uav
Latest
ICYMI: AI earbuds, 3D-printed casts and more
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){} Today on In Case You Missed It: A Kickstarter project to give you artificial intelligence in earbud form is out in the world and we couldn't help but make just a little bit of fun. A startup wants to create 3D-printed casts for the broken-boned masses, since previous versions have been too expensive for all but the most elite professional football players. And a new drone would have you up your selfie game in a way you didn't even know you wanted. As always, please share any great tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Xiaomi will launch its first drone on May 25th
Chinese consumer electronics maker Xiaomi looks set to add a drone to its range of products next week. The company has already begun teasing a May 25th launch event on its official forum, posting what appears to be a first look its new quadcopter and asking users to guess what the product will be called. Given the forum post has the title "Mi Drone," Xiaomi may have already given the game away.
Computer vision is key to Amazon Prime Air drone deliveries
For all of Amazon's grand plans regarding delivery drones, it still needs to figure out concepts we take for granted with traditional courier methods. Namely, figuring out how to drop off your latest order without destroying anything (including the UAV itself) during transit and landing. That's where advanced computer vision comes in from Jeff Bezos' new team of Austria-based engineers, according to The Verge. The group invented methods for reconstructing geometry from images and contextually recognizing environmental objects, giving the drones the ability to differentiate between, say, a swimming pool and your back patio. Both are flat surfaces, but one won't leave your PlayStation VR headset waterlogged after drop-off.
One-rotor drone is equal parts awkward-looking and adorable
Who says that drones need to be hugely complicated, multi-rotor jobs? Regardless, they never told that to the folks behind the Monospinner, a one-rotor drone that's been entered into the ETH Zurich Flying Machine Arena. Unlike, say, a quadrocopter, this one can't fly by itself and needs some help getting into the air. It hits an "unconventional equilibrium" in part by counterbalancing the rotor spins with the torque of the motor itself. The resulting movement almost reminds me a little of Zui Quan (drunk-style martial arts): awkard-looking on the surface, but really impressive in practice. Take a peek for yourself in the video below and you'll see what I mean.
Cloud-seeding drone makes first flight over Nevada
A group of researchers and aviators in Nevada have successfully completed the first flight of an unmanned cloud-seeding aircraft, the state's Desert Research Institute reports.
ICYMI: Deaf translation gloves, mind-controlled UAVs and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-28536{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-28536, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-28536{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-28536").style.display="none";}catch(e){} Today on In Case You Missed It: Two college students from the University of Washington won an invention prize at a MIT competition for their SignAloud gloves, which translate the words deaf or mute people sign into spoken words. University of Florida held a drone race with mind-control headsets as the controllers. And China's National University of Defense Technology made a robot that can tase people. If you too know about (and marvel at) the all-girl, pop metal band BabyMetal, check out the Super Mario Maker version. As always, please share any great tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
UK government says BA plane strike probably wasn't a drone
Reports of a drone hitting a plane at Heathrow Airport may have been inaccurate. Responding to MP questions in the House of Commons, transport secretary Patrick McLouglin said: "The incident which was reported on the 17th of April, it's now thought that was not a drone incident." British Airways flight B727 was approaching the London airstrip at 12:50pm from Geneva, with 132 passengers on board. The pilot reported an object striking the aircraft, which spiralled into reports of a UAV.
ICYMI: Fire-starting drone, Stanford bird studies and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-287454{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-287454, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-287454{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-287454").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: A prototype for a fire-starting drone was deployed in Nebraska last week, dropping small balls of accelerant to create a controlled burn over grasslands. The idea is that future firefighters could use UAVs like the University of Nebraska-Lincoln model to stop an out of control wildfire with drone-created fire breaks, or for other uses.
ICYMI: How to banish drones, fast levitating train and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-150144{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-150144, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-150144{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-150144").style.display="none";}catch(e){} Today on In Case You Missed It: A startup plans to detect and disable any drone flying within range of its proprietary system with a planned launch date later this year. The US Air Force beat its own magnetic levitation speed record at 633 miles per hour. Researchers developed e-skin that can track blood oxygen content and heart rate, displaying on LEDs. We are smitten with this commuter bike car from Sweden so please check it out. As always, please share any great tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
DJI's pro M600 drone adapts to the camera it's carrying
DJI might be most well known for its ubiquitous Phantom series of quadcopters, but the company makes professional drones and camera kit, too. The latest addition to the pro line is the $4,599 Matrice 600 (M600), a hexacopter that adjusts how it flies automatically, depending what it's carrying. The M600 is also joined by and update to the Osmo hand-held rig, and a new version of its popular Ronin gimbal, as the company reveals its latest professional tools at this year's NAB show.
