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http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/drones/tiny-little-multimodal-picobugUniversity of Pennsylvania’s GRASP Laboratory have designed a new robot called Picobug that can fly, walk, and even (soon) grab on to stuff.
In terms of performance, Picobug can fly with a top speed of 6 m/s, and crawl at up to 0.16 m/s on a flat surface. It weighs a total of 30 grams, which is a whole lot of not much: it’s about a third battery, a third motors and props, and the rest is the crawler, frame, and electronics. The big question is, as always, battery life: how much of a difference does the crawling actually make? The simple answer is that the robot uses 10.6 watts while hovering, and 0.6 watt while crawling, resulting in a flight time of 10 minutes and a crawl time of 45 minutes. But since flying is much faster than crawling, the complicated answer involves calculating cost of transport, a dimensionless measurement of how much energy the robot expends to move itself a given distance. The cost of transport while flying works out to be about 36, but just 14 while crawling, meaning that the robot is more than twice as efficient while toddling along on the ground.
http://www.tivi.fi/Kaikki_uutiset/h...nnokin-voi-varastaa-eika-maksa-paljon-6537708Poliisien ja pelastushenkilökunnan laajalti käyttämä lennokki on kaapattavissa wlan-signaalin avulla, paljastaa IBM:n tietoturvatehtävissä toimiva Nils Rodday. Menetelmässä tarvittava kalusto maksaa alle 40 euroa.
Rodday kertoi drone-lennokkien tietoturvan haavoittuvuuksista Black Hat asia -tapahtumassa.
Muun muassa monessa Euroopan maassa käytössä olevat laitteet eivät ole mitään bulkkitavaraa, vaan kyseessä ovat noin 25 000 euron arvoiset nelikopterit. Ei ole tietoa, tavataanko kyseisiä laitteita myöls Suomessa.
Hyökkääjä voi kopioida ohjaussignaalit ja ohjata tämän jälkeen kopteria omalta tabletiltaan. Kopterien kaappaaminen onnistuu Roddayn mukaan maasta käsin, kunhan hyökkääjä vain pääsee noin 100 metrin etäisyydelle, The Registerkirjoittaa. Tuossa korkeudessa kopterille lähetettävien signaalien salaus on hänen mukaansa huono.
Haavoittuvuuden mahdollistaa Xbee-siru, jota tavataan myös muissa koptereissa. Näin ollen myös monet harrastelijatason kopterit ovat todennäköisesti kaapattavissa.
Aika kova ääni, ja vaikea osua tuollaiseen. Jo lähitulevaisuudessa vastaavissa konflikteissa ilmassa voi olla kymmeniä vastaavia loitering-droneja, maaleja etsimässä. Kun ne laitetaan tuottamaan ääntä, saadaan vastustajalle kehitettyä dronekauhu. Jos historillista taustaa etsii, saksalaisilla oli stukansa, atsteekeilla kuolemanpillinsä.Azerien IAI Harop iskee armenialaisten kimppuun Vuoristo-Karabahissa
Ukrainian Drone Warfare
Ukrainalaiset ovat organisoineet joukkorahoituksen hankkiakseen drooneja sotaan, joka on vaatinut tuhansia ihmishenkiä. VICE tapasi Kiovassa drooniasiantuntijan, joka tarjoaa osaamistaan ja aikaansa vapaaehtoistyöhön.
http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/robotics-hardware/sweep-lidar-for-robots-and-dronesA San Leandro, Calif.-based startup called Scanse has developed a 2D LIDAR system that promises to be simultaneosly much cheaper and much better than what’s out there. For $250, you get a spinning LIDAR sensor with a range of 40 meters, even outdoors. We featured Sweep on Video Friday a while back, but we wanted follow up with a more detailed article, with some additional info from the Scanse team.
LIDARs are being used in almost every commercial or industrial mobile robot in operation or under development today. Once you start looking for them, you see them everywhere, from simple material-handling robots to advanced autonomous cars. LIDARs are also used extensively in applications besides navigation and localization: you can use them to make detailed 3D scans of areas, for example, or to establish safety curtains. Whatever the application, a LIDAR is often the single most expensive component in any robotic system, and that’s where Scanse saw a huge opportunity:
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Private_equity_firm_acquires_iRobot_defense_business_999.htmlThe Defense and Security business of iRobot has been acquired by Arlington Capital Partners, a private equity firm.
iRobot, the largest provider of ground-based robots to the Department of Defense, will operate independently under the name Endeavor Robotics.
