David Szondy
The European Space Agency (ESA) is assessing information about the Chelyabinsk meteor that exploded last week over Russia in the hope of improving the space agency’s asteroid-hunting program. Calculations by Peter Brown at Canada's University of Western Ontario based on the analysis of extremely low-frequency sound waves detected by a global network, was combined with videos, satellite images and eyewitness accounts to allow ESA to construct a more complete and accurate account of the event. Read More
Last week, MakerBot and GrabCAD announced the winners of their recent 3D Printer Challenge in Brooklyn, New York. The challenge required designers to come up with futuristic vehicles for the year 2040, with the concept models optimized for printing in 3D on a MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer. Out of 151 entries, six winners were selected, with the first prize receiving a MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer and the runner up a MakerBot Replicator 1 Desktop 3D Printer. Read More
University of Oxford develops low-cost self-driving car system
Oxford University’s Mobile Robotics Group (MRG) has developed an autonomous navigation system for cars at a build cost of only £5,000 (US$7,700). Installed in a production Nissan LEAF, the robot car uses off the shelf components and is designed to take over driving while traveling on frequently used routes. Read More
Another debut to look forward to at next month's Geneva Motor Show has surfaced in the form of "Gloria" – a sleek, luxury saloon concept born from a collaboration between between the European Design Institute (IED) of Turin and the Alfa Romeo Style Centre. Gloria is part of IED’s educational program aimed at producing the car designers of tomorrow and like the Alfa Romeo 4C, the design has been penned with the American market mind. Read More
Döttling Fortress – the world's safest luxury safe?
For the person who has everything and wants to make sure that no one walks off with it, German safe manufacturer Döttling has created with the Fortress. Billed as the “safest luxury safe in the world,” the Fortress is available in a number of bespoke configurations and Döttling says it can be certified for insurance coverage of up to US$1,000,000. Read More
Bowlus Road Chief updates 1930s classic caravan
Caravans make a nice change from holidays in hotels, but they can be as aerodynamic as a shoe box and often about as attractive. Canadian tech entrepreneurs John Long and Helena Mitchell are taking a step forward by going a step backward and reviving the Bowlus Road Chief of the 1930s. It’s an updated version of the classic American design that they call a “revival of an Art Moderne style with 21st century touches.” Read More
Russian meteor strike prompts call for asteroid sentries
On the same day that a meteor exploded over Russia injuring almost a thousand people and an asteroid passed too close to Earth for comfort, the asteroid-mining company Deep Space Industries (DSI) proposes setting up sentry lines in space to track and study rogue asteroids posing a threat to Earth. Using technology originally intended for prospecting for water and minerals on asteroids, the sentry lines of satellites would provide information for deflecting potentially dangerous near-Earth objects. Read More
When Northrop Grumman announced that it was building the Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV), it looked as if the age of the great airships was returning. When the LEMV took to the air in its maiden flight, it seemed a certainty. Now, the US Army has announced that the US$517 million program has been cancelled. Read More
Two parachutes out of three ain’t bad for NASA’s Orion spacecraft
A test version of NASA’s Orion space capsule made a parachute drop near Yuma Arizona on Tuesday with only two of its three parachutes working. Dropped from a Hercules transport from an altitude of 25,000 feet (7,620 m), it wasn't an accident, but a deliberate nobbling of one of the chutes by NASA engineers to prove the capsule could safely return to Earth in the event of such a failure. Read More
Cross training helps humans and robots work better together
Like many people, I spend most of my time worrying about the inevitable robot uprising. MIT is doing its bit to put off that day with its experiments in teaching robots and humans to work together peacefully. Using cross-training techniques, the researchers got robots and humans to swap jobs so they could see things from the others' point of view and carry out tasks more efficiently when working together. Read More
