Eurekalert June 18, 2018 The portable gas microchromatograph developed by researchers in Russia weighs a little more than a kilogram and it completely replaces bulky laboratory devices. It can provide accurate data on the composition of the atmosphere, qualitative and quantitative composition of oil and gas, as well as analyse biomarkers in exhaled human air within a few minutes. It can perform an operational analysis of the state of the atmosphere at altitudes of up to 1000 meters and within a radius of 2 km from the source, record and track the level of concentration of substances in the air […]
Tag Archives: drones
China’s inexpensive missile firing drones and long duration solar drone
Next Big Future February 28, 2018 China’s domestically-produced UAV Caihong 4 (CH-4) is an upgraded version of the model which was first produced in 2015. The CH-4 can conduct effective air strikes on more targets, from longer distances with faster reaction. The drone flew for 15 hours, 20 kilometers above sea level well within near space. It is designed to reach altitudes of 65 km and fly for weeks on end. The plane can shoot 50-kilogram cluster bombs and an assortment of guided missiles… read more… read more.
Modeling Uncertainty Helps MIT’s Drone Zip Around Obstacles
IEEE Spectrum February 12, 2018 Researchers at MIT have developed a new motion planning framework called NanoMap, which uses a sequence of 3D snapshots to allow fast-moving (10 m/s) drones to safely navigate around obstacles even if they’re not entirely sure where they are. The key idea of NanoMap is to store a history of noisy relative pose transforms and search over a corresponding set of depth sensor measurements for the minimum-uncertainty view of a queried point in space… read more. Video.
Cyberwarfare is taking to the skies, aboard drones
MIT Technology Review February 6, 2018 Hovering computers will make it increasingly possible to hack equipment that doesn’t connect directly to the internet. While it’s not straightforward, hovering a drone close to a vehicle or building could enable people to hack devices that use wireless communication but were once thought relatively safe. Cyberscoop rounded up a selection of drones that hack into networks… read more