by Scott Kesselman

A roundup of noteworthy news in the unmanned systems and robotics world this week including a novel single rotorcraft and a robotic metallic snake that charges electric cars.



A student at the University of Pennsylvania 3-D printed a single motor with a passively hinged rotor for a rotorcraft, that can control thrust, pitch, roll and yaw through changes in torque without the need for additional hardware. (3dprint)

Video: University of Pennsylvania Modlab.



Three unmanned aircraft each with six cameras filmed Sydney’s New Year’s fireworks from the air for broadcast around the world. (Daily Mail)



Tesla is developing a robotic snake-like electric car charger that will autonomously extend from the wall to connect to vehicles. (Huffington Post)



The maker of the Indiegogo hit Ghost drone, Ehang, has raised $10 million in series A funding. (TechCrunch)



Startup Halt!Ebola is using an automated mobile phone calling service called ‘robocalling’ to reach communities in rural parts of West Africa to help stop the spread of the deadly virus. (The Guardian)



Researchers have combined a PR2 robot and Artec handheld 3-D scanner to get unprecedented digital images of objects. (3dprint)