Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Category: robotics/AI – Page 484

Space mission that maps forests in 3D makes an early comeback

Call it the force’s doing, but it has been surprises galore for the GEDI mission.

In early 2023, the lidar mission that maps the Earth’s forests in 3D was to be burned up in the atmosphere to make way for another unrelated mission on the International Space Station. A last-minute decision by NASA saved its life and put it on hiatus until October 2024. Earlier this year, another surprise revealed itself: the mission that replaced GEDI was done with its work, effectively allowing GEDI to get back to work six months earlier than expected.

That’s how, in April, a robotic arm ended up moving the GEDI mission (short for Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation and pronounced “Jedi” like in the Star Wars films) from storage on the ISS to its original location, from where it now continues to gather crucial data on aboveground biomass on Earth.

Army approaches industry for prototype artillery cannon for future Hypervelocity Gun Weapon System (HGWS)

Related: High-G data recorder helps Air Force munitions testing

The Army wants a company to build and deliver MDAC prototypes using existing fielded and mature technologies. MDAC will be air-, rail-, and sea-transportable per MIL-STD-1366; will be able to move rapidly for survivability; have automated high rates of fire with HVP; and have emote weapon firing; have deep magazine capacity, rapid ammunition resupply, and high operational availability. Companies interested also will demonstrate supportability, safety, and cyber security.

Army wants to develop hypervelocity artillery shells for air defense against manned and unmanned aircraft

Officials of the Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO) at Fort Belvoir, Va., issued a request for information on Monday for the Hypervelocity Projectile (HVP) project.

Army officials want a company able to deliver HVP prototypes no later than fall 2027 for operational demonstrations in 2028, and later for possible deployment. Hypervelocity projectiles fly through the air at speeds of 8 or 9 times the speed of sound.

Anthropic launches $100 million AI fund with Menlo Ventures, ramping up competition with OpenAI

The artificial intelligence startup and Menlo Ventures are launching a $100 million fund on Wednesday to back early-stage startups, and get them using the AI company’s technology. Menlo will put up the cash to invest in the startups, while Anthropic will give founders $25,000 in credits that go toward using its large language models.

The launch of the Anthology Fund mirrors a partnership between Apple and venture firm Kleiner Perkins. The joint venture, called the iFund, was introduced in 2008, a year after the iPhone hit the market, to support developers on Apple’s mobile platforms. It initially started with $100 million in 2008, and doubled to $200 million two years later.

Matt Murphy, a partner at Menlo Ventures and a former partner at Kleiner Perkins, said the iFund was the inspiration for this launch.

Researchers ‘Crack the Code’ for Quelling Electromagnetic Interference

Florida Atlantic Center for Connected Autonomy and Artificial Intelligence (CA-AI.fau.edu) researchers have “cracked the code” on interference when machines need to talk with each other—and people.

Electromagnetic waves make wireless connectivity possible but create a lot of unwanted chatter. Referred to as “electromagnetic interference,” this noisy byproduct of wireless communications poses formidable challenges in modern day dense IoT and AI robotic environments. With the demand for lightning-fast data rates reaching unprecedented levels, the need to quell this interference is more pressing than ever.

Equipped with a breakthrough algorithmic solution, researchers from FAU Center for Connected Autonomy and AI, within the College of Engineering and Computer Science, and FAU Institute for Sensing and Embedded Network Systems Engineering (I-SENSE), have figured out a way to do that.

/* */