"We are proud to form Endeavor Robotics and honored to continue delivering robotics that protect those in harm's way," said Sean Bielat, chief executive officer of Endeavor Robotics. "Our team is developing exciting new technology and we are actively reviewing acquisition opportunities that will propel our growth."
iRobot's -- and now Endeavor's product line -- is comprised of four classes of robots for warfighters and first responders: FirstLook, SUGV, PackBot and Kobra.
"As an independent company dedicated to tactical robotics, Endeavor Robotics will have new flexibility to meet the needs and protect the lives of our customers serving on the frontline and in dangerous environments," said Tom Frost, president of Endeavor Robotics. "We've always done our best work when we worked closely with our customers. Our new structure enables us to double down on that strategy.
"We believe that the future is in open architecture and collaborative solutions and we look forward to making that a reality."
Frost is the former senior vice president and general manager of iRobot's Defense & Security business. Bielat is the former iRobot Defense & Security executive officer.
The financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.
https://www.newscientist.com/articl...drones-take-off-and-land-on-water-vertically/Submarine hunting just got more deadly. A new breed of drone that can float on or under the surface of the ocean before taking off vertically to hunt in flocks could soon be used by the US Navy.
Sonar systems are used to search for submarines. For example, buoys that use them – commonly called sonobuoys and first developed in the second world war – scan for submarines with sonar just below the surface. Dropped from aircraft, sonobuoys are still a mainstay of submarine hunters. But once deployed, they only work for a few hours before their batteries run out or they drift out of range.
The Aqua-Quad, built by Kevin Jones and his colleagues at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, does not have such limitations. The drone looks like a standard quadcopter, but might better be described as a sonobuoy that spends some of its time in the air. “It’ll be on the water 23 hours a day, and flying maybe one hour a day,” says Jones.
Not only can the drone fly itself wherever it is needed, but its wings double as solar cells that provide unlimited power. In addition, the Aqua-Quad takes off and lands vertically, which means it can handle rough seas. Others have also developed drones that can take off and land on water, but these can run into trouble in bad conditions.
When the wind is too strong to fly at all, the Aqua-Quad can ride out a storm on the surface. The team is working on a self-righting mechanism to let the drone recover after capsizing.
http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/...-driving-submarine-hunter-steers-like-a-humanToday is christening day for DARPA’s Sea Hunter, a full-scale prototype of an autonomous surface vessel that’s designed to be able to launch from a pier and go out on its own for weeks or months at a time, for thousands of miles at a stretch.
http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/humanoids/shaft-demos-new-bipedal-robot-in-japanAccording to Hornyak, SCHAFT’s new robot (which hasn’t been named yet) “is designed to be a low-cost, low-power, compact device to 'help society.'” It can lift 60kg, travel over uneven terrain, and even tackle stairs, which are notoriously difficult for robots.
http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/...apons-could-be-developed-for-use-within-yearsA United Nations meeting this week in Geneva is debating the future of autonomous weapons—the controversial weapons systems capable of selecting and engaging targets without human intervention. Delegates from about 90 countries are discussing the far-reaching technical, legal, and ethical questions that these robotic weapons raise, and at the end of the week-long meeting they hope to agree on what to do next.
Päiväuni:
Harmaata on entistäkin enemmän ohimoilla ja makkaranpaistohommat ovat kohdallani Eldankajärven jäätä. Lapset ovat lähteneet maailmalle ja vaimokin antaa ihme kyllä olla enimmäkseen rauhassa. Pihalleni kotihoitoon ja lemmikiksi tuotu UCAV A-10 lepää kiltisti pyörillään odottamassa lähtökäskyä. Silloin tällöin "silmä" eli päähavaintosensori luo valppaan silmäyksen naapurustoon.
