Video: Drones compete in a Star Wars-like race through a forest

For those Star Wars diehard fans who’ve always wanted to recreate a speeder bike chase, you’re in luck. A club based in the French Alps has begun holding official drone races, similar to those featured in Return of the Jedi. 

Watch as the group of drone enthusiasts pay homage to the infamous pod races by zooming through a 492-foot dense forest course at speeds of up to 40MPH.

The only thing that could possibly make this even cooler is if those UAVs are powered by AVR microcontrollers, similar to many of those on the market today. The race is proof that drones are increasingly growing in both popularity and capabilities. While they’ve mostly been used for aerial photography and cinematography in the past, they are now entering an entirely new era of widespread applications.

And for those interested in a hoverbike of their own, that wish may soon become a reality.

Video: Robot plays ping-pong in Japan

Electronics maker Omron recently unveiled a 2.7-meter-tall ping pong-playing robot during CEATEC 2014 in Tokyo. Mounted on a metal frame that straddles one end of the table, the robot’s embedded sensors and computer-vision algorithms track an opponent’s movement and the speed of the ball. Contrary to popular belief, Omron says the robot isn’t designed to defeat its opponent; rather, it simply wants to keep a rally going.

Powered by five servo motors, the robot can grip the paddle with a four-axis manipulator commonly seen in pick-and-place industrial robots. A controller system can respond to serves in 1/1,000th of a second.

While ping-pong is probably most enjoyable when played against a live opponent, an automated ping-pong platform is definitely a good alternative for those looking to hone their skills with repetitive practice.

Tesla Motors unveils “the D”

On what appeared to be just an average fall night in Los Angeles, Elon Musk revealed some not-so-average news around the “Tesla D,” the model he hinted about via Twitter last week. According to Musk, there will be three versions, and each will carry the “D,” to distinguish them from the rear-wheel-drive Model S.

While Tesla failed to announce the driverless car that many had expected, it did roll out a bunch of new driver-assistance and safety features, including things like the car being able to read speed-limit signs and adjust its velocity, signals that make the car change lanes, and lane-departure warnings. In addition, Musk even noted that additional features over time, combined with these recently announced ones, could serve almost like “auto-pilot on an airplane.”

(Source: Getty Images)

The new suite of safety and driver-aid features will now be equipped with a forward-mounted radar, a camera and 12 sensors, each of which will be able to “see” 16 feet to enable the safety tech. Now, Tesla drivers will be able to get out of their vehicle on private property — like a driveway —  and watch it park itself in the garage. When drivers are ready to leave, the car will able to drive itself up, with the car’s temperature and stereo system set to the driver’s preferences. It also connects to your digital calendar so it knows when it’s needed.

(Source: Associated Press)

“It will come to you wherever you are,” Musk tells USA Today‘s Chris Woodyard. “It will slowly make its way to you.”

During the briefing, Tesla shared that it will also have “hopped-up version” of its Model S that features all-wheel drive and goes 0 to 60 mph in just about three seconds. Despite not unveiled a self-driving car, Musk did, however, dub the system “a huge improvement that is taking the technology to the next level.”

Musk told USA TODAY in a recent interview that his favorite car is the super-fast McLaren, a high-price, low-volume production car with racing attributes. Musk believes the quickest Tesla will be able to go toe-to-toe with the McLaren’s 3.2-second sprint to 60 mph.

“It’s like having your own personal roller coaster,” the Tesla CEO says.

The P85D is expected to begin shipping to customers in December, with reports claiming the starting price will be around $120,000. Two additional all-wheel drive models, the 60D and 85D, are projected to arrive in February 2015.

Cars are getting smarter, becoming more electrical and autonomous with radar and sensing that can automatically intervene for performance and safety. No stranger to next-gen vehicles, watch the video below as Rob Valiton discusses the future of the automotive industry and how Atmel’s solutions are helping power this market.

 

The Open Interconnect Consortium just got bigger

One of the groups working to standardize the Internet of Things (IoT) has just gotten a bit bigger — 27 members bigger, in fact. The Open Interconnect Consortium (OIC), an industry association focused on networking for the IoT, announced that its membership has now reached 32 members.

The OIC — which was formed back in July by Atmel, Broadcom, Dell, Intel, Samsung and Wind River — seeks to define and streamline connectivity requirements to better improve interoperability between billions of IoT devices. The standard will be an open specification that will facilitate the IoT from mere concept into a reality that benefits consumers, developers and end users alike.

