Robopocalypse #69: For a Good Time, Ping Erica's IP Address

Drones:

AirMule had its first untethered flights.

The FAA may be extending the no fly zone for drones to within 30 miles of the US Capitol in Washington, DC.  The Obamas had a slight encounter with a drone in Hawaii.

The FAA is considering requiring satellite tracking of beyond visual range flying drones to help with the problems with encountering aircraft.

The next big regulatory battleground for drones is at the state and local level.

Illegal drone activity is about to get clamped down on in Scotland.

Canada is getting ready to clamp down on drones, too.

Britain is leading the police using drones.

China is exploring the use of thrust vectoring for drones.

Drones may not be used for hunting in Arizona.

But in New Zealand, there's a company that has made drones for fishing. 

Then there is the Vuze.

Classes are starting to crop up for drone piloting.  One such is in Concord, CA.

Uganda is looking at using drones for enhancing food security.

DJI has unveiled its geofencing software.

Drones might be able to avoid collisions by sharing data.

Drone use on public lands can cause controversy.

Intel wants to do for drones what it did for the PC.  More info here.

Ford is challenging developers to create a drone to car interface.

Drone racing is becoming a thing.

Parrot is starting to sell a fixed wing drone.

Wisconsin insurer Acuity will start using drones.

Amazon and ParcelHero news.

Self Driving Cars:

GM and Lyft are teaming up for self driving car sharing vehicles.

A Japanese company, Robot Taxi, is testing a self driving car on a South Korean university campus.

How Silicon Valley and Detroit are teaming up for self driving cars.

Kia is getting into the self driving car business.

Delphi's self driving car tech gets a profiling.

Ford is showing off its self driving cars at CES.

The rise of the self driving car is being called inevitable.  I'm not sure I disagree, actually.

here's an opinion piece that the future is self driving vehicles and its a good future.

Here's one take on what to expect in 2016 for self driving cars.

Baby boomers are the most hesitant to get in a self driving car.  Oh irony!  They are the ones who will need them the most (other than teenagers).

Tennessee wants to play catch-up to Texas and California for testing self driving cars.

Here's one way to make maps for self driving cars.  Toyota will do its own way.

Volvo is continuing to tout its future concepts for self driving cars and will have a semi autonomous driving capability standard in the S90 shortly.

Self driving buses are touted again.  Some Brits are looking at the idea of replacing bus drivers with bots is not a good one.

Daimler's self driving truck gets profiled again.

NXP has developed a radar the size of a postage stamp for cars. 

Robotics:

Singapore has come up with the Uncanny Valley Receptionist, Nadine.

Because Japan.  Meet Erica...the sexiest robot.  shudder.

The underwater bot to hunt and kill the Crown of Thorns starfish invading the Great Barrier Reef gets a revisit.

The Robopocalypse has come for the slaughter house in New Zealand.

Momentum Machines, rumor has it, is finally putting the burgertron in a restaurant at 680 Folsom, in San Francisco.

There's also a $2 P&J sandwich bot,  called BistroBot, that's a bit buggie but in SF as well.

Knightscope’s K5 security bots are coming for the security guard.  Eventually.

Disney is working on wall climbing bots.  I bet its to catch those dastardly people violating Mickey's copyright!

SWAT Teams may have bot team members in the future.

RoboMaster has some significant potential for lumber construction.

The Chinese are fretting over lagging behind with service robots relative to foreign countries.

Yet the Japanese think the future with household service bots is still a ways off.

Then again, there's the Gourmia. Well, its a step up from the regular appliance.

And Leka is a social robot.  Another one.

Blue River Technology has just raised $17 M worth of investment in its latest round.

Segway is getting into the robotics business.

More sensors are available for bots, in this case to look inside luggage.

3d Printing:

5 things to watch for in 3d printing in 2016.

What are the countermeasures for 3d printing IP theft?

Welsh researchers have successfully printed cartilage.

HRL Laboratories has come up with a method to 3d print ceramics.

Taiwan Tech has developed a 3d printer for a smart phone.

Optical components can potentially be 3d printed now.

MakerBot is attempting to try once more for the 3d printing space.

Software Bots:

Zuckerberg wants a Jarvis.

Will lawyers get replaced by software bots?  *whispers*Baby Cooper Dollar Bill*

Cyborgism:

The University of Washington has received a grant for a brain implant to allow the paralyzed to move again.

Sensors developed for prosthetics might have interesting knock on effects.

Brain computer interface for cars is being developed.

Militaria:

The US Marine Corps has decided the Boston Dynamics Big Dog is too noisy to take into combat.  Note, the mule is pretty outdated and the marines might look at the replacements.

The US Army is testing bots to detect chemical and biological weapons.

The Russians plan on 30% of their firepower coming from robots in 10 years (we'll see).  More on Russia's Uran-9.

There are three different scenarios (as envisioned) for robotic warfare: Skynet, Swarms and Centaurs.

Economics and Philosophy:

This is how you beat a dead robotic horse.

Some think the Robopocalypse is really the salvation of the world.

Should a property tax be what governments shift to with the Robopocalypse instead of an income tax?

What sort of progress DID the robopocalypse make this past year?

The Robopocalypse and the farmer in 2015.