Friday, January 22, 2016

Robopocalypse Report #72: Those Crazy Germans

Drones:



German researchers tested landing a drone on a car going 47 mph.

There is now a drone to act like a scarecrow.

There is also a fire fighting drone.

Amazon has revealed how its drone delivery system will work.  Delivery by drone will take 30 minutes or less.  Here is a little bit more on Amazon's plans.

Raytheon is positioning its Coyote drone for many applications.

Cape has received FAA approval to use drones to record people skiing.

Sky Futures is going to be using drones to inspect oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.

Are drones the future of search and rescue?

There is a new route planning software for drones in cluttered terrain.

Say hello, to the 'Internet of drones.'

Finmeccania claims to have a breakthrough in anti drone tech.

After a crash into power lines that cut electricity to 700 people, West Hollywood is cracking down on drones.

In Calgary, a man has been criminally charged for flying a drone near an airport.

Self Driving Cars:

MCity gets yet another profiling.

Ford is not just driving its self driving cars in snow, but in blizzard conditions.

Self driving cars may reduce pollution.

Are Robotaxis the answer to electric car's depreciation problem?

NY Times worries self driving cars may arrive before we are ready.

A Nissan Leaf that had been updated to be a self driving car by a startup crashed in San Francisco.

Japan is testing self driving cars as a way to keep the elderly mobile.

Some in Boston are fretting they are far behind in the self driving car business.

Robotics:



NASA is crowd sourcing for designs for its ISS bound bots.

Scientists have developed a 'squishy fingered' robot for coral sampling.

The M2000iA is claimed to be the world's biggest robot.

3d Printing:

3d scanning and printing helped recreate a sauropod dinosaur skeleton for a museum.

What lies ahead in 3d printing this next year.

3d knitting is coming for your shoes.

A campaign to start a 3d printed food cafe and catering service.

Graphene 3d Lab has developed a new magnetic filament for 3d printing.

Michigan Tech has developed a solar powered 3d printer.

There is a new ultrasonic deposition 3d printer that will allow creation of composites.

Yeast, of all things, can now be 3d printed.

There are now 3d micro printing techniques.

Will 3d printing have an impact on agriculture?

Puris has created the largest ever 3d printed titanium part, weighing in at 31 lbs.

The Bartlett School of Architecture is experimenting with 3d printed concrete.

Software bots:



Bots can now write political speeches.

There is now a holographic assistant.  Is this Cortana's great grandmother?

Software bots apparently cannot replace lawyers as yet.

You will be coddled: Amazon's Dash service automatically delivers items you run out of.  For now, it is printer ink, etc.  However, how long until it becomes milk, eggs and toilet paper?

Talla, an AI startup, is building bots for business.

Can bots be conscious?

Cyborgism:

There are now temporary implantable sensors that will melt away.

The Myo armband is now being used to control prosthetic arms.

The cell phone of the future may be implanted in your skull.

DARPA wants to revolutionize neural implants.

Philosophy and Economics:

FT worries about the Robopocalypse and how the US might come through just fine, but the rest of the world may not.   Could this be the end of convergence?

The conference at Davos is talking up the '4th Industrial Revolution' aka the Robopocalypse.

Mark Thoma, the economist, ponders the Robopocalypse.

CNBC also frets over the Robopocalypse claiming it will wipe out at least 5.1 million jobs.

Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking have been awarded Luddite of the Year for being afraid of AI.

Militaria:


CMU and Sikorsky teamed up to do a joint UAV/UGV demonstration using a Blachawk helicopter modified for unmanned flight and a CMU UGV robot for TARDEC.

Russia has tested flamethrower and grenade launcher equipped drones.

The Pentagon warns if any nation starts developing AI driven weapons, it will guarantee an arms race.

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