Cyber Security
Course will teach how to fly drones and collect data
This summer, the University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Engineering added a new way for students to navigate the skies: a course on drones. The first of its kind at UW–Madison, the class will teach students how to fly unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), or drones, and the practical applications of the technology, said Chris Johnson, instructor of the new course.
Drones can safely stay in the air for five days
A team of MIT engineers has come up with a much less expensive UAV design that can hover for longer durations to provide wide-ranging communications support. The researchers designed, built, and tested a UAV resembling a thin glider with a 24-foot wingspan. The vehicle can carry 10 to 20 pounds of communications equipment while flying at an altitude of 15,000 feet.
Algorithm quickly processes incoming visual data
There’s a limit to how fast autonomous vehicles can fly while safely avoiding obstacles. That’s because the cameras used on today’s drones can only process images so fast, frame by individual frame. Beyond roughly 30 miles per hour, a drone is likely to crash simply because its cameras can’t keep up. Recently, researchers in Zurich invented a new type of camera, known as the DVS, that continuously visualises a sc...
Safety ‘bubbles’ allow swarming robots to fly in formation
Georgia Institute of Technology researchers have created a team of free-flying robots that obeys the two rules of the air: don’t collide or undercut each other. They’ve also built autonomous blimps that recognise hand gestures and detect faces. Both projects will be presented at the 2017 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) May 29 – June 3 in Singapore.
Autonomous aerial vehicles test dogfighting skills
Aerial dogfighting began more than a century ago in the skies over Europe with propeller-driven fighter aircraft carried aloft on wings of fabric and wood. An event held recently in southern California could mark the beginning of a new chapter in this form of aerial combat.
Taking manufacturing to new heights
Drones have taken off in a number of industries, both consumer and industrial. Professional services network, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) predicts that there will be an explosion in drone technology, increasing from a market size of $2 billion in 2016 to $127 billion by 2020. But what is the potential for drones in manufacturing? Here, Jonathan Wilkins, marketing director at EU Automation discusses his views on the future of drones in production...
Why is it important to hire a certified drone operator?
UAVAir, a CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) approved drone training academy has urged all businesses looking to perform tasks using a drone to ensure they hire a CAA certified drone operator. This news comes as The Department for Transport, Ministry of Defence and Sciencewise have recently commissioned TNS BMRM to conduct a public dialogue on the current use of drones in the UK, following on from a growing number of drone related incidents and accid...
Origami-inspired robot could aid the work of rovers
The Pop-Up Flat Folding Explorer Robot (PUFFER) in development at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, was inspired by origami. Its lightweight design is capable of flattening itself, tucking in its wheels and crawling into places rovers can't fit. Over the past year and a half, PUFFER has been tested in a range of rugged terrains, from the Mojave Desert in California to the snowy hills of Antarctica.
Technique protects robot teams’ communication network
In the latest issue of the journal Autonomous Robots, researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and their colleagues present a technique for preventing malicious hackers from commandeering robot teams’ communication networks. The technique could provide an added layer of security in systems that encrypt communications, or an alternative in circumstances in which encryption is impractical.
Drones learn how to land on moving targets
The buzzword in drone research is autonomous - having the unmanned aerial vehicle do most or all of its own flying. It's the only realistic way that drones will have commercially viable uses such as delivering that roll of toilet paper to customers, said Manish Kumar, associate professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Cincinnati's College of Engineering and Applied Science.