Archive for the ‘drones’ category: Page 44
Mar 8, 2022
A New Drone System Can Clean Hard-to-Reach Solar Panels
Posted by Gemechu Taye in categories: drones, solar power, sustainability
Mar 7, 2022
Meet HELIOS, an automated solar panel cleaning system
Posted by Shubham Ghosh Roy in categories: drones, robotics/AI, solar power, sustainability
To maintain peak efficiency, solar cells must be regularly cleaned of dust and other accumulated dirt. However, many panels are installed in high or hard-to-reach locations, which makes cleaning them difficult, time-consuming, and also simply dangerous. One solution is to use aerial drones to spray soapy water on dirty solar panels. However, these drones often run out of battery quite quickly. In addition, they also do not make direct contact with the panels, so they may not completely wash away dirt.
To solve these problems, a Belgian startup, ART Robotics, has developed HELIOS, an automated cleaning service for solar panels. Itâs a fully autonomous system that can access difficult-to-reach places and eliminates dangerous and costly work.
Continue reading “Meet HELIOS, an automated solar panel cleaning system” »
Mar 6, 2022
General Atomicsâ Gambit autonomous combat drone takes the initiative
Posted by Shubham Ghosh Roy in categories: drones, military, robotics/AI
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) has unveiled its latest jet-powered robotic drone, the Gambit, which is designed to use artificial intelligence and autonomous systems to fly alongside human-piloted aircraft and achieve air dominance.
General Atomics is known mainly for its drones like the SkyGuardian or the Mojave â robotic aircraft with very long endurance that can loiter over an area for extended periods for either reconnaissance or while awaiting the signal to take out a ground target with missiles like the Hellfire.
Now, the company has joined competitors like Boeing and Kratos to produce a full-on combat drone with the lines and performance of a fighter jet. According to GA-ASI President David R. Alexander, Gambit is an Autonomous Collaborative Platform (ACP), a flying team-mate that will work with piloted aircraft, penetrating into combat zones to detect, identify, and target adversaries at range and scale before they can become a threat to its human partner. In this way, fewer lives are put at risk and more time is gained for critical decision-making.
Mar 4, 2022
Watch a SpaceX rocket fly for a record 11th time
Posted by Gemechu Taye in categories: drones, Elon Musk, internet, satellites
Elon Muskâs Starlink internet project continues to move forward, launch by launch.
SpaceX launched another 47 internet-beaming satellites from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday morning.
Continue reading “Watch a SpaceX rocket fly for a record 11th time” »
Mar 3, 2022
For new insights into aerodynamics, scientists turn to paper airplanes
Posted by Chima Wisdom in categories: drones, mathematics, robotics/AI
A series of experiments using paper airplanes reveals new aerodynamic effects, a team of scientists has discovered. Its findings enhance our understanding of flight stability and could inspire new types of flying robots and small drones.
âThe study started with simple curiosity about what makes a good paper airplane and specifically what is needed for smooth gliding,â explains Leif Ristroph, an associate professor at New York Universityâs Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences and an author of the study, which appears in the Journal of Fluid Mechanics. âAnswering such basic questions ended up being far from childâs play. We discovered that the aerodynamics of how paper airplanes keep level flight is really very different from the stability of conventional airplanes.â
âBirds glide and soar in an effortless way, and paper airplanes, when tuned properly, can also glide for long distances,â adds author Jane Wang, a professor of engineering and physics at Cornell University. âSurprisingly, there has been no good mathematical model for predicting this seemingly simple but subtle gliding flight.â
Mar 1, 2022
Emesent launches Hovermap ST autonomous drone LiDAR mapping and surveying payload
Posted by Shubham Ghosh Roy in categories: drones, mapping, robotics/AI
Autonomous drone mapping startup Emesent has announced its latest survey-grade LiDAR payload: Hovermap ST. The lightweight, IP65-rated solution is being launched with Emesentâs new Automated Ground Control feature that, the company stresses, enables autonomous data capture in harsher environments than ever and for a wider range of use cases.
Emesentâs LiDAR payloads leverage a process called simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), in which a drone builds a map and, at the same time, localizes the drone in that map.