Autonomous Robot Plane is the R/C Toy You’ve Dreamed of

I’ve always wanted to play with R/C aircrafts, but even with my “easy to fly” AR.Drone 2.0, I find myself crashing the thing into walls and the ceiling indoors. Thanks to some impressive work by MIT’s Robust Robotics Group, we might someday be able to fly autonomous planes that are so smart that they can avoid obstacles on their own.

autonomous robot plane

By using a special set of algorithms to calculate the plane’s trajectory, as well as its state (i.e. location, orientation, velocity and acceleration), the fixed-wing plane is able to fly quickly through cramped quarters, avoiding obstacles with ease. In fact, this plane can fly within centimeters of obstacles at a high rate of speed without crashing. The plane uses a laser rangefinder, accelerometers and gyroscopes to figure out its state, and a hugely complex series of computations to navigate through its environment.

While autonomous helicopters and quadrotors have been around for a while, a 2-meter-wide plane that can negotiate confined spaces with aplomb poses a much greater challenge, as it cannot hover, go sideways or make up arbitrary motions like those other aircraft. At this point, it appears that the system requires at least a rough, pre-existing 3-D map of its environment to work properly, but I’m sure with time they can figure out a way for the environment to be mapped in real-time as well. Kinect, anyone?

At this point, MIT isn’t specifying the exact applications for their design, but beyond military and rescue operations, I REALLY want to see a consumer version so I can stop crashing my AR.Drone.


Do You Ever Feel Like You Should Be Using Social Media More? [Chatroom]

Social media is everywhere, and there’s no doubt you’ve heard of—or know—people who piss away their lives on Facebook or Twitter without every actually doing anything worth doing. More »

Bluetooth Bulb lets you switch on, time, dim and color your lighting from your phone (video)

Bluetooth Bulb lets you switch on, time, dim and color your lighting with your phone video

Every once in a while, someone tries to give the humble light bulb a little next-gen flavor. This time, we’re adding Bluetooth 4.0 to the mix. Why, you ask? Good question, and one with a simple answer. The Bluetooth Bulb lets you pair your phone with one or more of the lights in your home, and then control them via an app. Switch them on, off, change brightness, set a timer, and a special RGB bulb even lets you change the color ambiance. If you’re worried about the cost and waste when these things burn out, fear not, as apparently every part is replaceable — and as there’s no home automation system involved — you won’t need anything else to get set up. If this idea switches you on, you might have to hold out a little longer, as the product is just a patented prototype right now. Sights are set on mass production, but you’ll have to stick with your old clapper for the time being.

Continue reading Bluetooth Bulb lets you switch on, time, dim and color your lighting from your phone (video)

Filed under:

Bluetooth Bulb lets you switch on, time, dim and color your lighting from your phone (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Aug 2012 12:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceBluetooth Bulb  | Email this | Comments

CB Handset on ThinkGeek: 10-4 LULZ

Remember the CB radio handset for mobile phones? The first time we saw them it seemed as if they were only available in Japan. Well, bring out your trucker hats, because ThinkGeek just got some in stock.

cb radio phone handset

The handset plugs into the 3.5mm jack of mobile phones and has a built-in mic on the cord, along with a on/off and volume dial and a mute button. You can also use it as a speaker, but why do that when you can use it to pretend you’re a detective or a member of the Resistance?

ThinkGeek is the M20, bring $20 (USD). Over and out. 10-11. 12-13. Copy-paste.


Could a Nasal Spray Really Make You Stop Wanting to Kill Yourself? [Medicine]

Antidepressants are nothing new, but the U.S. Army is looking into a new way to deliver them. That’s why they gave the University of Indiana $3 million to work on an anti-suicide nasal spray. More »

Eric Fehrnstrom: Mitt Romney Tax Returns ‘Not An Issue’

Mitt Romney advisor Eric Fehrnstrom brushed off inquiries into the presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s tax returns Sunday, telling CNN that “taxes are not an issue.”

“Mitt Romney has said he’ll put out two years of tax returns, he put out his 2010 return, hundreds of pages of tax return information that’s on the website,” Fehrnstrom said on “State of the Union.”

“He’ll put out his 2011 returns once it’s complete and filed,” he said. “He’s had financial disclosures going back to 2002 when he was governor of Massachusetts, those too can be found on Mitt Romney’s website.”

Read More…
More on Harry Reid


Tigers Lose 3-2 To Orioles

DETROIT — The Detroit Tigers’ slugging tandem did its job Saturday night. The rest of the lineup just couldn’t come up with a big hit.

Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder reached six times in eight plate appearances but only scored one run in a 3-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles that ended a four-game winning streak.

Read More…
More on Detroit Sports


Super Mario Spiral Clock: Down the 16-Bit Hole

Every time is Super Mario time with this spiral clock featuring characters and icons from Nintendo’s timeless platformer. You might find it hard to tell the time on this clock because of its pseudo-asymmetrical look. That’s all I see when I look at this thing.

super mario brothers spiral dali clock

Warp-pipe to Etsy and pay $25 (USD) to get the clock. Seller BackStreet Crafts also sells other geeky clocks and spiral clocks.

[via it8bit]


What Would Happen If Everyone On Earth Jumped At the Same Time? [Video]

We’re sending rovers to Mars to try and figure out our place in the universe, but what about our place on Earth? Sure, Earth is a big place, but you might be surprised exactly how insignificant we all are in contrast with its mammoth mass. More »

‘Jean-Michel Othoniel: May Way’ Brings 25 Years Of Work To Brooklyn Museum (PHOTOS)

Seeing a Jean-Michel Othoniel work for the first time feels like peering into the forbidden jewelry drawer in your mother’s vanity table. To your small eyes the glass beads appear enormous, their crystal ball exterior housing all the elegance, maturity and magic in the world. Propelled by fantasy, the glass beads form ghost ships, candy-coated arches and other forms in flux.

The French artist, who is only 48 years old, is housing a retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, featuring his beaded poems in their many forms. Othoniel grew up fascinated with the properties of materials and the metamorphosis between them. His first exhibition featured sculptures made of sulfur along with other media with reversible properties like phosphorus and wax. Later he turned his fascination to glass, which Émile Soulier described as “transparency draped in reflections and stitched with metal.” In both his media and his style Othoniel gravitated toward reversible properties. Thus his work shared ground with Arte Povera, Minimalism, Conceptual art, and Surrealism.

Othoniel’s retrospective features a dazzling range of work, starting with intimately sized experiments, toying with the erotic decay of natural materials. Later Othoniel began constructing monumental sculptures of glass in all its natural perfection. The limits of nature and the lack thereof of the imagination connect Othoniel’s works, even when their aesthetics appear worlds apart. “The Threshold of Very Long Suffering” is a sulfurous lump from which the ghostly imprint of hands emerge, making the work look as if it is sculpting itself. The sickly color recalls a gangrenous flesh, although its softness gives the affect of a much needed massage. On the other end of the spectrum we have “The Secret Happy End,” an ornately decorated carriage made over ten years later. Somewhere between Cinderella’s carriage and a baroque aquarium, the glass-kissed work is the epitome of fantasy. There is no decay to be found, the piece is immaculate in a way that only exists in fairy tales.

Read More…
More on Sculpture