North Carolina State University researchers are using video game technology to remotely control cockroaches on autopilot, with a computer steering the cockroach through a controlled environment. Continue reading
Category Archives: Research
The Glass Ceiling for Remotely Piloted Aircraft
“Those who by valorous ways become princes, like these men, acquire a principality with difficulty, but they keep it with ease.” —Niccolò Machiavelli, 1513. Continue reading
Hybrid Electric Planes Development Progresses
Last month Siemens and EADS demonstrated a new gas-electric vehicle capable of carrying two people and their luggage 900 kilometers—roughly the distance from New York to Detroit—between refuels and recharges. The prototype was not a car, but a small two-seater airplane. Continue reading
DARPA’s Virtual Robotics Challenge
From June 17-21, 2013, teams in DARPA’s Virtual Robotics Challenge tested software designs to control a simulated ATLAS robot in a three-dimensional, virtual environment through a series of tasks modeled on what activities might be required in a real disaster response situation. Continue reading
Stanford Students Discover Groundbreaking Flight Behaviour
Stanford mechanical engineering professor David Lentink and his students capture slow-motion video from the fastest wings in the bird world, with an eye toward building flying robots that take design cues from Mother Nature.” Continue reading
Cornell Students Win AUVSI Competition
CUAir, a group of high-flying Cornell engineering students, soared into first place at the Student Unmanned Air Systems Competition held at the Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland, June 19-22. Continue reading
Washington State University Develops Hydrogen-Powered UAS
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Club at Washington State University has spent countless hours building and flying unmanned aircraft systems, and they’re currently developing one that’s powered by liquid hydrogen. Continue reading
No More Waypoints: AEVO GmbH Demonstrates Fully-Autonomous Guidance for UAS
The Guidance part in “GN&C” typically relies on sequences of pre-defined waypoints. But now the German company AEVO GmbH has demonstrated a new guidance and control software that autonomously guides UAS to perform complex tasks (e.g. target surveillance, obstacle avoidance). Continue reading