, or resume position, after being thrown into the air, navigating real world obstacles with deft fluidity. It's part of University of Pennsylvania's Scalable sWarms of Autonomous Robots and Mobile Sensors project (conveniently SWARMS for short), which is responsible for developing the air-born acrobats' new grouping skills. They say it's an attempt to replicate swarming habits in nature, though we're not convinced.
Quadrocopters don creepy eyes, build synthetic Christmas tree of envy (video)
First we let them play music, then they started juggling. Now quadrocopters are feeling emotions as well; namely, jealousy. One of Flying Machine Arena's dainty quadrocopters, nicknamed Juliet, was compelled to build its own synthetic Christmas tree after spying an authentic fir through a glass window. Sure, stacked bricks of festive foam seem innocent enough, but look into those ping-pong ball eyes and tell us you aren't a little worried that next year's "war on Christmas" will be the machine's war on humans. Fly past the break to see Juliet's envious construction project for yourself.
Drone Station lets you pilot an AR.Drone with your Mac
Drone Station won't actually have you tilting your MacBook to pilot the recreational quadrocopter around your hood but, when neither the little, small, wee smartphone nor the great, huge Surface will do -- a mid-sized laptop may be just right. The on screen HUD displays all the information you'll need to accurately fly the AR.Drone and the app is compatible with a broad array of external controllers, including the Wii Nunchuk and Balance Board. While you're using a game pad to soar through the sky, your computer can actually record video from the UAV's on-board cameras, so you can document your hijinks or perform some reconnaissance on that shady neighbor kid. Hit up the source link for more info and check out the Mac App Store to download it now for $10.
Rotor Concept HPQ-1 quadcopter eyes-on (video)
We're here at the PhotoPlus show in New York, and as usual, the stranger products are being showcased on the outskirts of the show. A company called Rotor Concept out of Southern California was showing off the HPQ-1, a quadcopter designed to lug around your digital camera.The copter itself is surprisingly quiet and steady, the latter of which is no doubt helped out by the presence of four propellers and advanced stabilization system (put the controller down and it will automatically hold its position). The HPQ-1 can hold payloads of up to 12 ounces, so users can use standard digital cameras to live stream events or a pair of smaller shooters to capture arial 3D clips. According to the company, SWAT teams are looking into using the product for surveillance. The other recommended usage? Weddings, of course. The copter can reach a max altitude of 2,000 feet and has a theoretical maximum flight radius of up to a mile. It's available now for an MSRP of $899. Peep a quick video after the break. Terrence O'Brien contributed to this report. %Gallery-137708%
AR.Drone control finally comes to Android, lazy quadrocopter enthusiasts rejoice
The folks at Parrot have been promising us an Android app for the AR.Drone since pretty much day one. Well, it certainly took long enough (it's been over a year since the app was demoed at Google I/O), but pre-made quadrocopter fans no longer have to reach for unofficial solutions to pilot their unmanned vehicle with their Droids. Sadly, games for the flying augmented reality platform are still MIA, but at least you can fire up AR.FreeFlight and have the $299 UAV tear around your block and annoy your neighbors. But, it shouldn't take long for some one to whip up something fun with the SDK. Check out the video and PR after the break, and hit up the more coverage link to download the free app now.
Khepera swarm robots learn to build a mobile quadrocopter landing platform (video)
Last we saw the Khepera swarm robots from the Georgia Robotics and Intelligent Systems lab, they were just beginning to learn how move in formation and spell out "GRITS" on the floor. Well, these bots are growing up fast. The lab's latest video shows a group of four of the robots following a leader, and arranging themselves to form a mobile landing platform for a hovering quadrocopter -- a feat they manage to make seem easy. What will they think of next? We're a little scared to ask.
Kinect Hacks: Gesture-controlled quadrocopter
Step by step, day by day, the world's researchers and engineers bring us ever closer to the reality of Kinect-enabled telekinesis. Check out a video demo below of Flying Machine Arena's clever hack, which enables even more precise control of a stunt quadrocopter using simple hand gestures.
Quadrocopters reined in by Kinect leash, we feel safer already
It seems like the folks over at the Flying Machine Arena are finally starting to catch on -- those quadrocopters are going to kill us all. Thankfully, after teaching them to juggle and tap out some tunes, the researchers came to their senses and put the flying machines on a Kinect-controlled leash. Instead of flitting about autonomously, the four-rotored nightmares are directed by a puppeteer waving his hands. Movement is controlled by the right hand, while raising the left one tells the copter to do a little flip for its master's amusement, and a commanding clap makes it sit down like a good little pup. Best of all, if you don't give it any arm-waving instruction it just hovers and waits until you tell it otherwise. On further consideration, maybe we haven't been creating our own murderers, but a new man's best friend -- after all, they don't eat much and can't chew up your remotes. Check out the video after the break.
