Flying drone controlled with mind power
Researchers in China have produced a system to control a quad-rotor drone with the mind
Image Gallery (4 images)
Researchers based at Zhejiang University in China have produced a
system for controlling a quad-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle with the
mind. Dubbed "Flying Buddy 2", the system uses a standard,
commercially-available
Electroencephalogram (EEG) headset, a computer and a Parrot
AR Drone.
The computer processes the data received from the EEG and converts it
into control commands which are beamed to the drone via a Wi-Fi
connection. Judging by the video, the latency of the setup appears to be
relatively low.
Controlling an airborne vehicle with the mind requires that one first
learn some commands. For example, in order to make the drone take off
or land, the user must think left hard, while rotating can be achieved
by thinking left lightly - the drone was also configured to take
pictures if the user blinked. This all sounds rather demanding, but like
other mind-control systems we've seen such as the
EEG-controlled wheelchair-mounted robotic arm, mastering the controls no doubt becomes much easier with practice.
Various demonstrations of the Flying Buddy 2 technology were thought
up by the scientists, including a "boxing match" which pitted a
mind-controlled drone against one piloted with a typical remote setup.
Each controller was tasked with pushing the opposing device out of the
allotted area.
The mind-controlled drone research is aimed toward enabling the
disabled to interact with their environment in new ways, however it does
not take too big a stretch to imagine a more mature implementation of
the tech being attractive to those in the consumer, transport, industry
and defense sectors.
The Zhejiang University video below shows the research in further detail.
Via:
New Scientist
A car and a quadcopter
B is a combination RC car and quadcopter, which can be driven or flown
Image Gallery (6 images)
Quadcopters are becoming more and more popular with
radio-controlled model enthusiasts, but sometimes ... sometimes you
still just want to remotely-control a car. If that’s the case with you,
then UK-based product designer Witold Mielniczek has got you covered.
His prototype vehicle, known simply as B, functions as both a quadcopter
and an off-road racer.
The rear wheel-drive vehicle has a tough polycarbonate body, and four
wheels referred to as driving rings. Each ring is driven not by a
center-mounted axle, but instead by cog mechanisms at the bottom of the
rim. This leaves the center of the rings clear for four 7-inch
propellers, which allow the vehicle to get airborne on the fly (no pun
intended).
The driving rings are flexible and removable, so they won’t snap
every time B makes a hard landing. The propellers are also
flexibly-mounted, adding to the vehicle’s crash-worthiness.
Power is provided by an 11.1-volt lithium-polymer battery, which
reportedly provides up to 15 minutes of combined driving and flying per
charge. Additionally, an onboard 720p video camera can record
point-of-view footage to a Micro SD card.
Mielniczek has a working prototype, and now hopes to add features
such as full waterproofing (allowing it to also serve as a sort of
boat), the ability to suck itself onto walls, and a smartphone control
app. Eventually, he might even look into the possibility of building a
full-sized passenger-carrying vehicle based on the technology, that
could be used for humanitarian purposes.
Before any of that can happen, however, he needs to raise production
funds, so he’s turned to a Kickstarter campaign. A pledge of £320
(US$484) will get you a ready-to-assemble B, when and if the funding
goal is met. If you don’t want to supply your own transmitter and would
like to get a fully-assembled model, you’ll need to pledge £400 ($605).
B can be seen in action in the campaign video below.
Source:
Kickstarter
Four years ago, in 2E 578, an arcane explosion of energy in the
Imperial City set off mystical aftershocks that swept across Nirn. Mages
died or went mad. Supernatural abominations from the plane of Oblivion,
the Daedra, appeared in greater numbers than ever before. The
constellation of the Serpent grew so large that it dominated the night
sky.
