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,

 

 

University of Virginia team creates 3D-printed drone

When testing a flying prototype, an inventor’s biggest fear is a crash landing. David Sheffler’s team at the University of Virginia has eliminated this risk with their creation of a 3D-printed drone they call “The Razor.” If their UAV plummets to the ground, they can just print out another one on the spot!

Sheffler’s team of engineering students has devised a UAV, which utilizes an Android smartphone as the central processor. The lightweight Razor can carry a payload of 1.5 pounds and fly at speeds up to 100mph — though, Sheffler admits the “sweet spot” is around 40mph. The Android phone’s camera can be tasked to take pictures while in-flight and the navigation system can track the UAV’s distance traveled.

The former Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce engineer had designed some 3D-printed engines previously in his tenure at the university. The MITRE Corporation, a DoD contractor, caught wind of his creations and asked if he could create a 3D-printed drone that would be built with common tools and parts. Sheffler was certainly up for the task and so, The Razor was born.

The six-pound drone features nine distinct parts that can be printed for about $800 in total. If one part becomes damaged in the field, a new piece can easily be sourced and installed for a negligible cost.

The team has gone through a series of Razor prototypes before settling on the design. The first prototype — the orange and blue model seen in the video below — was based on a conventional RC aircraft comprised of balsa wood, which is much lighter and stronger than the ABS plastic used in the university’s 3D printers. The same plane made of plastic would have weighed five times as much as the wood version. “You’re printing out of a material that’s really not well-suited to making an airplane,” Sheffler tells Wired.

The ease of retooling and testing designs has made the project incredibly informative for the field of 3D-printed flight. The team’s drone can now be hand launched and patrol the skies for up to 45 minutes. If lightweight, low-cost drones like this one were implemented in crisis zones across the globe, innumerable lives could be kept out of danger.

“3D printing is at the phase where personal computers were in the 1980s. The technology is almost unbounded,” Sheffler reveals. “This program was really tasked with showing what is possible.”

 

Hoverbikes may soon become a reality

Want to ride into work like a Stormtrooper in “Star Wars?” Good news: While hoverbikes may not be ready for your daily commute just yet, thanks to UK-based Malloy Aeronautics, we’re now closer than ever. After successfully completing its Kickstarter campaign, the firm is producing a one-third sized version of its design to help fund the full-sized prototype.

“This drone was originally built as a proof of concept for our latest full-sized Hoverbike prototype,” said inventor Chris Malloy. “After testing the one-third Hoverbike, we realized that it had lots of features that made it a fantastic drone, not only this — selling this scale Hoverbike to the public would allow us to raise funds to continue the development of the manned version.”

As Wired recently noted, the 1.15-meter-long mini replica can carry payloads of around 1.5kg and weighs in at 2.2kg unladen. The 3DR Pixhawk flight controller allows for it to be controlled remotely, as well as follow predetermined flight paths — or the pilot themselves — automatically. The mini-hoverbike also comes equipped with a third-scaled, 3D-printed humanoid ‘pilot’ complete with a space on its head specifically-designed for a GoPro camera.

The futuristic prototype has the potential to travel up to 92 miles or for about 45 minutes on a single tank of fuel, with a 3,048-meter maximum altitude and a top speed of around 45 MPH. “This a far cry from the full-size prototype’s theorized 173 MPH,” writes Wired’s Chris Higgins.

“We combined the simplicity of a motorbike and the freedom of a helicopter to create the world’s first flying motorcycle,” says a company rep. Powered by four motors and four propellers, the ‘copter is equipped with an ATmega32u4 based Macro Micro. The Arduino Micro-compatible microcontroller is easy to program with 3A inputs and outputs, up to 30V in, analog out, and has hundreds of uses in robotics and home projects, including stepper motor driver, LED strip light controller, servo actuator, fan speed controller, brew kit controller, electric car window conversions.

