Hasta La Gadget!

Technodat’s flying bicycle finally got its test launch.

Like It , +1 , Tweet It , Pin It Original content from Ubergizmo.

Robotic sports were bound to involve balls in space at some point. Students from the U.S. and Europe can now sign up for what is described as “the ultimate robot game” in which they will navigate floating spheres through the International Space Station for the Zero Robotics programming competition.

The competition was organized by MIT and the European Space Agency. The idea is to use volleyball-sized SPHERES (Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, and Reorient Experimental Satellites) that are equipped with 12 jets of compressed gas to move them in different directions. The teams from secondary schools program algorithms to maneuver the satellites and to complete game objectives by navigating obstacles and accomplishing certain tasks.

Just float some hoops around and I will slam dunk these robots everywhich way to a win! Not really. It sounds like fun though.

Just try not to hit our astronauts in their heads, guys. And no high speed fly-bys of the crew either. You leave that showboating stuff at home.

The first competitions take place in computer simulations online, but the best of the best teams will have their code put to the test on the SPHERES themselves in the finals next January aboard the International Space Station.

[via io9 via Geekosystem]

Fast food is designed to be served quickly, but it could always be faster. Aimed at expediting service, the world’s first iPad-controlled flying food serving tray is here to help. It can be found at YO! Sushi in Soho, London, where it’s serving meals to customers.

The iTray is a serving tray that can fly at 25mph for a distance of 50 meters to deliver your food.

On-board cameras provide live video feed to waiters and kitchen staff to make sure all is well. The iTray is lightweight, and made of carbon fiber. So they should be safe if they get involved in food delivery crashes. Just order your food and it will be flown to your table.

This awesomely ridiculous food delivery method will be introduced in 64 UK branches by 2014 if the pilot phase is successful. And how can it not be? Unless iTrays start dropping food on customers or smacking them in the head, of course.

[via Damn Geeky]

This flying robot seems pretty creepy. Not only can it fly around, it can attach itself to walls like some sort of flying lizard. It won’t be long until these things have tentacles and attach themselves to our faces, while we thrash around suffocating. Thanks, researchers, thanks.

Airburr was developed at the Laboratory of Intelligent Systems, a branch of the European École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland. It is designed specifically to traverse cluttered environments, like those in the aftermath of a disaster.

The big news here is that AirBurr now has the ability to fly into a room and attach itself to a wall and act as a remote monitoring outpost. While perched, the AirBurr also shuts its engines down, preserving battery power. It uses an instant adhesive pad to attach to smooth surfaces. The video doesn’t show it detaching from the wall, so I’m guessing they haven’t worked that part out yet, though we’ve already seen technology which can do that.

via [Adafruit via DVICE]

If you have been dreaming about flying around in your own Star Trek style shuttlecraft, that day is almost upon us. Terrafugia has unveiled a concept for a flying car that lot like a shuttlecraft that has the Enterprise’s warp nacelles. However, those nacelles have propellers.

This flying car is called the TF-X and is a hybrid gas-electric flying car. Twin 600 horsepower electric propeller pods and a 300 horsepower engine handle the transition from vertical takeoff to a maximum cruising speed of 200 miles per hour. It has a 500 mile range.

It is capable of both driving and landing itself. Terrafugia says that “you always have the final say if its safe to land.” Well, that’s encouraging.

The TF-X is fully capable of handling the entire landing process without you. But if it is about to kill you, it’s nice to know that you get the final say. It’s definitely an interesting design and we would love to see it in the skies.

[via Like Cool]