Hasta La Gadget!

“If you’re in this room, you’re the best of the best,” Chris Anderson addressed the audience with his customary flair for the dramatic. Complimentary, sure, but not without merit — the former Wired editor-in-chief was speaking to a classroom full of UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) developers, a number of whom had been flown out on his company’s dime to take part in DroneCon, the kickoff event for the SparkFun Autonomous Vehicle Competition held in Boulder, Colo. Anderson’s 3D Robotics organized a packed schedule of talks on the subject of UAVs, commencing with his own opening address. He closed his remarks by introducing the concept of the Dronecode Consortium, an attempt to create a governing body of sorts to help create standards for the platforms on which these commercial and hobbyist vehicles run.

Still in its early stages (with only his own company on board, really), Anderson was purposely vague about the not-for-profit pursuit, though the initial stated goal is the creation of a support structure for developers and the “creation of a sustained operating system” and a “framework for deciding which hardware to support.” When we spoke to him after the speech, however, he admitted that “operating system” might ultimately be a little less accurate than “platform” and “ecosystem.” That said, Android is certainly a fair analogy in some respects, given the sort of oversight roles commercial organizations play in both open software scenarios. And with the standard, comes the potential for both commercial and personal projects to build atop it.

Filed under: Robots

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Researchers from the University of Minnesota seem hellbent on turning us all into Professor X — minus the hoverchair and Patrick Stewart-ly good looks, obviously. Why’s that, you ask? Well, back in 2011, the team devised a method, using non-invasive electroencephalogram (EEG), to allow test subjects to steer computer generated aircraft. Fast forward to today and that very same team has managed to translate their virtual work into real-world mind control over a quadrocopter. Using the same brain-computer interface technique, the team was able to successfully demonstrate full 3D control over an AR.Drone 1.0, using a video feed from its front-facing camera as a guide.

But it’s not quite as simple as it sounds. Before mind-handling the drone, subjects underwent a training period that lasted about three months on average and utilized a bevy of virtual simulators to let them get acquainted with the nuances of mental navigation. If you’re wondering just how exactly these human guinea pigs were able to fly a drone using thought alone, just imagine clenching your fists. That particular mental image was responsible for upward acceleration. Now imagine your left hand clenched alone… that’d cause it to move to the left; the same goes for using only the right. Get it? Good. Now, while we wait for this U. of Minnesota team to perfect its project (and make it more commercial), perhaps this faux-telekinetic toy can occupy your fancy.

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Via: SlashGear

Source: Journal of Neural Engineering

Drones aren’t just for war, creating airborne logos or patrolling Aussie beaches. If German railway operators have their way, they’d be used to capture graffiti artists, too. Motivated by the high cost of property damage incurred by spray-painting vandals (around 7.6 million euros / $10 million a year), the Deutsche Bahn will soon begin testing miniature helicopter-style drones in the hopes of identifying those responsible. Each remote-controlled chopper is equipped with an infrared sensor capable of thermal imaging and producing high-resolution photos that would be useful to authorities. The tiny aircraft can also fly up to 150 meters (500 feet) and as fast as 33 mph and would cost about 60,000 euros ($77,550) each. The Bahn assured the public that the mini drones will be restricted to highly targeted areas, which should help allay those privacy concerns.

[Image Credit: thierry ehrmann, Flickr]

Filed under: Robots, Alt

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Source: BBC, RTL

Don Vitenzo invented a new type of quadcopter that’s sure to stoke the imaginations of kids and perhaps even vehicle makers. It’s called B, and it’s a remote-controlled quadcopter and car in one.

I know what you’re thinking. The answer is no, the wheels don’t tilt to a horizontal level when you command the B to fly. It doesn’t transform or anything and just flies as it is. But that’s all right; less moving parts means its less likely to break down. Speaking of which, Vitenzo designed B to be durable. Its body is made of polycarbonate and its wheel housing and propellers are very flexible.

The B also has a 2,200mAh battery that’s good for up to 15 minutes of rolling and flying. B is also equipped with a 720×1280 camera and it uses microSD cards (up to 32GB) to save video.

Floats like a butterfly, rides like a car. Buzzes like a bee. Peeps like a perv. Okay this is getting out of hand. Pledge at least £125 (~$190 USD) on Kickstarter to get a ready-to-assemble B kit.

[via The Verge]

As drones become more controversial, the government is digging deeper into the technology to make it more useful. Case in point: the US Navy make history by developing a specialized drone that can takeoff and land from and aircraft carrier. The X-47B, as it’s called, is in its prototype stages, and it marked the first time that an unmanned aerial vehicle has taken off from an aircraft carrier.

The X-47B is fully autonomous, meaning that it’s controlled automatically with computer software so that there doesn’t need to be a pilot to fly it, although someone could take control if need be. The new prototype drone is also designed specifically for aircraft carriers, and it’s made to take off and land just like a normal fighter jet would on an aircraft carrier.

The drone has a maximum altitude of over 40,000 feet with a range of more than 2,100 nautical miles. As for the speed of the drone, the Navy doesn’t disclose exact figures, but simply refers to its top speed as “high subsonic.” However, the drone is the size of a full-size fighter jet, and looks quite similar to a Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk.

There has been increasing controversy over drones, though, and some countries say that the drone strikes are causing widespread civilian deaths since they operate with little human interaction, but that doesn’t seem to be stopping the US military for advancing the program and sending out more drones overseas. Plus, people here in the US are even concerned themselves over the privacy issues that drones create.

In any case, the next step for the X-47B drone is to land on the aircraft carrier, which is a much more difficult task than taking off, but there’s already video proof of the new prototype drone making a test landing on the ground to see if it could land on such a short runway on an aircraft carrier, and from the looks of it, a landing looks very much possible at this point.

VIA: CBS News

SOURCE: Navy Live

US Navy makes history with first drone takeoff from aircraft carrier is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
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