“We designed this tiny board to drive the multicolor LED’s on the Hoverbike, and to allow owners of our 1/3rd Hoverbikee to do more with their drone than just look passively from the sky, by switching and actuating levers, release pins, spot lights via their radio or program.”

The “bare bones” one-third Hoverbike drone will be delivered with:

• 1x Frame
• 4x Motors
• 4x Propellers
• 1x Macro Micro board and built-in LED lights
• Fully assembled

The standard “bind-and-fly” one-third Hoverbike drone will be delivered with:

• 1x Frame
• 4x Motors
• 4x Propellers
• 4x ESC
• 2x Battery (6Ahr)
• 1x Flight Controller (Pixhawk)
• 1x Macro Micro board and built-in LED lights
• Fully assembled and flight tested (just need to bind to your own radio)

“When compared with a helicopter, the Hoverbike is cheaper, more rugged and easier to use — and represents a whole new way to fly,” its Kickstarter blurb explains.

The campaign garnered nearly $105,000 over several weeks, doubling its original $48,000 goal. Safe to say, this isn’t just an everyday drone you may encounter at the park; rather, this can potentially become the first airborne vehicle which combines the functionalities of a motorbike and a ‘copter together. Following the completion of its funding round, Malloy Aeronautics will continue onto the final design and testing needed to make the Hoverbike a reality.

Interested in learning more or pre-ordering yours today? Fly on over to its official page here. The drone versions of the hovercraft will cost a little over $1,700 and are expected to ship this November.

DIY by the numbers: Why the Maker Movement is here to stay

Throughout the world, millions of engineers, Makers, hobbyists, entrepreneurs and innovators are fueling what has been dubbed as the next “Industrial Revolution.”

“The next Industrial Revolution is right around the corner, and it’s going to be bigger than the Internet — or so says a growing army of hackers, designers, artists and entrepreneurs,” USA Today’s Tyler Wells recently penned in a piece detailing the rise of DIY culture, contributing its emergence to the low-cost, high-imagination level of makerspaces popping up across the country.

In the United States alone, there are approximately 135 million adult Makers — that’s well over half (57%) of the American population ages 18 and up — not including children and teens both interested in STEM and tinkering. Evident by the plethora of Maker Faires, makerspaces and other hubs spanning across the nation, this segment is expanding rapidly in size and economic heft. In fact, did you know the Maker Movement pumps roughly $29 billion into the economy each year? What’s even more impressive is that these figures will surely grow as more and more of the population is introduced to and begins to embrace the DIY culture.

“With the right motivation and time on your hands, you can now go through your own personal industrial revolution in 90 days, and can launch a company or product within those 90 days,” TechShop CEO Mark Hatch explains. Furthering the Techshop CEO’s belief, Gartner’s Jim Tully recently projected that by 2018, nearly 50% of the Internet of Things solutions would be provided by startups which are less than three years old.

Martha Stewart, who recently demonstrated her passion for the growing drone community, has also emphasized the importance of the movement time and time again. The queen of DIY revealed, “The Maker spirit is vital to our economy. In the U.S., 28 million small businesses create nearly two out of every three new jobs and employ half the private sector workforce. That’s why I believe it’s so important to support what they do. After so many years of seeking and spotlighting these creative entrepreneurs, I am excited that this movement has finally come to the forefront of American culture.”

Yet, the Maker Movement isn’t only limited to hobbyists and engineers but has transcended well beyond the walls of the 200-plus hackerspaces and labs. Not only is the notion of DIY being seeded and nurtured by Makers, it is in full blossom throughout the world at rapid pace, ranging from consumer products and mainstream retail to manufacturing and consumer goods.

These statistics are a mere testament to the emergence of the movement. Hear ye hear ye, a renaissance is underway!

