Skydio released an impressive self-flying camera drone in early October that may well take autonomous flight to a whole new level, and it could soon have the self-charging capabilities to go with it. The company has swiftly followed up with the reveal of a portable box that acts as a recharging base station for the drone, allowing it to carry […]

Quadcopters have quite a few strengths as aircraft, but battery life is not one of them. The very best models can operate for around 30 minutes at a time, and in the past we’ve looked at technologies that could stretch these flight times by wirelessly powering them during flight or incorporating extra battery cells into the airframe. The latest interesting […]

When consumer aerial camera-drones first hit the market, buyers were mostly limited to models costing $1,000 or more. These days, half-decent quadcopters can be had for under a hundred bucks. While not going quite that cheap, Chasing Innovation is now aiming to make underwater drones similarly more affordable, with the Dory. First of all, here are the basic specs … […]

Four years ago, we heard how scientists had gained a new understanding of the Northern clingfish’s ability to … well, to cling to things. Utilizing that knowledge, they’ve now developed a suction cup that adheres to rough surfaces, outperforming the actual fish itself. The clingfish has a disc-shaped combination of two fins on its underside, which it uses to verystrongly […]

Imagine if a robber was recorded on a bank’s security-camera system, and then perhaps hid in a certain house. Utilizing a new technique, ordinary wall-penetrating Wi-Fi signals could reportedly now be used to determine if the person in that house was indeed the robber. Developed by a team at the University of California-Santa Barbara, the XModal-ID (“cross-modal ID”) system begins […]

While there are already systems that allow smartphones to identify objects by photographing them, such technology doesn’t work well in dim light – plus, not everyone wants to bother taking photos. A new system, however, can identify objects simply by knocking a smartphone against them. Developed by scientists at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), the tech […]

When someone is afflicted with retinitis pigmentosa, they have poor peripheral vision, plus they have difficulty identifying obstacles in low light. In recently-conducted tests, however, it has been shown that a depth perception-boosting headset could help them to avoid collisions – and to grasp objects. Led by Prof. Anastasios N. Angelopoulos, a team at the University of Southern California started […]

With a few exceptions, robotic grippers aren’t known for having a soft touch – so they often can’t be trusted with delicate objects. That may be about to change, however, thanks to a shock-absorbing gripper developed by scientists from the University at Buffalo. Created by a team led by Assoc. Prof. Ehsan Esfahani, the experimental new gripper incorporates two motorized […]

In a demonstration of how future wars will be fought as much in cyberspace as on the battlefield, Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, the Missile Defense Agency, and the US Air Force connected an F-35, U-2 ultra-high altitude reconnaissance aircraft, and a multi-domain ground station via data links as part of a missile defense exercise called Project Riot. The purpose was […]

Using a motorized prosthetic hand can be difficult, as users have to continuously concentrate on controlling the thing. That’s why scientists from Switzerland’s EPFL research institute are developing new technology, in which a computer takes over certain functions. Known as a shared control system, the setup incorporates muscular-activity-detecting electrodes which are placed on the amputee user’s residual arm stump. After […]