Lifeboat Foundation

A battery-less RFID tag could do the job just as well as a GPS landing module. The researchers have further refined how the tag works.

A collaboration between researchers at The University of Tokyo and telecommunications company NTT in Japan has led to the development of a radio-frequency identification (RFID)-based guidance system for autonomous drones, a press release said.

The use of drones for civil applications has been on the rise and is expected to increase further as countries become more liberal with airspace to be used by autonomous flying vehicles. Conventionally, drones have relied on imaging to determine their location, but as piloting control moves toward the machine from humans,… More.

Continue reading “New tech can guide drones without relying on cameras, GPS” »

In this video accompaniment to our paper “ChatGPT for Robotics: Design Principles and Model Abilities”, we demonstrate how ChatGPT can help a user control a real drone with only language instructions.

ChatGPT provided an extremely intuitive interface between the user and the robot, writing robot code based on ambiguous and ill-defined instructions, and asking clarification questions when necessary. The model was also able to write complex code structures for drone navigation (circular and lawnmower inspection) based solely on the prompt’s base APIs.

Ross Perot Jr. described the STEM education event as a “first-of-its-kind” across the country. The event comes days before Pres. Bush, Gov. Abbott, several Republican presidential candidates and executives from Amazon, Microsoft, Walmart and more gather at mobility summit.

An unnamed Ukrainian scientist has allegedly developed a new material that can mask heat signatures of troops and gear from Russian drones.

“Necessity is the mother of all inventions,” as the saying goes, and this saying has never been more accurate than when applied to wargear. The latest exemplar of this is a new “invisibility cloak” developed by a Ukrainian material scientist to help protect Ukrainians from Russian drones. As reported by inews.

Aurumarcus/iStock.

Continue reading “New Ukrainian nanotech ‘cloak’ can hide people from drones” »

Nearly three decades later, the Apache’s status as the world’s premier attack helicopter remains largely unchallenged.

Here’s What You Need to Remember: The latest AH-64E Guardian model boasts uprated engines, remote drone-control capabilities, and a sensors designed to highlight muzzle flashes on the battlefield below. The Army has also experimentally deployed Apaches on U.S. Navy ships and had them practice anti-ship missions, and even tested a laser-armed Apache.

Early in the morning of January 17, 1991, eight sleek helicopters bristling with missiles swooped low over the sands of the An Nafud desert in as they soared towards the border separating Saudi Arabia from Iraq.

Skydio X10 autonomous drones deliver the best sensors for a drone this small, piloted by the most advanced AI in the sky.

Helsinki’s Callboats pioneers autonomous water taxis, aiming to cut costs, improve island access, and reduce captain shortages.

Autonomous electric water transport could be the answer to improving accessibility, achieving carbon neutrality, and addressing a shortage of skippers in the Helsinki archipelago. However, current legislation is a barrier to the operation of remotely controlled boats, according to a Helsinki Times.

Over the years, Forum Virium Helsinki, the innovation agency of the City of Helsinki, has accelerated various business ideas through its rapid innovation experiments. Successful innovations in smart mobility include autonomous transportation solutions like robot buses, drones delivering first aid supplies, and sweeping robot machines.

A private Chinese company, Thrust-to-Weight Ratio Engine, was able to test a rotary detonation engine on a drone. This is the first such test. Previously, only bench tests were conducted.

Here’s What We Know.

The rotary detonation engine will open the way to the development of hypersonic transport systems, including aircraft and missiles. Another feature of the propulsion system is reduced fuel consumption.

Continue reading “China tested the first ever drone equipped with a rotary detonation engine — the propulsion system will open the way to the creation of hypersonic aircraft and missiles” »

Scientists at the University of Washington have developed flying robots that change shape in mid-air, all without batteries, as originally published in the research journal Science Robotics. These miniature Transformers snap into a folded position during flight to stabilize descent. They weigh just 400 milligrams and feature an on-board battery-free actuator complete with a solar power-harvesting circuit.

Here’s how they work. These robots actually mimic the flight of different leaf types in mid-air once they’re dropped from a drone at an approximate height of 130 feet. The origami-inspired design allows them to transform quickly from an unfolded to a folded state, a process that takes just 25 milliseconds. This transformation allows for different descent trajectories, with the unfolded position floating around on the breeze and the folded one falling more directly. Small robots are nothing new, but this is the first solar-powered microflier that allows for control over the descent, thanks to an onboard pressure sensor to estimate altitude, an onboard timer and a simple Bluetooth receiver.