ESPN will start covering drone racing in August
ESPN is already taking advantage of the growing interest in eSports, and the network is hopping on the drone trend, too. Today, the International Drone Racing Association (IDRA) announced a "multi-year" deal with ESPN for coverage of its competitive UAV events. The network's first broadcast of drone racing and its first-person views will be August's US National Drone Racing Championships from Governor's Island in New York City. Live coverage of the event will stream on the WatchESPN app, so you'll need a cable subscription to follow along on a mobile device or streaming gadget. If you can't tune in then, there will be a one-hour special that recaps the action as well.
DJI app helps you find fellow drone lovers
There's a social network for everything. Dog owners, foodies, gamers -- you name it, there's an app that will connect you with like-minded people. So of course, it was inevitable that one would eventually be made for drone owners too. DJI has taken the plunge with DJI+Discover, a major update to its DJI Store app on iOS and Android. It allows anyone to create a profile and connect with fellow drone enthusiasts, whether that's simply to hang out, get tuition or ask which model you should be buying next.
FAA considers rules allowing small drones to fly over people
Late last year the FAA implemented rules on drone registration, and now its working group of experts has submitted another set of recommendations. This time the focus is on rules for unmanned aircraft flights over people (who aren't directly involved in the flight of the aircraft), and just as earlier rumors indicated, the group decided that the best way to set regulations is based on the weight of the machine in question. Small drones weighing under 250g (0.55 pounds) could fly over people, depending on their design, while larger drones up to 4 - 5 pounds (the DJI Phantom 4 pictured above weighs 3 pounds) could do the same, depending on their design, if they stay 20 feet overhead or 10 feet away laterally.
ICYMI: Chocolate science, firefighter tech and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-876193{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-876193, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-876193{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-876193").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: You may want to switch careers after seeing the chocolate formula MIT researchers got to dig into; Georgia Tech came up with a heads up display for biometric tracking and environment information for firefighters; and Blue Origin landed its rocket for the third time, like bosses. Also someone made a drone with a functioning chainsaw and you can see the destructive video here. As always, please share any great tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
US Army hopes to outfit soldiers with tiny drones by 2018
American soldiers should soon get drone support beyond just big, expensive machines flying well above the battlefield. The US Army has requested industry information on the feasibility of making tiny drones (Soldier Borne Sensors in official lingo) that would help infantry gather intelligence on a small scale, such as peeping over a hill or around a building. Its dream recon machine would weigh no more than a third of a pound, launch within one minute and fly for at least 15 minutes. Ideally, the drones would be in service as soon as 2018.
ICYMI: Portable DNA lab, drone inspired by bug and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-420543{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-420543, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-420543{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-420543").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Bento Lab is releasing a portable lab to analyze DNA, the Picobug drone can autonomously switch from flying to crawling and back again, and NASA is giving the people what they want, since what they want is a HoloLens tour of what Mars is really like. We're also summing up the week for you in our TLDR segment. While we didn't include it because the news keeps changing, please do read up on the Japanese satellite that may or may not have splintered into five different pieces, but then sent some communications. Very X-Files. As always, please share any great tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
DJI goes after Yuneec with patent infringement suit
Drones are a mainstream item in today's tech world, and two rival UAV makers are heading to court. DJI filed a patent infringement lawsuit in California against Yuneec for violating two of its patents. The company claims that Yuneec is selling products that infringe on one or more patents it holds regarding target tracking and an "interchangeable mounting platform." DJI seeks stop any sales of products that make use of its intellectual property.
Drones deliver sterile insects to tackle disease in Ethiopia
To combat disease-ridden tsetse flies in Africa, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is enlisting heavy-duty drones. An autonomous system has been developed by Embention, which can fly for up two hours at a cruise speed of 20 meters per second. Under each wing is a stack of temperature controlled pods, each containing a swarm of sterile male insects. These little creatures have been pummelled with gamma radiation, courtesy of the IAEA, while they were bred in captivity. Once they're in the wild, they mate ferociously with the native population, producing no offspring and consequentially lowering the tsetse fly population.
NASA's flying methane meter built for Mars finds work on Earth
Just as new military technologies often trickle down to civilian uses, a high-tech methane detector originally developed to detect gases on Mars has found a new role here on Earth. NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab built the the Open Path Laser Spectrometer (OPLS) and have affixed it to a standard quadcopter. And given that greenhouse gas emissions are currently at a 30-year high, according to the UN, this pipeline inspector can't come soon enough.
Delivery drone flies drinks and balls to golfers in Japan
Rakuten, just like Amazon, is experimenting with drones that can quickly deliver goods to its customers. Unlike Jeff Bezos' company, however, the e-commerce giant is starting small with a service designed for golfers. From May, players at a specific course in Japan's Chiba prefecture will be able to take out their phone and request some new golf balls or refreshments. A Mini Surveyor drone developed by the Autonomous Control Systems Laboratory -- a company from Chiba which Rakuten has now invested in -- will then fly them over from a base station near the course's clubhouse.