Ulkomaalainen murtovaraskopla kävi kerran poissa ollessani utvimassa, olisiko talossa jotain helposti keikattavaa. (No eihän sitä arvotavaraa juurikaan ole, komeat kuoret mutta köyhä kuin kirkonrotta...) Eivät käyneet toista kertaa: uskollinen vahtikoira yskäisi valkoisen pakettiauton tuusannuuskaksi muutamalla Pyhäjokisella. Omasuoja nääs. Tosin naapurin roskakatos sai hieman vaurioita samalla, mutta naapurisopu säilyi silti kun korjasin vahingot ja pyytelin anteeksi. Konnien puskaradio on tapahtuneesta lähtien ajanut vartiointiliikkeen tarran asiaa ja ohikulkeva liikenne ajaa tiellä muutenkin yllättävän hiljaa, vähäeleisesti ja liikennesääntöjä noudattaen. Varkailla oli kirjaimellisesti mennyt vellit pöksyyn, kun punainen "Cylon- silmä" oli yhtäkkiä syttynyt ja kone oli käännähtänyt tulijoita kohti täräyttäen 30mm kanuunalla takana olleen keikka-auton likipitäen atomeiksi. Metelin vuoksi paikalle tulleet poliisit olivat nyrpistelleet hieman nenäänsä kantaessaan shokissa olleita savihousuja maijan kyytiin.
Pyhäjoen korpikuusen katveessa "kirkastetusta" uraanista tehdyt ammukset kiiltelevät välkehtien autotallissa pommi- ja ohjusvaunujen takana. Kaikki vermeet ovat tallessa ja siististi paikallaan. Pesen koneen painepesurilla aina välillä ja porisen sille mukavia kn vaimo ei ole kuulosalla. Tiedä häntä, ihan kuin se tykkäisi ikääntyvän makkaramiehen höpinöistä. Pitää välillä sellaista jännää surinaa, ihan kuin vastailisi johonkin. Tiedä häntä. Talvella joutuu välillä tekemään lumitöitä hieman enemmän, mutta siipien ja rungon päälle levitetyillä pressuilla saa lumet tiputeltua näppärästi. Kerran talvisotaharjoituksen aikana tuli etukuormaaja ja puski lumien mukana pensasaidan nurin että kone pääsi lähtemään lennoille, mutta toisaalta saattoi olla jo alasleikkuun aika. Ohikulkevat pikkukoululaiset näkevät nyt koneen paremmin ja vilkuttavat sille aina iloisesti kun kulkevat koulureppu selässä ohi. Kone vastaa vilkauttamalla "silmäänsä". Kumma juttu, ehkäpä se on pohjimmiltaan seurallinen. Pitäisiköhän sille antaa oikein nimi?
Paljoahan niistä sotahommista ja koneiden suoriutumisesta tehtävissä ei meikäläiselle kerrota, mutta muuan kantapeikko kertoi eilen tarkastuskäynnillä ollessaan näiden täyttävän vähintäänkin sen, mitä varten ne on hankittu. Tuumasi vielä, että rauhanajan hajasijoituskokeilu oli onnistunut ja että sitä jatkettaisiin. Uteli samalla, haluaisinko jatkaa vapaaehtoistyötä Isänmaan hyväksi. Tietysti muodollinen ylläpitokorvaus maksettaisiin, juu. Koetin parhaani mukaan näyttää mahdollisimman vähän kiinnostuneelta asiasta allekirjoittaessani papereita, mutta hiljaa mielessäni laulaa rallattelin: "Ollos huoleton, poikas valveill' on!" Vahti. Se on hyvä nimi lennokille. Maalaan nimen heti huomenna sopivan huomaamattomaan paikkaan.
NASA’s autonomously flown Global Hawk aircraft flew a series of flights over the Pacific Ocean during February 2016, as part of the NOAA-led mission called Sensing Hazards Operational Unmanned Technology, or SHOUT. This year’s El Nino season offered a unique opportunity for the aircraft to contribute data directly to NOAA’s El Nino Rapid Response field campaign. The campaign is seeking to determine key mechanisms affecting El Niño's impacts on the U.S. and their implications for improving NOAA's observational systems, models and predictions.