• In 2013, there were 100 Maker Faires around the world including its two flagship events in the Bay Area and New York and 93 worldwide mini-faires.
• There were over 280,000 Maker Faire attendees in total last year, with a 62% rise in attendance from 2009 to 2013.
• Around 70,000 people headed to World Maker Faire in 2013, with 47% of them being new attendees.
• The White House held its inaugural Maker Faire in 2014. “Today’s D.I.Y. is tomorrow’s ‘Made in America.'”
• MAKE Magazine subscriptions are up to 125,00 and growing at a rate of 20% annually.
• There are now over 200 hackerspaces across the United States. (New York Times, May 2013)
• There approximately 350 Fab Labs spanning across 40 countries. (World Bank, August 2014)
• 3 million people pledged over $480 million in crowdfunding projects in 2013. (The Next Web, January 2014)
• The world’s crowdfunding sites reached close to $5 billion in transactions last year. (Forbes, April 2013)
• Since its launch in 2009, more than $116 million has been raised for over 1,400 technology projects — a number of which have been hardware gadgets powered by Atmel
• By 2025, crowdfunding investment market is projected to reach $93 billion. (PBS, December 2013)
• The 3D printing market is projected to be worth $8 billion by 2020 (MarketsandMarkets, November 2013)
• World demand for 3D printing is projected to increase more than 20% per year to $5 billion in 2017. (Reports and Reports, December 2013)
• Worldwide shipments of 3D printers priced less than $100,000 grew 49% in 2013, reaching a total of 56,507 units. (Gartner, October 2013)
• The U.S. market for 3D printer manufacturing will reach $1.4 billion in 2014, attaining a CAGR of 22.8% from 2009 to 2014. (Forbes, August 2014)
• 3D printers will grow from a $288 million market in 2012 to $5.7 billion in 2017, attaining an 81.9% CAGR. (Forbes, August 2014) 
• Much of the growth in 3D printing from 2014 to 2020 will come from the healthcare and aerospace industries. (MarketsandMarkets, November 2013)
• 67% of manufacturers are currently implementing 3D printing either in full production or pilot and 25% intend to adopt 3D printing in the future. (Forbes, August 2014)
• 48% of large manufacturers plan on returning production in the United States. (BCG, April 2012)
• About 14% of U.S. companies definitely plan to move some of their manufacturing back home. (Wall Street Journal, July 2014)
• Chris Anderson estimates that the DIY Drone community currently boasts well over 15,000 drones, compared to just 7,000 “professional” drones in use worldwide by military forces.
• Etsy has 875,000 shops with 13,000,000 items and out of those, 2,900,000 items sold monthly. (BitRebels, June 2012)
• There are also 15 million DIYers in over 150 countries on Etsy with 690,000 new members joining each month. (BitRebels, June 2012)
• It was estimated in mid-2011 that over 300,000 official Arduinos had been commercially produced, and in 2013 that 700,000 official boards were in users’ hands. (Medea, April 2013)
• Distributors estimate that over one million Atmel powered Arduinos have been sold since 2005. (Designboom, September 2013)

As Arduino’s Michael Shiloh explained, “It [Maker Movement] is sort of like cooking. You don’t need to be a chef to cook, but almost everyone can cook something.” Without question, the Maker Movement has already and will continue to thrive in our DIY-centric culture. In time, we can surely expect to see Makers shape our future — one project at a time.

Don’t forget to join the Atmel team in Queens this week for the 5th Annual World Maker Faire. Undoubtedly, this year will be amazing as an expected 750+ Makers and 85,000+ attendees head to the New York Hall of Science to see the latest DIY gizmos and gadgets, as well as AVR Man in the flesh. Once again a Silversmith Sponsor of the event, Atmel will put the spotlight on everything from Arduino to Arduino-related projects. See you soon!

New 3DR investor Richard Branson explains why everyone’s talking about drones

Earlier this year at CES, the show described 2014 as “the year of the drone.” With good reason, too. In just the last month, we have seen Google unveil a new drone delivery system, Disney reveal several patents seeking to use UAVs around theme parks, a number of drones being used to inspect bridge safety, as well as the Pentagon announce a new drone base in Africa.

