Month: September 2015

DARPA wants to transform airplanes into drone carriers. Last year, the agency invited technical ideas and business expertise to help create a reusable airborne system. Today, it announced the launch of the Gremlins program that’s designed to make that air-recoverable unmanned system a reality. According to Dan Patt, program manager at DARPA, the "goal is to conduct a compelling proof-of-concept flight demonstration that could employ intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and other modular, non-kinetic payloads in a robust, responsive and affordable manner."

Bots that could be deployed and recovered mid-air are expected to boost the military’s operational flexibility and drive mission costs lower. As per the DARPA statement, the program aspires to launch gremlins or swarm bots from large aircraft such as bombers or transports after some modest modifications. When those planes are out of range, the bots will be launched from smaller, more accessible fixed-wing platforms. After completing their mission, the gremlins will be retrieved by a C-130 transport aircraft and brought home, where they will be prepped for their next mission within the next 24 hours.

[Image credit: DARPA]

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Transportation

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Via: Washington Post

Source: DARPA

Tags: aircrafts, Bots, C-130, DARPA, drones, gremlins, Military, Swarm-bots, UAV, wargadget

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Ultra HD 4K video is still in its infancy, but there’s no doubt the format will become increasingly popular in the next year or two. Huge players like YouTube and Netflix already support it, but delivering such high bandwidth video content remains a challenge. Google’s trying to do its part to solve that problem by developing a more efficient video compression codec called VP10. The new codec has been in the works for nearly a year, but the company gave some details about how effective it can be over the VP9 format it’ll eventually replace. In an interview with CNET, Google product manager James Bankoski said that VP9 uses half the bandwidth needed to deliver the same quality video as the popular H.264 format — and with VP10, the company is trying to cut it in half again.

Reduced bandwidth usage isn’t the only thing VP10 has going for it — it should also provide shaper images, better color, and a better dynamic range between lights and dark. But despite some strong technical credentials and the backing of Google, widespread adoption of VP10 is hardly a foregone conclusion. H.264 is still the dominant video compression standard, and its successor (HEVC / H.265) will likely see widespread support.

Still, this is a battle that isn’t yet won, and the dominance of YouTube means that VP10 will have a fighting chance against HEVC. The fact that VP10 is open source is another point in its favor; the licensing for HEVC could add red tape and costs for developers and devices makers. It’ll be a while before this conflict comes to a head, however: Google said it hopes to hit its performance targets for VP10 by the end of next year.

Filed under:
HD, Google

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Source: CNET

Tags: 4k, google, h264, h265, hdpostcross, hevc, vp10, vp9, youtube

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A team of researchers from the University of California, San Diego announced Tuesday that they had developed a proof-of-concept wireless transmission system that is both more efficient and more secure than Bluetooth. It works by sending data signals through your body’s natural magnetic field instead of over the air and could lead to a new class of ultra-low power wearables.

Bluetooth is the current king of short range wireless communication but it has a number of shortcomings. While BT works efficiently when there is a clear air path between the two devices, it requires a significant power boost to push the signal through obstacles like the human body, known as "path loss". UCSD’s system doesn’t suffer from that problem because it uses the human body itself as a transmission medium to send magnetic signals between devices. In the prototype, PVC-wrapped wires coiled around the user’s extremities generate magnetic fields that transmit signal between the various body parts.

It operates in essentially the same fashion as an MRI or wireless medical implant, albeit at a far lower energy level. In fact, the research team estimates that the path loss associated with this technique is roughly 10 million times lower than Bluetooth. That should translate into significant energy savings and longer battery lives.

"A problem with wearable devices like smart watches is that they have short operating times because they are limited to using small batteries. With this magnetic field human body communication system, we hope to significantly reduce power consumption as well as how frequently users need to recharge their devices," UCSD Ph.D student and lead author Jiwoong Park said in a statement.

Additionally, this system offers increased security over existing wireless standards. Bluetooth signals emanate omni-directionally from their source up to 30 feet. Anybody within that perimeter can, theoretically, pick up that signal and intercept the data. But because this system’s signal travels through the body, an eavesdropper would need to be all up in your grill, if not in direct physical contact, to intercept it. The team recently presented their findings at the 37th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society in Milan, Italy.

[Image Credit: UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering]

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Wearables, Wireless, Science

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Tags: bluetooth, MagneticFields, Milan, UCSD

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Although it’s pretty easy to hook up a Raspberry Pi to a screen using its HDMI port, it’s not exactly the most portable of solutions (especially if there isn’t a TV or monitor around). The Raspberry Pi Foundation recognized this, so it set about finding a "simple, embeddable display" capable of giving Pi owners a screen from which to work from, but that also embodies the DIY spirit of the board that it connects to. It’s taken almost a year, but the official Raspberry Pi touch display has gone on sale today, offering tinkerers a 7-inch capacitive 800 x 480 touchscreen display that supports 10-finger touch.

As you’d expect, connecting the display to the Pi requires a steady hand and a little patience — it’s not as easy as plugging in two ends of an HDMI cable (but that’s all part of the charm, right?). You can choose to power it via the Pi’s GPIO port or by plugging a microUSB power supply into the display board, while a ribbon cable connects to the Pi’s DSI port. The Raspberry Pi Foundation has ensured that both the display board and the Pi itself can be mounted on the back of the display (as shown in the image above), making it a lot easier to connect the various cables and also to store.

As it turns out, the Raspberry Pi isn’t the only maker board getting an official display. DIY computer kit Kano, a project that has been embraced by schools, has opened pre-orders for a 10.1-inch HD (150 PPI) LCD screen that also requires you to build it yourself. The case’s design also allows you to store the Kano’s keyboard and a third-party battery inside, making it truly portable.

The official Raspberry Pi display is available to buy at all the usual Raspberry Pi stockists starting from $60 (£48). There’s also six different colored frames to choose from, but you’ll pay a little extra for the privilege. If you’re new to the Kano, the kit and the display bundle will cost $250 (£200) or $110 (£90) for the screen on its own.

Filed under:
Desktops, Displays

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Via: Raspberry Pi Blog

Source: Newark (US), Raspberry Pi Swag (UK), Kano

Tags: board, display, kano, raspberry pi, raspberrypi

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I understand that your phone finally has a stable 4G LTE connection that doesn’t destroy its battery in four hours, but it’s time to look beyond and into 5G. Verizon 5G is almost here, sort of. The company announced today that it will begin field testing its 5G technology with key partners come 2016. Companies like Alcatel-Lucent, […]

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It’s hard to fathom, but Stonehenge, one of the world’s most iconic wonders, is really just the figurative opening act to a much larger show.
Five years ago, researchers from the University of Bradford starting probing the dirt of the Stonehenge World Heritage Site in Wiltshire, England, with remote-sensing instruments to build a map of what’s buried beneath. The Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes Project has already revealed hundreds of previously unidentified ancient features underfoot, and o

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