A team of Harvard University researchers with expertise in 3D printing, mechanical engineering, and microfluidics has demonstrated the first autonomous, untethered, entirely soft robot. This small, 3D-printed robot — nicknamed the octobot — could pave the way for a new generation of completely soft, autonomous machines.
Category Archives: Research
City Centre Seagulls Could Help Plan Drone Flight Paths
Tech Issues Cause Most Drone Accidents: Research
Technical problems are to blame for the majority of drone-related accidents rather than their operators, according to researchers from RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. Continue reading
Affordable Tethered Drone could Fly ‘Forever’
An unmanned aircraft system (UAS) developed by engineers from the University of Southampton uses a powered tether to provide unlimited flight time for drones. The developers say it could offer a more cost-effective solution for aerial monitoring and surveillance than other options on the market. Continue reading
Spanish Researchers use UAS to Study Raptor Nests
A team from Doñana Biological Station (CSIC) has used an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) to test whether nest decorations increased nest-site visibility to conspecifics in black kites (Milvus migrans) in Doñana National Park (Southwestern Spain).
Decoding Light-Field Information to see Around Corners
Virtually all current imaging methods rely on light traveling directly from the object to be imaged to the imaging device. Although direct, ballistic, single-bounce light components generally make up a large portion of the total light that is collected by an imaging system, there is a significant contribution from multi-bounce light. This light is scattered or reflected by surfaces in the scene multiple times on the path from light source to detector.
Swarms of UAS Guided by Brain Waves
A team of researchers has developed technology that lets a human control multiple drones using their brain waves, and the group is now working on squadrons of drones that could perform complex operations. Continue reading
NASA and UVIONIX Drones to Study Asteroid Threat
UVIONIX Aerospace, a developer of intelligent autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), has announced that in conjunction with partners SETI Institute, NVIDIA and Autodesk, it will be supporting researchers developing new approaches to investigating the potential threat of asteroids. Continue reading