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Category: drones

https://youtube.com/watch?v=EmN9IJyzBG0

Initially SpaceX plans to reduce the cost of a Falcon 9 rocket with a reused booster to $43 million per flight, a savings of 30 percent.

SpaceX will try to return the booster that was just landed on the drone ship back to Cape Canaveral, in Florida, by Sunday. After running a series of tests on the Falcon, the company plans to fire its engines 10 times in a row on the ground. “If things look good it will be qualified for reuse,” Musk said. “We’re hoping to relaunch it on an orbital mission, let’s say by June.”

SpaceX plans to have its first manned flight by the end of 2017 with the second generation of the Dragon capsule. SpaceX will have an unmanned test of the new Dragon capsule first.

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Still haven’t had enough of SpaceX’s rocket landing in the middle of the ocean? Well, new 4K video is here to satisfy you and then make you hungry for more. Late last night, SpaceX released high-definition footage taken from a chase plane, showing the Falcon 9’s delicate descent onto the autonomous drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You.”

The extra detail gives you a nice glimpse into how the rocket’s legs deployed just prior to landing (and that one of the legs seemed to lag behind the rest). It also shows how the vehicle landed a little off its mark. SpaceX probably didn’t want to show off too much by hitting the bulls eye. That just wouldn’t have been fair.

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SpaceX has finally landed its Falcon 9 rocket on a drone ship at sea, after launching the vehicle into space this afternoon. It’s the first time the company has been able to pull off an ocean landing, after four previous attempts ended in failure. Today’s success is a crucial milestone for SpaceX, as it shows the company can land its rockets both on solid ground and ocean.

This is the second time SpaceX has successfully landed one of its rockets post-launch; the first time was in December, when the company’s Falcon 9 rocket touched down at a ground-based landing site in Cape Canaveral, Florida, after putting a satellite into space. Now that SpaceX has demonstrated it can do both types of landings, the company can potentially recover and reuse even more rockets in the future. And that could mean much greater cost savings for SpaceX.

Mastering the ocean landing is going to be important, since that’s the type of landing SpaceX will probably conduct more often. At a recent NASA press conference, Hans Koenigsmann, vice president of mission assurance for SpaceX, said the next two to three flights will involve drone ship landings. Ultimately, the company expects to land one-third of its rockets on land, and the rest at sea.

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We all know that anything that the public can get their hands on, the black market, etc. already has access as well as those hard to get items like a rocket launcher, etc. So, not sure why anyone will be surprised by this article.

New technologies will level the playing field between the major powers and smaller, independent players.

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Western Sydney University (WSU) and Sydney Zoo are collaborating with the goal to deliver “one of the most technologically advanced wildlife experiences in the world” with the assistance of a hackathon.

Speaking with Gizmodo Don Wright, Manager of WSU’s “Launch Pad” program and Zoo Hackathon Coordinator, revealed the possibilities for technology use within the zoo. We’re talking everything from augmented reality to cheetahs chasing drones.

Image: Shutterstock.

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Stuart Russell received his B.A. with first-class honours in physics from Oxford University in 1982 and his Ph.D. in computer science from Stanford in 1986. He then joined the faculty of the University of California at Berkeley, where he is Professor (and formerly Chair) of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences and holder of the Smith-Zadeh Chair in Engineering. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Neurological Surgery at UC San Francisco and Vice-Chair of the World Economic Forum’s Council on AI and Robotics. He has published over 150 papers on a wide range of topics in artificial intelligence including machine learning, probabilistic reasoning, knowledge representation, planning, real-time decision making, multitarget tracking, computer vision, computational physiology, and global seismic monitoring. His books include “The Use of Knowledge in Analogy and Induction”, “Do the Right Thing: Studies in Limited Rationality” (with Eric Wefald), and “Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach” (with Peter Norvig).

Abstract:

Autonomous weapons systems select and engage targets without human intervention; they become lethal when those targets include humans. LAWS might include, for example, armed quadcopters that can search for and eliminate enemy combatants in a city, but do not include cruise missiles or remotely piloted drones for which humans make all targeting decisions. The artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics communities face an important ethical decision: whether to support or oppose the development of lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS).

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We’re already seeing amazing things in the delivery services space for consumers with drones and self-navigating delivery services by companies like Dominos, etc. I cannot wait until we see more self check in hotels, resorts, and more 24×7 automated stores. Everything will be great, as long as security is great.

This self-driving robot can take the grocery-shopping burden off your shoulders and deliver your goods to your doorstep. Starship Technologies has already launched the intelligent robot and delivery trials have started in Greenwich, London.

Starship Technologies was founded by the same people who founder Skype. Ahti Heinla and Janus Friis plans to reshape local deliveries and also lend a hand in zero-emission deliveries worldwide.

This self-driving robot was first introduced in November 2015. After talks with the Greenwich local government, the first trial run of the intelligent robot debuted on March 10, 2016. Greenwich is a supporter of zero-emission transportation as well as autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles, which makes it a great place to start.

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