--
Welcome to Cyber Dump number 36, your look at what's happening in this insane age of technology that we live in. As always, all source links mentioned are below.
- Youtube link
- Archive.org mirror
- Torrent
- Keybase mirror
DRONES
The US Department of Defense just successfully tested the deployment of over 100 autonomous micro drones by 3 F-18 jets. It's not clear what this will be used for, but I'm sure they have some ideas. Seek and destroy cluster bombs anyone?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XKiUtruQiY
VIRTUAL REALITY
MMOne released a trailer for their robotic VR chair the other day, and I thought it was pretty unique. It'd be interesting if arcades make a resurgence with this kind of technology.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KnS3aESNk0
VirZOOM also showed off their virtual reality bike game system, which allows multiple players to play a variety of games in virtual world. Not sure how awesome it'd be to wear a sweaty, steamy headset, but I still want to try it out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqRR3JZN99A
SELF-DRIVING CARS
Volkswagen showed off their new electric self-driving minibus concept at the Detroit Auto Show this week. One cool feature of the bus, and something I think we'll be seeing more with self-driving cars, is the front driver and passenger seats ability to swivel 180 so they face away from the road.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdEFq0RlCps
Google were also at the same show, and unveiled their new self-driving minivan, based on the Chrysler Pacifica. Unlike the VW, this is a real car that's hitting roads at the end of the month.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwsEn7P97nw
And speaking of self-driving technology, a driver in Holland posted dashcam footage of his Tesla reacting to a car accident on the highway. Particularly interesting was the fact that the car anticipated the crash a couple of seconds before it happened, giving it plenty of time to automatically brake, and protect the driver.
https://twitter.com/HansNoordsij/status/813848411611025408/video/1
DIY SCIENCE
AA team of researchers at the Stanford University of Palo Alto have created a super cheap, and easy to operate centrifuge, made from simple paper and string. Aimed at rural villages, this low tech device can spin at over 100,000rpm.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HvWfOOPEmw
In the same vein, I also came across the Water Scope project, which marries a Raspberry Pi camera, and 3D printed frame, to create a cheap microscope that's capable of sub-micron precision. Pretty cool.
http://www.waterscope.org/3d-printing/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHv1to_YjkA
https://github.com/rwb27/openflexure_microscope
ROBOTICS
ElliQ showed off their AI homebot, a product designed to help old people deal with loneliness. One promising thing about these bots is their ability to help old folks interact with technology via an interface that's familiar to them, i.e. speaking.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URcuVfzwB4g
Aubot uploaded a video for their Teleport telepresence robot. Aimed at people with paralysis, this brain-controlled robot allows users to visit places remotely.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwYx09h8P3A
NETWORKING
DARPA announced completion of phase 1 of their Tactical Undersea Network Architecture program, aka TUNA. This project creates on-demand communications networks in the sea, using nodes that can individually generate electricity with waves.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtP5taXF9FY
VIDEOS
Ekso Bionics released a new video going over some of their work in exoskeleton technology in 2016. Pretty fascinating to see the different applications to augment our bodies.
David Krum from USC also gave a talk about the history and future of virtual reality at a recent Hackaday Conference.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0FozjgkB0A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKF4p5MW0p8
THIS WEEK ON NODE
This week I released a new video showing off the prototype of the Pi Zero Power Case, a little power plug with a Pi Zero attached on the back. The idea is to make the smallest, and easiest computer for remote server type applications.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfg4g3YuvnY
Alright, that's it for this week. I have a few hardware projects on the works that I'm excited to show you, so check back soon. Thanks for watching.
--
BY NODE