Lifeboat Foundation

Not long ago, getting a virus was about the worst thing computer users could expect in terms of system vulnerability. But in our current age of hyper-connectedness and the emerging Internet of Things, that’s no longer the case. With connectivity, a new principle has emerged, one of universal concern to those who work in the area of systems control, like João Hespanha, a professor in the departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering at UC Santa Barbara. That law says, essentially, that the more complex and connected a system is, the more susceptible it is to disruptive cyber-attacks.

“It is about something much different than your regular computer virus,” Hespanha said. “It is more about cyber physical systems—systems in which computers are connected to physical elements. That could be robots, drones, smart appliances, or infrastructure systems such as those used to distribute energy and water.”

In a paper titled “Distributed Estimation of Power System Oscillation Modes under Attacks on GPS Clocks,” published this month in the journal IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, Hespanha and co-author Yongqiang Wang (a former UCSB postdoctoral research and now a faculty member at Clemson University) suggest a new method for protecting the increasingly complex and connected power grid from attack.

Continue reading “Team suggests a way to protect autonomous grids from potentially crippling GPS spoofing attacks” »

This is fascinating!

The EHang 184 drone, which carries a single passenger on short journeys, will be tested in Nevada.

Insurance companies are training hundreds of drone pilots to check property damage from the air to make sure claims are legitimate.

Tactical Robotics’ Cormorant drone design allows it to navigate tight areas where a helicopter’s blades would get caught on the environment. The remote-controlled military drone can transport two injured people from a battle zone. The Israeli-based company believes the drone could one day also be used to inspect bridges, deliver medical supplies and spray crops.

Gradually automating the entire grocery store process. From initial delivery of products to the store/warehouse. To a store that will be optional to go to, but if you do want to go into the store it will be almost fully automated, to delivery drones and self driving vehicles that will bring you your order in under an hour. That is what Amazon is really up to.

Self-driving delivery startup Nuro scores major deal with Kroger.

MyDefence is launching PITBULL – a next generation wearable Counter UAS solution utilizing smart jamming to defeat enemy drones. PITBULL is developed to have minimal impact on other signals while jamming, in an effort to maintain own communication. The Counter UAS jammer weighs 775 grams and can be worn on the uniform.

China’s hypersonic progress ranges from increasing scramjet testing and cheaper drones, to keeping its lead in railguns.

China has built a flock of robotic Doves, but do they come in peace?

Hi-tech drones that look and move like real birds have already flown over restive Xinjiang region.

Researchers at MIT, who last year designed a tiny computer chip tailored to help honeybee-sized drones navigate, have now shrunk their chip design even further, in both size and power consumption.

The team, co-led by Vivienne Sze, associate professor in MIT’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), and Sertac Karaman, the Class of 1948 Career Development Associate Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, built a fully customized chip from the ground up, with a focus on reducing power consumption and size while also increasing processing speed.

The new computer chip, named “Navion,” which they are presenting this week at the Symposia on VLSI Technology and Circuits, is just 20 square millimeters—about the size of a LEGO minifigure’s footprint—and consumes just 24 milliwatts of power, or about one-thousandth the energy required to power a lightbulb.