Scientists are creating drones that fly in sync with each other.
Category: drones – Page 79
Insect-Inspired Flying Robots: Researchers Introduce a New Generation of Tiny, Agile Drones
The technology could boost aerial robotsâ repertoire, allowing them to operate in cramped spaces and withstand collisions.
If youâve ever swatted a mosquito away from your face, only to have it return again (and again and again), you know that insects can be remarkably acrobatic and resilient in flight. Those traits help them navigate the aerial world, with all of its wind gusts, obstacles, and general uncertainty. Such traits are also hard to build into flying robots, but MIT Assistant Professor Kevin Yufeng Chen has built a system that approaches insectsâ agility.
Chen, a member of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and the Research Laboratory of Electronics, has developed insect-sized drones with unprecedented dexterity and resilience. The aerial robots are powered by a new class of soft actuator, which allows them to withstand the physical travails of real-world flight. Chen hopes the robots could one day aid humans by pollinating crops or performing machinery inspections in cramped spaces.
HĂ©lĂšne Huby, VP, Orion-ESM, Airbus Defence and Space â Innovating And Investing In The New Space Age
Innovating And Investing In The New Space Age â Space 2.0 â HĂ©lĂšne Huby, VP, Orion-ESM, Airbus Defence and Space.
HĂ©lĂšne Huby is Vice-President of the Orion European Service Module (Orion-ESM), at Airbus Defence & Space.
Airbus Defence & Space is a division of the Airbus Group, a European multinational aerospace corporation and the worldâs largest airliner manufacturer.
The Orion-ESM is the European Space Agencyâs contribution to NASAâs Orion spacecraft, which will send astronauts back to the Moon, and beyond. It provides electricity, water, oxygen and nitrogen, as well as keeping the spacecraft at the right temperature and on course.
HĂ©lĂšne was previously Head of Innovation at Airbus Defence & Space where she grew a portfolio of over 50 new businesses, ranging from space data-based services to electrical-powered stratospheric drones, and was responsible for setting up Airbus Ventures, and an innovation center in Silicon Valley, for the Airbus Group.
Worldâs First Supersonic Unmanned Combat Drone Reaches Speeds Of Over 1,500mph
It can exceed the speed of sound, hitting an astonishing Mach 2.1! đČđ€Ż
A new combat drone has been created that can hit speeds of more than 1500mph.
The drone is much bigger than the ones youâll have seen floating around your local parks, however, and looks more like a small spaceship.
Created by Kelley Aerospace, the supersonic drone is made up of carbon fibre and is completely unmanned; it can exceed the speed of sound, hitting an astonishing Mach 2.
Away From Silicon Valley, the Military Is the Ideal Customer
The Defense Department is hungry for small drones that will track objects and fly into buildings, combat zones and other dangerous areas with little help from remote pilots. Self-piloting drones will become a key part of fighting and other military activities in the years to come, said Mike Brown, director of the Defense Innovation Unit, a Pentagon organization that aims to facilitate cooperation between the military and the tech industry.
While much has been made of techâs unwillingness to work with the Pentagon, start-ups are still plumbing the industryâs decades-long ties to the military.
Modified Laser Cutter Fabricates a Ready to Fly Drone
This bolt-on system creates a drone that can fly straight out of your fabricator.
Itâs been very cool to watch 3D printers and laser cutters evolve into fairly common tools over the last decade-ish, finding useful niches across research, industry, and even with hobbyists at home. Capable as these fabricators are, they tend to be good at just one specific thing: making shapes out of polymer. Which is great! But we have all kinds of other techniques for making things that are even more useful, like by adding computers and actuators and stuff like that. You just canât do that with your 3D printer or laser cutter, because it just does its one thingâwhich is too bad.