Easily digestible tech news... http://www.techdirt.com/ en-us http://www.techdirt.com/images/td-88x31.gifhttp://www.techdirt.com/ Thu, 22 Dec 2011 17:00:00 PST Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110112/03502412623/dailydirt-modern-toys-not-just-boys.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110112/03502412623/dailydirt-modern-toys-not-just-boys.shtml

Lego topped $1 billion in sales in the US in 2010, but it's only now starting to seriously target girls who are 5yo and up. It won't just be pink plastic this time. [url]

Toy helicopters are becoming pretty advanced, so it's not too surprising to see added hacks to make them more useful. Spending $15,000 to modify an RC helicopter for professional videography goes way beyond most toy budgets, though. [url]

Normally, Nerf toys are pretty safe and squishy, but apparently, they can be used to extract teeth, too. Will it hurt? Not if used on already-loose primary teeth. [url]

To discover more interesting business-related content, check out what the deal is on StumbleUpon. [url]  

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]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20110112/03502412623 Fri, 8 Jul 2011 17:00:00 PDT Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110614/23334214698/dailydirt-strange-planes.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110614/23334214698/dailydirt-strange-planes.shtml

A winged helicopter powered by an electric motor demonstrated its flying prowess at the Paris Air Show, recently. Watch out, Bin Laden wannabe's... [url]

The D-Dalus aircraft propels itself in just about any direction using its four turbines with angle-adjusting blades. This thing doesn't look anything like a helicopter, but it can hover and take off vertically -- as well as "stick" its landings onto moving platforms. [url]

Airbus has a transparent plane concept that it thinks could be the future of air travel. But not everyone wants to fly like Wonder Woman... [url]

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

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]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20110614/23334214698 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]

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]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20110125/18153112822 Fri, 28 Jan 2011 17:00:00 PST Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100709/04423410151/dailydirt-robot-helicopters.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100709/04423410151/dailydirt-robot-helicopters.shtml Crazy Ivan" -- but it's a bit unfair to compare fictional flying maneuvers to actual aerial feats. Anyway, here are a few cool robotic helicopters.

• Autonomous helicopters from the University of Pennsylvania can work together in teams to build simple structures. It would have been a bit creepier if the video demonstrated a honeycomb structure being built. [url]
• Artificial "samaras" are little flying helicopters -- modeled after the single-wing seeds that drop from maple trees. These robotic samaras can climb, hover and move in arbitrary flight paths -- and if there's a updraft, they can stay afloat while expending minimal energy. [url]
• Boeing's unmanned A160T Hummingbird can deliver cargo without endangering a helicopter pilot. And Skynet is just about to become self-aware.... [url]

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