(Source: 3D Robotics)

Globally, drone spending is expected to increase from $6.4 billion this year to $11.5 billion annually a decade from now. Furthermore, Amazon recently came together with several makers of small UAVs, including 3D Robotics, DJI Innovations and Parrot, to create a coalition in hopes of accelerating the development and use of these unmanned vehicles in coming years.

Most recently, Chris Anderson brought six drones to Necker Island, as the 3D Robotics Co-Founder met up with English business magnate, Sir Richard Branson, to discuss the endless potential for drones.

(Source: 3D Robotics)

The Virgin Founder wrote in his blog:

“It’s amazing to see just how many useful applications exist for drones. A few weeks ago, I was deeply saddened to hear that rhinos are being airlifted away from Kruger National Park in South Africa because of the continuing threat from poaching. Over the last 40 years, we’ve lost 95% of the world’s rhinos; this year alone, more than 400 rhinos have been poached in Kruger. Kruger is roughly the size of Israel, an area too vast to police effectively on the ground alone. Here, drones could become a powerful instrument to monitor and track poachers. Already NGOs, researchers and even Google are supporting various projects using drones to tackle the problem.”

For many, the term “drone” seems to conjure images of military use and war weaponry. As a result, the mere thought of these futuristic flying devices tends to pose security and privacy concerns to several people. When, however, UAVs used for defense purposes and those that may one day may buzz around the skies are quite different, and in fact, may change the world — for the better. According to Anderson, the (AVR-powered) DIY drone community will soon have more than 15,000 drones flying, compared to some 7,000 drones in use worldwide by military forces. Martha Stewart, known by many for her expertise in and around the home, has also shared her love for these flying robots in an essay that appeared in TIME Magazine, writing that drones could be “a useful tool.”

“As is the case with all technology, we have a choice. We can design and use drones to make the world a better, safer, fairer and more fun place. Or we can use them to create further divisions between people,” Branson urges.

In the video below, Virgin and 3D Robotics share some of the positive ways we can use ‘drones for good’ and how these UAVs are already being used around the world. Interested in reading more? Soar on over to Virgin’s official page to learn more about their #Drones4Good campaign. While you’re at it, check out these 18 ways the next-gen flying apparatuses can provide benefits to society.

UPDATE: 3D Robotics has officially announced that Richard Branson has become the drone maker’s latest investor.

“I’m really excited about the potential 3DR sees in drones. They can do a lot of good in the world, and I hope this affordable technology will give many more people the chance to see our beautiful planet from such a powerful perspective,” says Branson.

Move over Mickey, drones are heading to Disney

Walt Disney World guests may soon come for the rides, but stay for the drone shows. Just this week, MarketWatch revealed that the entertainment giant had applied for three drone-related patents, each seemingly hinting that Disney would be incorporating unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) into all of their magic. According to the report, the three California-based imagineers who applied for the patents were Clifford Wong, James Alexander Stark and Robert Scott Trowbridge, each of them true Makers behind the elaborate attractions at Disney’s theme parks.

One patent application cites a system in which marionettes or helium-filled balloons could be tethered to and controlled by a fleet of synchronized drones, instead of the traditional puppeteer or handler on the ground. “The inventors recognized that presently there are no mechanisms for creating very large aerial displays such as a display that is reusable/repeatable, dynamic, and interactive,” the patent explains. Can you imagine Aladdin perched atop a drone piloted flying carpet? Or, Dumbo crisscrossing the skies with his floppy ears supported by two UAVs? With these new patents on file, massive aerial balloons during Main Street USA parades could soon become a technology of the past.

“There remains a need for new technologies for generating aerial displays such as a display involving projection of light and images into or out of the sky or an air space above an audience of spectators,” another patent reads. Let’s face it, there’s nothing at Disney quite as magical as its renowned firework and light shows, an area in which could be enhanced through the use of UAVs.

According to Disney’s inventors, the drones would be used to light up with their own display screens, each acting as single pixels in a digital light show, flashing colors to mimic fireworks. Just think of even how more impressive Disney’s Fantasmic can get if these flying robots were involved!

