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| You're killing me, smalls. |
Lately a lot of people have been asking me what's going on with Anne Hathaway's hair, why was James Franco cast as the Wizard, and what is the current sitch with Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs).
To answer the first question, women with narrow faces should always wear their hair short. DUH.
Downey and Depp turned down the role.
As for MAVs--stuff is getting weird, yo.
Let's start with quadrocopters (so-named for their 4 rotors), which seem to be everywhere lately. There are literally thousands of iterations on the basic design, such as the one shown below with camera attached. Quadrocopters are inexpensive to build, relatively easy to fly, and capable of carrying payloads like video cameras.
Big Brother's increasingly little Brother.
Hobbyists and manufacturers have modified these copters for a variety of purposes, usually involving video cameras and GPS. Right now, kids are building and flying these things around their neighborhoods (and even on the highway) videotaping the unsuspecting. One guy modified a quadrocopter in order to surveil his son each morning as he walks to the bus stop. Exertion Games Lab offers the Joggobot: an autonomous copter that flies with joggers to keep them company or help them keep pace.
It's no surprise quadrocopters are already in use as surveillance drones although they may be used in a variety of non-lethal applications (we hope). The copters are literally flying off the shelves - and if the following is any indication they may soon be building the shelves. Due to their stability, quadrocopters can transport materials and assemble complex architectural structures as ETH Zurich demonstrated by building a 20-foot wall of foam bricks as an example of "Flight Assembled Architecture."
Amazing, right?
To give you an idea of their potential, take a look at what the GRASP Lab at University of Pennsylvania has been able to achieve with nano swarming quadrotors.
I think we all just changed a little bit.
The GRASP quadrocopters can perform intricate maneuvers including ascending and descending through horizontal slots. . .check it out here.
Aldebaran Robotics and MIT are developing swarm-like robot synchronization using what is called "quorum sensing" similar to that of bee colonies.
If nothing else, I can picture large-scale versions of these things in Vegas.
On the macro-scale, German engineers from Festo Bionic have pretty much achieved naturalistic bird flight. This is one the raddest things I've ever seen.
With all this in mind, here's an idea of what's happening with Micro Air Vehicles. The following shows a Nano Hummingbird test by AeroVironment.
There are countless possible civilian and military uses for MAVs and their even smaller cousins known as microbots (one millimeter scale). Aside from reconnaissance, the military has envisioned the possibility of pimping them out with tiny munitions or even toxins.
If you're thinking a strong crosswind or fly swatter will render them useless you could be right. MAVs will probably not do well in winds of more that about 30mph and there are other limitations with propulsion and power (one hour would be the upper limit of operation).
Of the many possible applications of micro-machines, I'm confident the swarming concept will most likely be the way of the future. Years ago, I recall my excitement to hear that NASA was contemplating dropping thousands of nano-sized sensors on Mars rather than risking everything on individual probes like Curiosity Rover. The tiny swarms would communicate with each other and create big picture views that no single robot could achieve, much like insect colonies. If they can overcome the hurdles, you can bet that swarming bots will be the best micro tool for military applications.
Below is a mock-up of a military mosquito drone that in the future could take surreptitious DNA samples, leave tracking devices under the skin, paint targets, or deliver poisonous bites.
I got your search warrant right here.
While writing this blog, I read about a commercial airliner reporting what was most likely a quadrocopter buzzing within two hundred feet of the flight path. Sure, it might have been hobbyists pushing the envelope. Then again, an explosive device on an untraceable machine the size of a toaster is worrisome. Remember when people were using those laser penlights to f-up pilots? It's that kind of thing all over again but potentially more dangerous.
There are few things that are simultaneously more troubling AND awesome than when the Air Force Research Laboratory releases a video about MAV technology with a voice-over that could work for the next Avenger's trailer.
Unobtrusive. Pervasive. Lethal.
In Theaters of War next Summer.
Grad students at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have developed a truly astonishing method for mass-producing microbots using layered materials that are cut with lasers and then "lifted-up" utilizing a combination of origami-like folds and pop-up book ingenuity (Click here for the mind-blowing demonstration). Novel fabrication techniques such as this (and 3D printing) are potentially even more useful than microbots and aerial jogging partners.
The totes adorbs Robobee. They can stop on a dime, too.
The Harvard Robobee project describes itself as a "convergence of body, brain, and colony." Uhm. . .hail Satan?
While the micro-revolution is brewing there is plenty of excitement at the macro scale as well. Engineers have made tremendous strides (pun intended) in the field of locomotion. There are now robots that can scamper up hills and even climb up horizontal surfaces like gecko's.
The most naturalistic and robust locomotion I've yet seen is Boston Dynamics' Legged Squad Support System which was designed for DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). It's essentially a robotic mule that can carry heavy loads autonomously in the battlefield.
The LS3 could also be used in rescue missions or to scare the hell out of anyone, anywhere (as you watch this video you can almost feel your soul disengaging from your body).
All of this seems to point to the inevitable merging of organic and synthetic materials.
Consumers are already habitually linked to their iStuff like second skins so we might as well implant the apps directly into their heads and get it over with already. Google Glass might be the last generation of devices whereby the hardware remains tantalizingly outside of the human body - once it migrates inside there will be no turning back and probably no extended warranty.
So without further ado let me introduce you to the Medusoid: an artificial "jellyfish" made from silicone and muscle cells taken from a rat's heart.
The Medusoid is a novelty but more interesting is the development of Hybrid Insects. UC Berkeley researchers found a way to straight up commandeer beetle bodies using implants that allow remote steering and the means to use their own chemistry to create rechargeable biofuel batteries.
Meet the Beetles.
Yes, we've been tinkering with rat brains and worm DNA for decades. We eat animals and force them into servitude. But there is something more unsettling about mechanically hybridizing creatures. It's altogether possible the cyborg beetles aren't aware of their plight. I suppose we wonder whether ubiquitous cyborg insects will eventually desensitize us to the point where we're cool with the hybridization of human beings.
True nanobots may someday swarm to kill cancer cells and terrorists. They may become self-aware like Skynet and turn on their makers. But no matter how sophisticated or tiny the robots, they must still be programmed--and even if they self-organize they will never achieve anything resembling human imagination or the ability to tell us why James Franco was horribly miscast as the Wizard of Oz.
I sleep better knowing that.
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