Quadrocopters: blooper reel edition
We have a gut feeling this is the video that'll be playing when 'the hive' takes over -- a sentimental, 'look how far we've come' victory reel for the Quadrotor nation. But for now, let's just keep the focus on the softer side of our future nemesis' training-room foibles. Playing like an über-geek version of America's Funniest Home Videos, we admit we cracked a smile watching these insect-like bots from the University of Pennsylvania's GRASP Lab take a few hard knocks in the humility ring. Fear of the swarm aside, it's a humorous twist on an otherwise droning research project. The take away? Schadenfreude -- it's not just for humans. [Thanks, Daniel]
Parrot AR.Drone floats into damaged New Zealand cathedral, returns with haunting video
Whenever disaster strikes, robots are among the first to scope out the damage. Rarely, however, do they return with footage as eerie as what this Parrot AR.Drone recorded in Christchurch, New Zealand. In the wake of Monday's 6.0-magnitude earthquake, engineers sent the $500 bot into the city's Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament -- a 106-year-old Roman Catholic church that had sustained significant damage, rendering it too dangerous for humans to enter. The iPad-controlled quadrocopter swooped in and captured rather depressing images of the cathedral's battered interior. The video's quality may be low, but its creepy quotient is high: shattered stained-glass windows, piles of debris, stray pieces of iconography -- it's all quite heavy. Head past the break to see it for yourself. [Thanks, Ross]
Japanese ball drone knows how to make an entrance (video)
Japan's Ministry of Defense is pretty good at its hovering drones, but we're not entirely convinced that this one will be fit for purpose. The RC reconnaissance scout reminds us of a spherical Iain M. Banks Culture drone, which is neat, except that this one's more conspicuous, dies after just eight minutes and was constructed not by an intergalactic artificial consciousness, but by a bunch of geeks who went foraging for parts in Akihabara. Nevertheless, it can do 40MPH and is surprisingly agile, as you'll see in the video -- watch out for the kissogram moment.
GRASP Lab quadrocopters learn to follow the leader and fly in formation
The University of Pennsylvania's GRASP Lab has already recklessly taught its autonomous quadrocopters to move in packs, fly through hoops and build things on their own, and it's now for some reason decided to teach them yet another trick they'll surely use against us one day. As you can see in the video above, the quadrocopters are now able to take cues from a leader and fly in formation. What's more, they can even continue with the formation if one loses communication and falls out of the pack, which the researchers note is key to the success of any swarm. Isn't that reassuring?
Six-rotor drone counts trees, not kills
Relax everybody, unlike its antonymous quadrocopter cousins, this six-rotor drone isn't here to kill, only to count plants. Researchers from Oregon State University are hanging cameras from reasonably-priced RC aircraft to help nurseries track inventory -- a task often performed by workers wandering the orchards and keeping tally by hand. Image analysis software automates the process and, with the addition of other sensors (such as infrared), it could one day be used to spot irrigation problems, identify diseased trees, and estimate crop yield. The machines themselves can climb to over 80 feet and stay aloft for up to 40 minutes while hauling 5-pounds of photo gear. At around $10,000 it's a safe bet that no one will be shooting bottle rockets at balloons with this thing, but it should be well within the reach of farmers who spend that much in money and manpower to track their trees anyway. Two more photos after the break.
Tiny CrazyFlie quadrocopter piloted by Playstation controller, does not run Doom (video)
While autonomous quadrocopters are quietly evolving into Hunter-Killers, there's still one who just wants to be your friend and playmate. Meet CrazyFlie, a tiny (so tiny!) chopper you can hold in the palm of your fleshy, human hand. Built by the trio of hackers at Daedalus Projects, on a printed circuit board that weighs just 20 grams and spans eight centimeters, it's piloted using a Bluetooth Playstation controller; the onboard Cortex-M3 CPU keeps it flying stable by monitoring gyroscopes and accelerometers and adjusting rotor speed accordingly. Enjoy its adorable, gnat-like whirring in the video after the break, and the source link includes a detailed build diary for the truly ambitious.
Kinect quadrocopter gets a new mission: 3D mapping (video)
In the future, our flying robot overlords won't just navigate terrain autonomously, they'll also report back to base with detailed 3D maps of everything they've seen -- or at least that's what this homebuilt UAV does in a video released this week. In a nutshell, MIT's combined its room-mapping Roomba with the Kinect quadrocopter radar developed at UC Berkeley, resulting in a flying contraption sure to be the envy of topographers everywhere. We're not sure that the world's robot incumbents will be too happy, though -- perhaps MIT should invest in some laser protection next.
Quadrocopters juggle balls cooperatively, mesmerize with their lethal accuracy (video)
You've seen one quadrocopter juggle a ball autonomously while gliding through the air, but how's about a pair of them working cooperatively? Yeah, we've got your attention now. The Zurich-based lab that brought us the piano-playing and ball-bouncing quadrocopter is back with a simply breathtaking display of robotic dexterity and teamwork. Like all mad scientists, they call their Flying Machine Arena research "an experiment," though we see it a lot more as a Pong-inspired dance of our future overlords. We all know how far video games have come since two paddles batted a ball between one another, right?
Microsoft's Surface becomes the world's biggest remote control for the AR.Drone (video)
Whether it's sheer boredom or the pursuit for something awesome, we really don't care -- the motivation behind writing software to allow Microsoft's Surface to control Parrot's AR.Drone is as immaterial as the wireless connection between the two devices. Jump past the break for video of this pair of much-loved niche machines getting their groove on.