Could drones improve park safety, entertainment value, and attendance? The answer is yet to be determined, but there is no doubt that Disney is willing to take to the skies to find out! Pending all goes well, you may soon find a giant-sized Mickey or Nemo flying through the parks.

Embodying DIY spirit to the max, Disney’s imagineers are no strangers to using complex machinery to create spectacles. In fact, Disney is the Presenting Sponsor of the upcoming World Maker Faire in New York, and we are proud to be featured alongside the creative corporation as a Silversmith Sponsor at this year’s event.

It’s a bird.. It’s a plane… No, it’s a Google drone!

Google’s top research laboratory is hard at work developing a fleet of drones that will be able to take to the skies to deliver packages to consumers’ front steps. The Mountain View, California-based company is the latest to announce the testing of delivery drones, following the likes of Amazon, UPS and Domino’s Pizza.

The project is being developed at Google X, the company’s clandestine tech research arm, which is also responsible for its self-driving car. Project Wing has been running for two years, but was kept secret until now. Google said a 5-foot-wide single-wing prototype had carried supplies including candy bars, dog treats, cattle vaccines, water and radios to farmers in Queensland, Australia earlier this month.

Standing at 2.5-feet-tall and boasting four propellers that move into different positions for different stages of flight, packages are placed into an opening located in the middle of the wing. The company said that its long-term goal was to develop drones that could be used for disaster relief by delivering items such as medicines and batteries to folks in areas that conventional vehicles cannot reach.

“Even just a few of these, being able to shuttle nearly continuously could service a very large number of people in an emergency situation,” explained Astro Teller, Captain of Moonshots – Google X’s name for big-thinking projects.

Google began working on drones in 2011 and said it expected it would “take years to develop a service with multiple vehicles flying multiple deliveries per day,” the Wall Street Journal writes. While the technology may be ready, the legal logistics may not be. The FAA has mostly outlawed the commercial use of drones, reserving the rights to fly these unmanned vehicles to hobbyists and researchers.

Though you may not receive a drone-delivered package this year, that may soon all change. A number of companies, including Amazon, 3D Robotics, Parrot and DJI Innovations, recently came together to devise a UAV coalition in hopes of facilitating development.

“Self-flying vehicles could open up entirely new approaches to moving goods, including options that are cheaper, faster, less wasteful and more environmentally sensitive than what’s possible today,” Google notes.

Google hopes the helicopter-like vehicles will be able to drop-off items generally weighing less than 5 pounds within a 10-mile radius of its warehouses in about 30 minutes, with visions that the drones will fly programmed routes at altitudes of 130 feet to 200 feet with the push of a button.

Expedited, more efficient delivery is just one of many applications UAVs could offer society. In fact, according to ex-Wired editor and 3D Robotics CEO Chris Anderson, the (AVR-powered) DIY drone community will soon have more than 15,000 drones flying, compared to some 7,000 drones in use worldwide by military forces.

In the future with a global drone fleet, Google anticipates that it will be able to convey goods to consumers on the same day an order was placed. Talk about speedy delivery!

Drones are now being used to inspect bridge damage

According to a recent report from the White House Administration, one in four bridges in the United States is in dire need of significant repair or cannot handle automobile traffic. Typically, when bridges are inspected for defects, such as cracks, engineers must use hanging scaffold systems or view them from elevated platforms. It’s a slow, dangerous, expensive process and even the most experienced engineers can overlook cracks in the structure or other critical deficiencies. However, Tuft University engineers are employing wireless sensors and drones that may soon be able to examine the condition of bridges in a quicker, more efficient manner.

