Lifeboat Foundation

Meta, Twitter employees, and eagles all appear to be in the same boat.

Drone-hunting eagles have reportedly been laid-off by the Swiss government due to concerns about the welfare of the birds, which awkwardly follows the recent tech industry layoffs, including Meta’s announcement on November 9 to let go of more than 11,000 employees.

The anticipated 2022 tech layoffs have not just dug their claws into drone-grounding eagles that were employed to hunt down the technology, but the tech industry itself, according to an article by Gizmodo on Tuesday.

The FH-97A closely resembles the MQ-28 Ghost Bat.

The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) has unveiled a model of an FH-97A that is almost a direct replica of the Airpower Teaming System loyal wingman drone.

Continue reading “China’s newly released drone is reportedly exact replica of MQ-28 Ghost Bat” »

The Wi-Peep uses many messages to communicate with a target device while it is in the air.

A research team from the University of Waterloo created a drone-powered tool that uses WiFi networks to penetrate barriers.

Called Wi-Peep, the device can fly close to buildings and then use the WiFi network of the occupants to identify and locate any WiFi-enabled devices quickly.

The size of the wing, made of compressed puffed rice, depends on the recipient’s nutrition requirements.

The IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems in Kyoto last week saw an ingenious creation presented by researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne. Their paper described a drone made from rice cakes.

Mind you, this was no light matter. Titled ‘Towards Edible Drones for Rescue Missions: Design and Flight of Nutritional Wings,’ by Bokeon Kwak, Jun Shintake, Lu Zhang, and Dario Floreano from EPFL, the paper detailed a drone that could “boost its payload of food from 30 percent to 50 percent of its mass”, according to a release.

Continue reading “Scientists create edible drone built of rice cakes and gelatin that can save lives” »

A research team based out of the University of Waterloo has developed a drone-powered device that can use Wi-Fi networks to see through walls.

The device, nicknamed Wi-Peep, can fly near a building and then use the inhabitants’ Wi-Fi network to identify and locate all Wi-Fi-enabled devices inside in a matter of seconds.

The Wi-Peep exploits a loophole the researchers call polite Wi-Fi. Even if a network is password protected, smart devices will automatically respond to contact attempts from any device within range. The Wi-Peep sends several messages to a device as it flies and then measures the response time on each, enabling it to identify the device’s location to within a meter.

Most delivery drones can only carry about one-third of their mass as payload, because most of their mass is both critical, like wings, and comes in the form of things that are essentially useless to the end user, like wings. But EPFL researchers have invented a drone with wings made from rice cakes.

My mini UAV idea! A sphere shaped UAV, somewhere in size between a basketball, and a small beach ball. Cloak technology, if i could get away with it. Power source, coated in ultra fancy photo voltaic skin, that powers super fancy batteries for an indefinite flight time and range. Engine, Ion Drive, noiseless, still sort of in an experimental phase. Weapons system, an electrical recoilless rifle, can fire assorted ammunition; no recoil, no flash, with an advanced targeting system, operates sort of like a sniper. Carries a laser designator to designate targets for guided bombs and smart artillery.

Drop thousands behind enemy lines, and cause complete chaos. Coming to a battle field in 2030?

Budget documents reveal plans for the Super Swarm project, a way to overwhelm defenses with vast numbers of drones attacking simultaneously.

Continue reading “The US Navy wants swarms of thousands of small drones” »

Ice buildup on powerlines and electric towers brought the northern US and southern Canada to a standstill during the Great Ice Storm of 1998, leaving many in the cold and dark for days and even weeks. Whether it is on wind turbines, electric towers, drones, or airplane wings, dealing with ice buildup typically depends on techniques that are time consuming, costly and/or use a lot of energy, along with various chemicals. But, by looking to nature, McGill researchers believe that they have found a promising new way of dealing with the problem. Their inspiration came from the wings of Gentoo penguins who swim in the ice-cold waters of the south polar region, with pelts that remain ice-free even when the outer surface temperature is well below freezing.

We initially explored the qualities of the lotus leaf, which is very good at shedding water but proved less effective at shedding ice,” said Anne Kietzig, who has been looking for a solution for close to a decade. She is an associate professor in Chemical Engineering at McGill and the director of the Biomimetic Surface Engineering Laboratory. “It was only when we started investigating the qualities of penguin feathers that we discovered a material found in nature that was able to shed both water and ice.”

The system autonomously ensures high interception accuracy while retaining a non-penetrating turret design.

US and French defense companies have unveiled the latest version of the RAPIDFire autonomous gun turret at the Euronaval 2022, a naval defense exhibition, in Paris.

The gun turret which is a joint effort of Nexter and Thales, is claimed to counter growing low-level, close-quarters surface and aerial threats, as per a press release published by the defense company Nexter on Wednesday.