Science Recorder: Headless robo-cat could be the future of search and rescue
Science Recorder: Headless robo-cat could be the future of search and rescue As researchers proved last week, cheetahs are not only capable of attaining great speeds, but possess an agility derived from their ability to accelerate and decelerate on a dime. So it’s only natural that Swiss scientists designed a robot intended for search and rescue missions after such a creature. Modeled after a house cat, the “cheetah-cub robot” is a four-legged metallic critter that simulates a cat’s dynamic stride. Published in the International...
read moreNature: UAS in science: Fly, and bring me data
Nature: UAS in science: Fly, and bring me data The Tempest — wingspan 3.2 metres, cruising speed 75 knots — was designed to fly into severe storms. But during a test run in March for a new project, it is soaring through the bluest of skies. On the ground below, PhD student Maciej Stachura of the University of Colorado (UC), Boulder, is tapping on a tablet computer, transferring control to the aircraft’s own computer after a manual take-off. Systems engineer James Mack keeps his hands loose around a controller in case a problem...
read moreRedOrbit: NASA Returns Zoe Robot To Chile’s Atacama Desert To Hunt For Subsurface Life
RedOrbit: NASA Returns Zoe Robot To Chile’s Atacama Desert To Hunt For Subsurface Life Zoë, the first robot to map microbial life during a 2005 field expedition in Chile’s Atacama Desert, is returning for another go-around. This month, on a NASA astrobiology mission led by Carnegie Mellon University and the SETI Institute, the autonomous and solar-powered robot is headed back into the world’s driest desert equipped with a one-meter drill to search for subsurface life. As in the initial mission, Zoe will be testing new technologies and...
read moreThe Colorado Independent: Colorado’s Mesa County a National Leader in Domestic UAS Use
The Colorado Independent: Colorado’s Mesa County a National Leader in Domestic UAS Use A county in western Colorado has embraced domestic police drones in an era when states are increasingly limiting use of the technology. Mesa County Cpl. Danny Norris launches a fixed-wing drone. The Mesa County Sheriff’s Department is one of the few departments in the U.S. authorized to maneuver unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) virtually without geographic boundaries. That means it’s allowed to deploy its state-of-the-art cameras almost everywhere...
read moreFuturity.org: Tiny UAS built to hunt hurricanes
Futurity.org: Tiny UAS built to hunt hurricanes Tiny unmanned vehicles may one day be able to swarm over, under, and through hurricanes to help predict the strength and path of storms. The autonomous craft—some fly and others dart under the waves—can spy on hurricanes at close range without getting blown to bits, while sensors onboard collect and send in real time the data scientists need to predict the intensity and trajectory of storms: pressure, temperature, humidity, location, and time. “Our vehicles don’t fight the hurricane; we...
read moreLas Vegas Review Journal: UAS to spy on Southern Nevada wildlife, not people
Las Vegas Review Journal: UAS to spy on Southern Nevada wildlife, not people A few months from now, government agents with drones will descend on Southern Nevada to spy on the locals. Luckily, mule deer and bighorn sheep don’t carry ACLU cards. The U.S. Geological Survey started using unmanned aircraft for wildlife and land management work about two years ago. Its first Nevada mission, planned for August or September, involves counting sheep and deer within the Desert National Wildlife Refuge north of Las Vegas. What used to require a...
read moreFast Company: A Robot To Explore Brooklyn’s Epically Polluted Gowanus Canal
Fast Company: A Robot To Explore Brooklyn’s Epically Polluted Gowanus Canal Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal is a putrid remnant of New York’s industrial past. Full of lead, mercury, sewage, and PCB’s, it burns green on good days, and has a faintly sulfurous smell in summer. The EPA has some controversial plans to clean up the Superfund site. But first, a group from NYU Polytechnic wants to find out exactly what’s beneath the murky waters. The team is using a remote-controlled Aquatic Robotic Vehicle that shifts around the depths,...
read moreAP: How Weather Drones Will Unravel How Tornados Are Formed
AP: How Weather Drones Will Unravel How Tornados Are Formed At the time it premiered, the film “Twister” put forth a fantastical science fiction idea: Release probes into a storm in order to figure out which tornadoes could develop into killers. It’s no longer fiction. Oklahoma State University researchers are designing and building sleek, Kevlar-reinforced unmanned aircraft — or drones — to fly directly into the worst storms and send back real-time data to first responders and forecasters. “We have all the elements...
read moreHigh school biology students learn about the physics of flying by studying flight paths of animals and microbes
High school biology students learn about the physics of flying by studying flight paths of animals and microbes It’s a perfect spring day for flying — sunny, warm, and a strong breeze whips through the air. Too bad Cindy Bohland’s biology students at the Roanoke Valley Governor’s School are wingless. What they do have to ride the winds, however, are small remote-controlled Styrofoam gliders. As Bohland’s high school students fling the planes into the air — hoping they catch a current that will flit them from air stream to air...
read moreLive Science: Can a Floating Robot Save a Polluted Canal?
Live Science: Can a Floating Robot Save a Polluted Canal? Pity the Gowanus Canal. A forgotten relic of Brooklyn’s industrial past, the garbage-choked waterway is now home to a putrid stew of toxic waste. Where barges once served tanneries and paper mills, all that remains today are high levels of mercury, lead, raw sewage, cancer-causing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other pollutants. The Gowanus Canal achieved further notoriety in January 2013 when an adult dolphin chose the canal’s oily waters as a place to die. A necropsy...
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