“Atmel is excited about our participation in OIC to establish an open source framework that goes beyond the digital home and supports services for multiple verticals including consumer, industrial and automotive markets,” said Kaivan Karimi, Atmel Vice President and General Manager of Wireless MCUs. “Together with other industry leaders, we are committed to building a strong technology infrastructure for the Internet of Things; one that is instrumental in solving the pain points where other industry standards fall short today.”

New member companies include Acer, ActnerLab, Allion, Aepona, Cisco, Cryptosoft Ltd, Eyeball Networks, Global Channel Resource, Gluu, IIOT Foundation, InFocus, Laplink Software, Mashery, McAfee, MediaTek, Metago, NewAer, Nitero, OSS Nokalva Inc., Realtek Semiconductor Corp., Remo Software, Roost, SmartThings, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Thug Design, VMC and Zula.

These member companies will contribute software and engineering resources to the development of a protocol specification, open source implementation, and a certification program, all with a view of accelerating the development of the IoT. The OIC specification will encompass a range of connectivity solutions, utilizing existing and emerging wireless standards and will be designed to be compatible with a variety of operating systems.

“We are following a proven path of innovation with the OIC, by encouraging industry-wide collaboration, and our board members represent our commitment to provide a standard across a broad range of market sectors facing challenges from emerging IoT technology trends,” explained Jong-Deok Choi, OIC President and Samsung EVP and Deputy Head of Software R&D Center.

We look forward to partnering with each of the aforementioned organizations as we look to inch closer to interoperability and overcome connectivity challenges along the way. From home automation and smart metering to wearables and other IoT applications, a new generation of connected products is upon us. These Internet and wireless enabled devices embedded with microcontrollers will give ordinary “things” new powers. As we work toward defining the standards, ATMEL | SMART MCUs are helping to enabling that intelligent world by bringing those connected ’things’ online.

Want an Apple computer from 1976? It’ll cost you $400,000

If you’re an engineer, geek, history buff or all of the above with a little extra cash you’d like to spend, you’re in luck. While the Apple 1 computer was originally released to the general public in 1976 at a price tag of $666.66, that piece of computing history is expected to fetch upwards of $300,000 at auction later this month — yes, that’s 600 times its cost 38 years ago!

(Source: Bonhams)

However, the rare motherboard is believed to be one of the original 50 that Steve Wozniak assembled himself on order for Byte Shop’s Paul Terrell in Steve Jobs’ family garage. And, it is said to be only one of 15 that are still fully functional.

(Source: Bonhams)

Bonhams in New York will be offering up the item in its first-ever History of Science auction on October 22nd, which will also feature a number of other electronic treasures, books and memorabilia — ranging from a 1921 Magnavox Amplifier to a 1905 Helmholz Sound Synthesizer.

Though 200 or so Apple 1 units were created, only 63 were listed in Mike Willegas’ Apple 1 Registry. The Apple 1 in possession of Bonhams, etched number “01-0070,” is slated to join the registry.

(Source: Bonhams)

The auctioneer will likely to start the bidding somewhere between $300,000 and $500,000, which is just a tad bit over the $210,000 tag it sold for in a 2010 London auction.

For a complete list of history items up for grabs, head on over to Bohams official page here.

 

Vegard Wollan on the AVR and ARM cores and peripherals

In the fifth video of the series, I asked the co-inventor of the AVR microcontroller about the progression of the peripherals in the various microcontrollers Atmel offers. Vegard shares that when they invented the first AVR products, the team was concerned with ease-of-use, a clean instruction set that would run C, instructions that ran in a single cycle, and good quality tools.

However, he was just as proud of the peripherals that they then developed for the XMEGA line of AVR 8-bit chips. There, he said the stress was still on low power, but also a set of peripherals that were high performance, robust, strong, effective, and that included analog and digital advanced peripherals. Additionally, Vegard stressed how the XMEGA event system would allow programmers to handle complex events and take action, all without waking up the CPU core in the part.

Vegard Wollan becomes animated when talking about the peripherals in AVR and ARM chips offered by Atmel.

I knew this was cool for the low-power aspect, yet Vegard reminded me that it also allows you to service an interrupt faster and more deterministically — always a good thing in embedded systems. The great news for engineers is that all the cool things Atmel figured out for the XMEGA AVR also went into to the UC3, the 32-bit AVR product lines. Then, we made sure to put these same powerful and flexible peripheral systems into our ARM core-based MCUs. In addition we would add dedicated touch I/O pins and more accurate clocks and references. You can still see the AVR DNA from back in 1990 at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology where the AVR came to life.

What I really loved about Vegard was his humility. Every time I tried to give him credit for the AVR he was sure to remind me that there was a whole team that developed it. And, when I tried to point that the AVR was RISC (reduced instruction set computer) before ARM came out, he told me that he was more proud of the peripherals in all of Atmel’s chips, rather than just the core he invented for the AVR. That’s a good thing to keep in mind.