The Global Hawk aircraft offers both NASA and NOAA scientists an exclusive vantage point to observe atmospheric conditions with the plane's ability to fly at 65,000 feet for a time period up to 30 hours. These long-endurance and high-altitude observations give NOAA scientists the opportunity to see a larger picture of how atmospheric changes in the tropics are directly impacting weather activity in the Western U.S.
For more information on the SHOUT mission visit: http://uas.noaa.gov/shout
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/D...eating_buzz_for_master_UAV_operators_999.htmlDronemeisters, a brand-driven drone pilot directory showcasing the world's best UAV operators, has launched. The new drone pilot resource, with its edgy Dronemeister Wizard logo and pilot apparel, was designed to help top drone pilots stand out amongst the quickly growing crowd of UAV operators.
With experts predicting that the market for drones will increase to more than $80 billion in the next decade, the sky truly is the limit for skilled UAV pilots.
Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) have become an essential support element, providing Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance prior, during and after air strikes. But current platforms are too slow and vulnerable to operate in contested airspace. The US Air Force and DARPA are looking at new concepts of operations that will enable unmanned platforms to support the future air component in all operational environments.
One such concept is the use of air-launched UAS program is the Gremlins, a DARPA initiative to develop reusable a air launched Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). In March 2016 the agency awarded technology research contracts to four teams to explore different approaches, innovative technologies and systems enabling aircraft to launch volleys of low-cost, reusable UASs, and safely and reliably retrieve them in mid-air.
Named for the imaginary, mischievous imps that became the good luck charms of many British pilots during World War II, the program envisions launching groups of UASs from existing large aircraft such as bombers or transport aircraft – as well as from fighters and other small, fixed-wing platforms – while those planes are out of range of adversary defenses. When the gremlins complete their mission, a C-130 transport aircraft would retrieve them in the air and carry them home, where ground crews would prepare them for their next use within 24 hours.
The Gremlins’ expected lifetime of about 20 uses could provide significant cost advantages over expendable systems by reducing payload and airframe costs and by having lower mission and maintenance costs than conventional platforms, which are designed to operate for decades.
http://yle.fi/uutiset/suomen_uusien_havittajien_tueksi_saattaa_tulla_lennokkeja/8828266Suomen taivaalla saatetaan ensi vuosikymmenellä nähdä Ilmavoimien hävittäjien tukena miehittämättömiä lennokkeja.
Puolustusvoimien logistiikkalaitos pyytää viideltä hävittäjävalmistajalta ratkaisuja, joilla voidaan korvata nykyään käytössä olevat Hornet-hävittäjät, joiden on määrä poistua käytöstä vuodesta 2025 alkaen. Tietopyynnöllä hankitaan tietoja tulevaa tarjouskilpailua varten.
Valmistajat voivat esittää myös ratkaisuja, joissa monitoimihävittäjien suorituskykyä täydennetään useammilla lentokonetyypeillä tai miehittämättömillä ilma-aluksilla eli droneilla. Ratkaisun pitäisi olla uskottava vuoden 2030 jälkeisessä turvallisuusympäristössä.
https://news.vice.com/article/paris-police-are-shopping-for-high-performance-drones-to-spy-on-crowdsParis police are seeking to acquire a new fleet of drones for "low altitude aerial surveillance" to enhance security two months before the city is due to host a pair of major sporting events.
The government already indicated last week that it plans to extend a state of emergency that has been in effect since last November's terror attacks. France will host the UEFA Euro 2016 soccer championship and the Tour de France bicycle race, and wants the state of emergency to last until the end of July.
Meanwhile, a design brief issued by the police and published by the French tech news site Nextinpact indicates that police in the capital are looking to expand their drone fleet with compact drones with six electric motors known as "hexacopters." It suggests that officers will primarily employ the drone to survey outdoor crowds within a one-kilometer radius.
http://www.stripes.com/news/us/us-m...manned-ship-designed-to-cross-oceans-1.407478The military is starting tests on the world’s largest unmanned surface vessel — a self-driving, 132-foot ship designed to travel thousands of miles out at sea without a single crew member on board.
The so-called “Sea Hunter” has the potential to revolutionize not only the military’s maritime operations but commercial shipping, according to military officials. If successful, it could usher in the arrival of unmanned cargo vessels moving between countries.