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Weekend Roundup
Image: AOPA.
Photo: Nobot.
This week in the unmanned systems and robotics world featured a Japanese gaming firm that aims to have driverless taxis for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, a study that shows self-driving cars may reduce car insurance, scientists monitoring whales offshore of California, and an untethered cheetah robot that can now plan for and leap over obstacles.
The FAA approved 24 new commercial unmanned aircraft systems exemptions this week, bringing the total number of approved operators to 479 out of over 1,400 requests.
Gaming firm DeNA aims to have driverless cars serve as robotic taxis by the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. (Tech World)
A RAND Corp. study estimates that if self-driving cars reduce the risk of accidents, the technology may sharply reduce the cost of car insurance (CBS News)
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association is reporting there has been a spike in manned aircraft encounters with unmanned aircraft. (AOPA)
AGT Robotics and 3-D scanner company Creaform have launched the ScanMaster, a 3-D scanning robot that can be used for automated quality control applications. (Design Engineering)
Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are using a hexacopter to monitor whales offshore California. (Phys.org)
A robotic cheetah invented by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has mastered jumping, in addition to running. (Popular Mechanics)
San Francisco drone startup Skycatch has started a service called Workmode that will match up companies looking to use a drone with qualified operators that own their own equipment. (CNBC)
A Dublin company has created the Nobot N1H1 home telepresence robot that will allow experts to take control from anywhere in the world to perform contracting tasks such as electrician work. (Daily Mail)
A researcher at Mexico’s National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics has developed a drone navigation system based entirely on a vision system and not reliant on GPS. (Gizmag)
Students at the University of California Davis have developed an interactive robotic ball that will follow or avoid a user wearing an ankle strap and interact with them. The team calls the endeavor Project Naughty Ball and created the device for less than $200. (3DPrint)