Led by assistant professors Babak Moaveni and Usman Khan, the Tufts University team is developing a detection system using smart sensors that are permanently attached to bridge beams and joins. Each sensor can continuously record vibrations and process the recorded signals; furthermore, any changes in the vibration response can signify damage, Moaveni explained. A wireless system would then use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to hover near the sensors and collect data while taking visual images of bridge conditions. These quadcopters would transmit data to a central collection point for analysis. According to Tufts, Khan was recently awarded $400,000 award from the National Science Foundation to explore this technology, which requires addressing significant navigational and communications challenges before it could be a reliable inspection tool.

Five years ago, Moaveni installed a series of 10 wired sensors on a 145-foot-long footbridge on the Tufts Medford/Somerville campus. These sensors measured vibrations that passed through the bridge, caused by people walking across it. In 2011, Moaveni added nearly 5,000 pounds of concrete weights on the bridge deck to simulate the effects of damage on the bridge — a load well within the bridge’s limits. Connected by cables, the sensors recorded readings on vibration levels as pedestrians walked across the span before and after installation of the concrete blocks. Tufts notes that from the changes in vibration measurements, Moaveni and his research team could successfully identify the simulated damage on the bridge, validating his vibration-based monitoring framework.

The scientists are currently working on a way of scaling the system, in hopes that it could be applied to larger, car-carrying bridges. A major goal of his research, Moaveni says, is to develop computer algorithms that can automatically detect damage in a bridge from the changes in its vibration measurements. According to Moaveni, the system should already be capable of detecting severe damage, but still needs some tweaking before it can pick up on more subtle defects. “Right now, if a bridge has severe damage, we’re pretty confident we can detect that accurately. The challenge is building the system so it picks up small, less obvious anomalies.”

This isn’t the first time a drone has been used to examine the condition of fatigued bridges. Back in 2011, a team of architects used a remote-controlled aircraft to survey the 500-year-old Stirling Bridge in Scotland and assess what repair work needed to be done. From agriculture to real estate, there are countless ways these flying apparatuses will soon, if not already, revolutionize the world around us.

 

Drone leaders form small UAV coalition

Amazon is going on the offensive as it seeks federal approval to test its planned Prime Air drone delivery system, USA Today reports. Though you may not receive a drone-delivered package this year, the online retailer is making moves to spur development.

To facilitate drone use, Amazon recently came together with several makers of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to create a coalition. Writing for USA Today, Mike Snider explains that such efforts are necessary given the fact that the advancement of commercial drones spans across several federal agencies including the FAA, which governs airspace, and the FCC, with oversight of communications frequencies drones would use. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy also has rules in the works regarding privacy.

“Amazon Prime Air is participating in several groups… that share Congress’ goal of getting small UAVs flying commercially in the United States safely and soon,” said Paul Misener, Amazon Vice President of Global Public Policy.

For many, the term “drone” seems to conjure images of military use and war weaponry. As a result, the mere thought of these futuristic flying devices tends to pose security and privacy concerns to several people. When, however, UAVs used for defense purposes and those that may one day may buzz around the skies are quite different, and in fact, may change the world — for the better. According to ex-Wired editor and 3D Robotics CEO Chris Anderson, the (AVR-powered) DIY drone community will soon have more than 15,000 drones flying, compared to some 7,000 drones in use worldwide by military forces. Martha Stewart, known by many for her expertise in and around the home, has also shared her love for these flying robots in an essay that appeared on TIME Magazine’s website on July 29th, writing that drones could be “a useful tool.”

“This is uncharted territory,” says Anderson, Co-Founder of 3D Robotics. His firm recently announced that it had joined Amazon, Aerialtronics, Airware, DJI Innovations, Google[x], GoPro and Parrot in founding the small UAV coalition, which aspires to represent commercial uses of drones, establish a code of conduct and educate the public about benefits of the technology. “They [Amazon] have a well-established presence in Washington and they were able to kick-start the mechanics of this coalition so we could quickly join and get moving.” Anderson added that companies need a “safe sandbox” to begin testing applications.

