Archive for the ‘drones’ category: Page 139
Mar 13, 2017
UPS Tests the Future: A Drone-Slinging Delivery Van
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in categories: drones, futurism
Mar 7, 2017
Airbus unveils Pop.Up: An autonomous transportation concept that uses drones to carry cars
Posted by Klaus Baldauf in categories: drones, mobile phones, robotics/AI
Airbus has proposed a new modular transportation idea mixing air and ground travel that will make you feel that the future cannot get here fast enough.
Unveiled today at the Geneva International Motor show, the system, dubbed “Pop. Up,” would start with a capsule that sits in the frame of an autonomous car. When traffic gets heavy, you just call a drone using your smartphone and lift the capsule up into the air and over the heads of those poor suckers stuck in traffic sucking on exhaust fumes.
The company says a new artificial intelligence platform will help manage the Pop. Up system, letting passengers optimize the mix of modalities for their trip.
Mar 6, 2017
LED-it-GO: Leaking (a lot of) Data from Air-Gapped Computers via the (small) Hard Drive LED
Posted by Klaus Baldauf in categories: cybercrime/malcode, drones, encryption, internet, mobile phones
Abstract: In this paper we present a method which allows attackers to covertly leak data from isolated, air-gapped computers. Our method utilizes the hard disk drive (HDD) activity LED which exists in most of today’s desktop PCs, laptops and servers. We show that a malware can indirectly control the HDD LED, turning it on and off rapidly (up to 5800 blinks per second) — a rate that exceeds the visual perception capabilities of humans. Sensitive information can be encoded and leaked over the LED signals, which can then be received remotely by different kinds of cameras and light sensors. Compared to other LED methods, our method is unique, because it is also covert — the HDD activity LED routinely flickers frequently, and therefore the user may not be suspicious to changes in its activity. We discuss attack scenarios and present the necessary technical background regarding the HDD LED and its hardware control. We also present various data modulation methods and describe the implementation of a user-level malware, that doesn’t require a kernel component. During the evaluation, we examine the physical characteristics of different colored HDD LEDs (red, blue, and white) and tested different types of receivers: remote cameras, extreme cameras, security cameras, smartphone cameras, drone cameras, and optical sensors. Finally, we discuss hardware and software countermeasures for such a threat. Our experiment shows that sensitive data can be successfully leaked from air-gapped computers via the HDD LED at a maximum bit rate of 4000 bits per second, depending on the type of receiver and its distance from the transmitter. Notably, this speed is 10 times faster than the existing optical covert channels for air-gapped computers. These rates allow fast exfiltration of encryption keys, keystroke logging, and text and binary files.
UPS has successfully tested a drone that launches from the top of a UPS truck and autonomously delivers packages. http://abcn.ws/2lsyjjM
Feb 18, 2017
Power Company Sends Fire-Spewing Drone to Burn Trash Off High-Voltage Wires
Posted by Shane Hinshaw in categories: drones, energy
What happens when your power lines get all kinds of trash hanging from them and it’s not safe to send up a human? In Xiangyang, China, you send in the drones. Specifically, the drones that shoot fire.
Feb 13, 2017
Up, up and away: Passenger-carrying drone to fly in Dubai
Posted by Dan Kummer in categories: drones, robotics/AI
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Up, up and away: Dubai hopes to have a passenger-carrying drone regularly buzzing through the skyline of this futuristic city-state in July.
The arrival of the Chinese-made EHang 184 — which already has had its flying debut over Dubai’s iconic, sail-shaped Burj al-Arab skyscraper hotel — comes as the Emirati city also has partnered with other cutting-edge technology companies, including Hyperloop One.
The question is whether the egg-shaped, four-legged craft will really take off as a transportation alternative in this car-clogged city already home to the world’s longest driverless metro line.