While using any ARM core will get you the instruction set and header files and open-source tools, Atmel’s ARM chips will also get these great peripherals and the event system to tie them all together, while the CPU sleeps peacefully. A recent article helped me understand Vegard’s Norwegian modesty, but I am sure glad he and his team worked on the AVR and ARM chips.

Lights, cameras, drones! FAA approves use of UAVs for film

This week, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has taken a big step forward on drones: It has authorized six filmmaking companies to use unmanned aircraft.

In an effort that marks a giant milestone for commercial drone use in the United States, the FAA granted each of the six companies waivers from regulations on general flight rules, pilot certification and equipment mandates designed for traditional aircraft as long as they meet certain conditions for safety. The agency is currently working with a seventh company on a similar drone approval and has at least 40 additional waiver requests pending for commercial use of UAVs, The New York Times reports.

While the FAA has previously approved commercial drone use for Alaskan oil operations, FAA’s decision is certainly the first exemption of its kind. Now, the companies will be permitted to fly small drones equipped with cameras on closed sets; though, the FAA did say the aircraft must be inspected before each flight and may only be operated during the day, while any accidents or other related incidents must be reported.

As the Washington Post writes, the civil drone industry has been pressuring the FAA to relax that ban and to develop new regulations designed to safely integrate UAVs into the country’s air traffic system. “While we’re still waiting for those formal rules, the FAA is now saying that making movies with drones, or TV shows, or advertisements, or anything else you might do on a closed production set, is legal — so long as you can prove it’s safe.”

This decision will surely pave a path towards more approvals for drone use throughout agriculture, industrial inspections, real estate, as well as countless other cases — many of which are listed here.

The FAA shared that it is in the process of evaluating requests from nearly 50 companies, including Amazon, who last month teamed up with 3D Robotics, DJI Innovations and Parrot to form a small UAV coalition aspiring to represent commercial uses of drones, establish a code of conduct and educate the public about benefits of the technology.

“There has been a lot of interest around this technology lately, and I have determined that using unmanned aircraft for this purpose does not pose a risk to national airspace users,”  stated Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.

UAVs have been popular choice among Hollywood producers, particularly given their ability to fly and capture otherwise unimaginable shots. Believe it or not, there have already been several box office hits that featured drone footage (taken from locations outside of the U.S.), including Star Trek: Into Darkness, The Hunger Games and The Dark Knight Rises. 

“We shot Fast & Furious 6 over in Moscow, and we’ve been up in Canada,” explained Preston Ryon, Co-Owner of Snaproll Media LLC, one of the recently-approved companies. The other companies who received drone use exemptions included Astraeus Aerial, HeliVideo Productions LLC and RC Pro Productions Consulting LLC.

Chris Dodd, Chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America, proclaimed that the FAA’s exemption mark “an important day for the [film] industry that will create a climate where more production is done at home.”

It’s safe to say that Hollywood’s exemption is merely the beginning. As these drones — many of which are powered by Atmel AVR microcontrollers — continue to become more affordable, accessible and easier to use, we can expect a future that’ll be both autonomous and airborne. With more than 15,000+ DIY drones ready to take flight,

 

 

3D printing expands to 100 UPS Stores across the U.S.

If you recall, UPS announced plans to bring 3D printing to several UPS locations last year; now, the parcel service is expanding the program to nearly 100 stores throughout the United States.

The service, which first rolled out in San Diego-area locations, was marketed toward “startups, entrepreneurs and small business owners.” According to UPS, the 3D printing service will enable companies to quickly and inexpensively create models and prototypes of items they plan to produce.

Following a six-market trial period, the decision was based on a high-demand for 3D-printing options — which is certainly in line with growth in the industry. As previously reported in Bits & Pieces, 3D printing is set to soar with analysts forecasting the industry to reach $16.2 billion by 2018 – representing an expected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 45.7% from 2013 to 2018.

UPS’ 3D printing effort is a partnership between the shipping company and Stratasys, the parent company to the well-known MakerBot who first began using Atmel AVR microcontrollers in its early printers like the Replicator 2.

“We launched the pilot to evaluate if there was demand for 3D print and we’re excited to be announcing an expansion, giving even more small business owners access to high-quality, professional 3D printing,” explained Michelle Van Slyke, VP of Marketing & Sales at The UPS Store. “We look forward to being a part of the future of the 3D printing industry.”

