Easily digestible tech news... http://www.techdirt.com/ en-us http://www.techdirt.com/images/td-88x31.gifhttp://www.techdirt.com/ Wed, 3 Oct 2012 17:00:00 PDT Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100820/10193310703/dailydirt-my-robot-lies-over-ocean.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100820/10193310703/dailydirt-my-robot-lies-over-ocean.shtml

Robot fish can mimic how real fish look and move -- and even be accepted into schools of real fish. If these robot fish can figure out how to become fish leaders, they could navigate large numbers of fish directly into fishing nets or away from man-made pollution. [url]

A Raspberry Pi might be the brains of one of the first autonomous robot boats to cross the Atlantic Ocean without human intervention. This FishPi bot will be solar powered, propelled by a small motor (no sailing!) -- and hopefully it won't get eaten by anything on its trip. [url]

Underwater gliders have already crossed the Atlantic and are being put to use for scientific, military and commercial applications. These robots are relatively cheap to make and could be produced by the thousands to monitor the oceans. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20100820/10193310703 Wed, 25 Jul 2012 17:00:00 PDT Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100903/10032410893/dailydirt-underwater-robots-fooling-fish-finding-foul-waters.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100903/10032410893/dailydirt-underwater-robots-fooling-fish-finding-foul-waters.shtml

Get your own open source underwater robot capable of diving down to 100 meter depths for just $775 on Kickstarter. OpenROV runs on eight C batteries and runs for about an hour at 1m/s. [url]

A fish-like robot inspired by notemigonus crysoleucas (a species of the Golden shiner) has been accepted into schools of the real fish. The creators of this robot envision the possibility of using remote-controlled fish robots to steer real schools of fish away from pollution (or maybe directly into fishing nets). [url]

An ocean-going drone could help clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The Marine Drone is a concept design for an autonomous robot that can collect plastic debris and other garbage floating around in the oceans. [url]

The SHOAL project has developed a robotic fish that can detect pollution and monitor water quality. These autonomous robots can work together to cover a square kilometer area to a depth of 30 meters, running on rechargeable batteries that last about 8 hours, and the prototype robots cost about $32,000 each. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20100903/10032410893 Wed, 23 May 2012 17:00:00 PDT Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100614/1406149808/dailydirt-standing-alpha-beta-parking-lot.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100614/1406149808/dailydirt-standing-alpha-beta-parking-lot.shtml

What goes well with a liveried chauffeur? Perhaps a parking spot that costs a million bucks. The first parking spot in NYC listed for $1 million is in a private garage at 66 E. 11th St. [url]

One of the first automated parking garages opened in NYC in 2002 -- and it dropped a few cars before working out its bugs. But now, car owners don't have to worry about parking attendants (like Richard Edson) taking cars out for joyrides... [url]

When cars can drive themselves, they'll just drop us off, circle the block and/or park themselves somewhere (hopefully in a good neighborhood). They could also meet up with their other robot-car friends at the automated parking garage and waste time chatting about power converters.... [url]

To find some more bizarre/crazy stuff, check out some things that other StumbleUpon users have found. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20100614/1406149808 Mon, 13 Feb 2012 17:00:00 PST Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100111/1939327709/dailydirt-autonomous-vehicles.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100111/1939327709/dailydirt-autonomous-vehicles.shtml

The 24 Hours of LeMons is an endurance race for clunker cars (no cars worth more than $500), but this year, they've added a prize for autonomous vehicles. The X Ceedingly Bad Idea Prize will award $50,000 to a driverless junker that can cross the finish line without hurting anyone. [url]

Wired has interviewed several autonomous vehicle experts, which means a lot of hedged predictions on the future of self-driving cars on public roads. But automated airplane pilots seem to have gained more acceptance than replacing human drivers on the roads. [url]

NATO troops in Afghanistan have successfully received resupply cargo from an unmanned helicopter. Kaman Aerospace's K-MAX can carry 3.5 tons of cargo about 250 miles, and it may help reduce human casualties (for one side of battle, at least). [url]

To discover more interesting robotics-related content, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]  

Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20100111/1939327709 Wed, 28 Dec 2011 17:00:00 PST Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110311/01463513449/dailydirt-defend-yourself-give-peace-chance.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110311/01463513449/dailydirt-defend-yourself-give-peace-chance.shtml folks either "like" or "really hate" holiday songs (and that Baby Boomers are still in control of popular holiday music). In any case, if you received a shiny new "Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle" last weekend, here are some other advanced weapons that you might shoot your eye out with.

• Automated attack drones might sound like science fiction, but lethal autonomy is becoming more practical as technology provide better sensors and recognition software. Landmines already kill indiscriminately, so "smarter landmines" are better, right? [url]
• Build your own laser pistol at home, you scruffy-looking nerf-herder! Remember: Do not look at laser with remaining eye. [url]
• If you think Tasers are effective non-lethal weapons for police officers, then check out Photonic Security Systems' SMU 100 laser rifle which is designed to (temporarily) blind people from up to 500m away. Just watch out for rioters carrying around big mirrors.... [url]
• To discover more interesting tech-related content, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20110311/01463513449 Fri, 18 Feb 2011 17:00:00 PST Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110208/19473313015/dailydirt-robotic-planes-seriously-dont-call-me-shirley.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110208/19473313015/dailydirt-robotic-planes-seriously-dont-call-me-shirley.shtml

Northrop Grumman's X-47B is an autonomous combat aircraft that aims to be launching from and landing on aircraft carriers in a few years. Another trick will be aerial refueling, eliminating the limitation of onboard fuel capacity. [url]

Would you believe the CIA developed a dragonfly robot in the 1970s as a super-secret intelligence gathering tool? Would you believe they also developed mobile phones hidden in shoes? Robotic fish? Cone of silence? [url]

Last year, a solar-powered plane broke all the non-stop endurance records by flying for a week -- and it could have stayed up indefinitely. Cheap solar planes to replace telecommunication satellites would be a nice next step. [url]

The safety of flight automation is being studied -- finding out that both human error and automation errors can cause serious problems. Nobody's perfect. [url]

To discover more cool sites about aviation, check out what's currently flying around StumbleUpon. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20110208/19473313015 Wed, 2 Feb 2011 17:00:00 PST Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110125/18153112822/dailydirt-more-robot-helicopters.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110125/18153112822/dailydirt-more-robot-helicopters.shtml flying robots are really the bots to watch. In just a few years, little autonomous helicopters will be everywhere... watching your every move. Okay, maybe Big Brother isn't going to use flying cameras, but kids' toys are going to be really impressive soon. OLPC will be nothing compared to the programmable toys that will be in more and more homes. Just imagine a living room filled with blinking 12:00 clocks.... hmm. Anyway, here are a few more autonomous helicopter videos for your amusement.

• MIT has an indoor autonomous helicopter that can go where there's no GPS available. Even in unfamiliar buildings, this bot can map its indoor environment... and it looks like it'd be a great companion in a laser-tag arena. [url]
• At another university, Stanford's autonomous helicopter can go outside and learns how to fly by watching a human pilot. This isn't a quadrotor bot, so it's gotta fly with a bit more skill to perform its aerial stunts. [url]
• The University of Pennsylvania has a quadrotor bot that flips and can jump through hoops. If this bot turns into Skynet, at least it'll be easily overpowered by some Velcro.... [url]

Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20110125/18153112822