A robot that looks like a bird, flaps its wings like a bird and flies like a bird could be used as a stealthy, camouflaged drone Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2269774-eagle-inspired-robot-flies-by-flapping-its-feather-covered-wings/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Tag: drone
Boston Dynamics Is Selling its 70-Pound Robot Dog To Police Departments
The New York Times reports on what the city’s police department calls Digidog, “a 70-pound robotic dog with a loping gait, cameras and lights affixed to its frame, and a two-way communication system that allows the officer maneuvering it remotely to see and hear what is happening.”
Police said the robot can see in the dark and assess how safe it is…
Linux Is Now on Mars, Thanks to NASA’s Perseverance Rover
“When NASA’s Perseverance rover landed on Mars this week, it also brought the Linux operating system to the Red Planet,” reports PC Magazine: The tidbit was mentioned in an interview NASA software engineer Tim Canham gave to IEEE Spectrum. The helicopter-like drone on board the Perseverance rover uses a Linux-powered software framework the space agency open-sourced a few years ago. “This…
NASA is about to land a helicopter on Mars that might glow in the dark
NASA’s Perseverance rover is due to touch down on Mars on 18 February, and it is carrying the first helicopter to attempt a flight on another planet. Now it seems the tiny drone may also glow in the dark when it flies Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2267676-nasa-is-about-to-land-a-helicopter-on-mars-that-might-glow-in-the-dark/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
MIT Is Building a ‘One-Stop Shop’ For 3D-Printing Robots
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: MIT’s CSAIL department this week showcased “LaserFactory,” a new project that attempts to develop robotics, drones and other machines than can be fabricated as part of a “one-stop shop.” The system is comprised of a software kit and hardware platform designed to create structures and assemble circuitry and sensors for the machine. A…
Hey, kids! Meet the new Hot Wheels Mars rover!
Mattel, maker of Hot Wheels, has just released a new Hot Wheels Mars Perseverance Rover to celebrate the landing of the NASA Perseverance rover on Mars on February 18. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/hot-wheels-mars-perseverance-rover-mattel…
Nature and tech create a ‘tree of life’ at Australia’s Lake Cakora
This amazing image, taken using a drone in Lake Cakora, Australia, shows tea tree oil seeping into the lake’s drainage channels to create an arboreal pattern Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24933201-900-nature-and-tech-create-a-tree-of-life-at-australias-lake-cakora/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Using drones to create local quantum networks
A team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in China has used drones to create a prototype of a small airborne quantum network. In their paper published in the journal Physical Review Letters, the researchers describe sending entangled particles from one drone to another and from a drone to the ground. …
FAA Approves Fully Automated Commercial Drone Flights
A Massachusetts company has been granted approval to operate commercial drone flights without a person directing the machine and keeping it in sight. It’s the first time that the Federal Aviation Administration has allowed fully automated commercial drone flights. ABC News reports: American Robotics Inc. touted the advantage of its machines as being able to operate continuously without “expensive human labor.”…
Alphabet Unit Wing Blasts New US Drone ID Rule, Citing Privacy
Alphabet’s drone delivery unit Wing criticized Trump administration rules issued this week mandating broadcast-based remote identification of drones, saying they should be revised to allow for internet-based tracking. From a report: On Monday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued rules that will allow small drones to fly over people and at night in the United States and mandate remote identification technology…