While the UPS did not provide a timeline for when the 3D printing project would be completed, there are currently 45 stores nationwide up and running with 3D print services. Kentucky, Florida, New York and Pennsylvania are among the states first receiving 3D printer-equipped stores, while an entire list of all other future stores can be found here.

Evident by the sheer number of up-and-coming machines in Maker Faire New York’s 3D Printing Village, the movement is gaining traction with Makers, entrepreneurs and corporate giants all hopping aboard.

In May 2013, Staples began selling 3D printers in its stores across the U.S., while the Microsoft Store also invested in 3D printing last year by expanding its MakerBot partnership to 18 locations where shoppers were able to see, demo and even purchase MakerBot 3D printers. The United States Postal Service even looked into the next-gen technology, which could potentially serve as a financial boon for the government agency. Most recently, Amazon launched a 3D printing store back in July, which offered customers the option to customize various thingamajigs like bobble head dolls and jewelry, and then have them shipped.

Evident by the growth of large companies’ presence at recent Maker Faires, this trend will only continue. Unsurprisingly, nearly 60% of enterprises have already or will soon begin using or evaluating 3D printers — a majority of which are powered by AVR XMEGA, megaAVR and SAM3X8E MCUs.

Vegard Wollan on AVR Freaks and early data books

In the fourth episode of my interview with Vegard Wollan, the co-inventor of the AVR MCU alluded to the passionate following that Atmel and its 8-bit chip have developed.

I can personally attest to this. When one of my pals said he was “going off the reservation” to solve an AVR problem, I thought he meant he was going to use a certain competitor’s microcontroller. Turns out, he was simply referring that he was headed to Atmel’s AVR Freaks forum to get an answer, rather than put in a support ticket or use our knowledge base. What delighted me was when he said, “I would rather jump off a bridge than use a [competitor] part.” Simple as that.

Atmel recently rolled out a redesigned site for the die-hard community, which incorporates both feedback and testing provided by the users themselves. Aside from the new look, the site will utilize a much more robust infrastructure and web technologies to provide users with an enhanced experience. (For those seeking an avid community built around the Atmel | SMART ARM-based products, you can check out AT91.com.)

What I loved about the interview is how Vegard explained it was his college experience that convinced him of the value of a strong user community. We all remember those 3:00am dorm sessions where we would discuss the meaning of life. Vegard noted that Atmel would provide servers and gifts and anything else we could do to support the user community.

The co-inventor also brought along a few copies of the first AVR data book. I was amused to see this post on the AVR Freaks forum, by a user that did not know what a “data book” was. Boy, that makes me feel old! See sonny, back when the Earth was still cooling and dinosaurs roamed the fields, engineers didn’t do everything at their fingertip on the intertube. Companies, much like Atmel, would take all their datasheets and bind them up in this thing called a printed book. I have to admit, it was a great day when I tossed my 500 pounds of databooks in the dumpster. Bless the Internet, it made life so much better.

Vegard Wollan holds up the draft version of the May 1995 AVR databook.

Of course, that draft was only a checkplot for the real book. The video also shows Vegard holding up the final version of the AVR databook that us old-timers so frequently depended on. How we would have killed for the modern microcontroller selector guide!

Here, Vegard Wollan holds up the actual printed data book from May 1995, the first release of the famous AVR microcontroller to the world. They had to make some changes so this databook has parts listed that Atmel never actually produced, and was missing some other parts. Those 4-months printed book lead times were a killer for everybody.

So there you have it, folks. With billions of chips in the wild, a following of over 290,000 AVR Freaks and nearly 100,000 forum posts around the topic annually, it’s safe to say we’ve come a long way since the earliest days of the 8-bit microcontroller. If you’re not already a member of the growing AVR Freaks community, be sure to head on over to the newly-updated site and join today!

Watch out for those snake robots!

Every engineer loves robots, it’s one of the few disciplines that mechanical, electrical, and software engineers all admire. There is a class of robots called snake robots due to their means of locomotion resembling the way a snake works. One such robot , Wheeko, was recently unveiled by the folks at NTNU, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, the self-same place that Vegard Wollen, the inventor of the AVR microcontroller chip, attended before starting at Atmel.

Wheeko, a snake robot developed at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

When I asked a Norwegian co-worker if Wheeko might have Atmel microcontrollers in it, he was not sure about Wheeko, but pointed out and earlier robot at NTNU, the Anna Konda was run by eleven mega128 AVR chips.

The Anna Konda was intended as a fire-fighting robot that could crawl through burning or collapsed buildings. There are other applications as well, anywhere that a robot has to work in confined spaces.

So whether Wheeko goes to Mars or his little sister crawls through your veins, you can bet there will be a snake robot in your future.