Globally, drone spending is expected to increase from $6.4 billion this year to $11.5 billion annually a decade from now, as projected by aerospace and defense industry research firm the Teal Group. Both Amazon and the new coalition have retained Washington, D.C. law firm Akin Gump to assist in lobbying efforts. The online retail giant is already among two dozen other companies that have sought exemptions from the FAA to begin tests with drones that weigh less than 55 pounds and fly below 400 feet, USA Today reveals.

In its filing to the FAA, Amazon said that so far it has only been able to test its drones inside its Seattle R&D lab or in other countries. Its goal is to get packages to customers in 30 minutes or less via the rotor-powered flying machines. “One day, seeing Amazon Prime Air will be as normal as seeing mail trucks,” wrote Amazon’s v Misener in the filing.

“A number of companies are looking at getting into philanthropic purposes,” explains Michael Drobac, one of the lobbyists at Akin Gump. “They’re also looking at recreational uses, mapping and aerial photography — the possibilities are limitless.”

Drone potential goes far beyond package delivery; in fact, we recently listed 18 amazing ways the aerial vehicles are already being used today. Interested in learning more about drone use and the formation of the coalition? Read the entire USA Today article here.

 

 

1,024 tiny robots assemble into shapes like intelligent insects

Researchers in Harvard’s Self-Organizing Systems Research Group have introduced Kilobots — a 1,024-strong swarm of decentralized cooperating robots that can assemble themselves into complex shapes with very little human input.

A team comprised of Michael Rubenstein, Alejandro Cornejo, and Professor Radhika Nagpal have described their 1,024-robot swarm in a detailed study published in Science. “Each robot has the basic capabilities required for a swarm robot, but is made with low-cost parts, and is mostly assembled by an automated process. In addition, the system design allows a single user to easily and scalably operate a large Kilobot collective, such as programming, powering on, and charging all robots systems,” the researchers explain.

The thousand plus bots are each embedded with an Atmel microcontroller, two vibrating motors powering rigid legs that allow them to skitter across smooth surfaces, and an infrared emitter-sensor pair to receive commands and communicate wirelessly. They can transform into a variety of shapes, including a starfish and the letter K (as seen below).

What makes this piece of work so exceptional is that, before the Kilobot, most collectives were limited to less than 100 robots. In order to exceed previous limitations, this required completely rethinking how the robots were designed. To do this, the team of researchers created a coin-sized robot that possessed the ability to move on three stick-legs using two vibrating motors. It could then communicate with neighbouring robots using the aforementioned infrared light, signal its state by changing a color LED and sense ambient light.

In current robotics research, there has been a vast body of work on algorithms and control methods for groups of decentralized cooperating robots, called a swarm or collective. “These algorithms are generally meant to control collectives of hundreds or even thousands of robots; however, for reasons of cost, time, or complexity, they are generally validated in simulation only, or on a group of a few 10s of robots,” the study reveals. With the robots ready, the team developed an algorithm which could guarantee that a large numbers of robots, with limited capabilities and local communication, could cooperatively self-assemble into user-specified shapes. Four “seed” robots kick off the process, generating a domino-effect of signals that propagate through the rest of the swarm. How each Kilobot positions itself is dependent upon the distance between itself and its nearby bots. IEEE Spectrum explains that while in biological systems, swarms can organize and control themselves based on a set of very simple rules. With the Kilobots, however, the algorithm that they use to create shapes are based on a similarly simple set of capabilities:

• Edge-following, where a robot can move along the edge of a group by measuring distances from robots on the edge
• Gradient formation, where a source robot can generate a gradient value message that increments as it propagates through the swarm, giving each robot a geodesic distance from the source
• Localization, where the robots can form a local coordinate system using communication with, and measured distances to, neighbors

“Increasingly, we’re going to see large numbers of robots working together, whether its hundreds of robots co-operating to achieve environmental clean up or a quick disaster response, or millions of self-driving cars on our highways. Understanding how to design ‘good’ systems at that scale will be critical,” said Professor Radhika Nagpal.

For those interested in making, buying or programming their own Kilobot swarm, you can check out Harvard’s official project page here.