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Welcome to Cyber Dump number 69, your look at what's going on in this insane age of technology that we live in. As always, all source links mentioned are below.
DRONES
Researchers at AIR lab have developed a very curious flying machine called the Solar Samara Autorotating Wing. This thing is based on a maple seed-like design, and spins in the air as it descends. It has on board solar cells, battery and computer, as well as an articulated wing flap, allowing it to control the fall, and collect data. Imagine dumping a load of these out the back of a plane to create an adhoc, solar powered radio network over a large area.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vl7qH9v7xg
And keeping with the nature-inspired designs, another team at the Robotics, Vision and Control Group successfully carried out the maiden flight of the GRIFFIN ornithopter. Even though these type of designs aren't that new, there's still something cool about this formfactor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvHHKJyep2Y
In other news, the US Army recently bought 9000 Black Hornet mini drones, for use by frontline troops. Apparently, these palm-sized drones will be going into action in Afghanistan this summer.
https://breakingdefense.com/2019/06/army-buys-9000-mini-drones-for-squads-rethinks-ground-robots-for-2020/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rm_xMuo2Ong
ROBOTICS
Ghost Robotics uploaded a new video showing off the capabilities of the Vision 60 quadraped bot the other day. Something I've never seen before with these type of robots is the ability to do a barrell roll, by reversing it's limbs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDsNyWOOsBs
The Australian Centre for Field Robotics added a new vid to their youtube channel, showing off many of their developments in farming robots over the past few years. They seem to have definitely got down visual detection of things like weeds, and various ways to automatically remove them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MN-vZQDwHS0
EYE TRACKING
Comcast uploaded a cool video, introducing their new technology which allows users with various disabilities to change the channel through eye tracking. There's not much more info on how and where it'll be rolled out, but it's nice to see this technology reaching folks that need it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2Mit1iQ9Qw
AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES
If you're in Mountain View, California, you may be seeing some of Waymo's self-driving Jaguar I-Paces out and about, as the company recently began testing on public roads. I've got a feeling this will be a common theme over the next few years.
https://techcrunch.com/2019/06/17/waymos-self-driving-jaguar-i-pace-vehicles-are-now-testing-on-public-roads/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_dWJYgoOc8
Domino's have also teamed up with autonomous car maker, Nuro, to begin robot pizza deliveries in Houston, Texas later this year. Local customers will be able to order online and choose whether they want this little autonomous bot to deliver to their address.
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2019/06/dominoes-will-start-robot-pizza-deliveries-in-houston-this-year/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsI7N7hhZTg
VIDGETS
And finally, ending with a project I didn't know where else to put. A team led by Chang Xiao have designed Vidgets, a modular system that allows you to add various buttons and scroll wheels to any smartphone. It does this with custom software that reads the minute changes in the accellerameter, so when say a scroll wheel is turned, a unique micro movement profile is identified and can be translated to some interface action.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmSIAoa8vqE
http://www.cs.columbia.edu/cg/vidgets/
THIS WEEK ON NODE
A few little updates this week. I just wanted to let you know all the Nano Server pre-orders have now shipped, so they should arrive in a week or two, depending where you are in the world.
As well as that, the NODE Vol 01 second print batch are now in stock, so pick one up before they sell out again.
Alright that's it for this week. I'm currently working on a load of different projects, so hopefully you'll start to see some of it soon. In the meantime, thanks for watching, and I'll see you in the next video.
https://N-O-D-E.shop
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CREDITS
Music: Xtract - Audiotool Day 2016 (CC License)
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BY NODE