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Archive for the ‘drones’ category: Page 46

Feb 20, 2022

Reverse Engineering A 900 MHz RC Transmitter And Receiver

Posted by in categories: drones, engineering

For those building their own remote controlled devices like RC boats and quadcopter drones, having a good transmitter-receiver setup is a significant factor in the eventual usability of their build. Many transmitters are available in the 2.4 GHz band, but some operate at different frequencies, like the 868/915 MHz band. The TBS Crossfire is one such transmitter, and it’s become a popular model thanks to its long-range performance.

When [g3gg0] bought a Crossfire set for his drone, he discovered that the receiver module consisted of not much more than a PIC32 microcontroller and an SX1272 LoRa modem. This led him to ponder if the RF protocol would be easy to decode. As it turns out, it was not trivial, but not impossible either. First, he built his own SPI sniffer using a CYC1000 FPGA board to reveal the exact register settings that the PIC32 sent to the SX1272. The Crossfire uses channel hopping, and by simply looking at the register settings it was easy to figure out the hopping sequence.

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Feb 17, 2022

Researchers combine piezoelectric thin film and metasurfaces to create lens with tunable focus

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, drones

For the first time, researchers have created a metasurface lens that uses a piezoelectric thin film to change focal length when a small voltage is applied. Because it is extremely compact and lightweight, the new lens could be useful for portable medical diagnostic instruments, drone-based 3D mapping and other applications where miniaturization can open new possibilities.

“This type of low-power, ultra-compact varifocal lens could be used in a wide range of sensor and imaging technologies where system size, weight and cost are important,” said research project leader Christopher Dirdal from SINTEF Smart Sensors and Microsystems in Norway. “In addition, introducing precision tunability to metasurfaces opens up completely new ways to manipulate light.”

Dirdal and colleagues describe the new technology in the journal Optics Letters. To change , a voltage is applied over lead zirconate titanate (PZT) membranes causing them to deform. This, in turn, shifts the distance between two metasurface lenses.

Feb 17, 2022

It Sure Looks Like China Is Turning Old Fighter Jets Into Drones

Posted by in categories: drones, military

Why waste a perfectly good (but obsolete) fighter?


It sure looks like China is converting Cold War fighters into flying drones. Dozens of Shenyang J-16 fighter planes, spotted in satellite photos, are still present at China’s military airfields, despite the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) retiring the type in 2010. China could use the planes in a conflict, either masquerading them as modern jets, or using the drones to carry out combat missions of their own.

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Feb 16, 2022

Flytrex releases stats on expanding US drone delivery activity

Posted by in categories: drones, robotics/AI

On-demand drone delivery specialist Flytrex releases booming activity growth for 2021 in three North Carolina communities it serves.


While the development of all kinds of next-generation aviation and UAV activity merits the attention it attracts, the reality is a lot of what’s afoot is still in early-phase operation or testing. That work-in-progress status makes seeing quantified metrics in advanced applications like those released today by drone delivery specialist Flytrex particularly useful in measuring rates of progress.

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Feb 15, 2022

Marvel At The Size Of Giga Texas As Drone Takes 360-Degree Flight

Posted by in categories: drones, sustainability

Located near Austin, Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas is expected to start producing Model Ys for customers before the end of this quarter.

Feb 14, 2022

Shape-shifting material morphs robot from driving to flying

Posted by in categories: drones, robotics/AI

A new shape-shifting material out of Virginia Tech can be used to give robots the power to transform smoothly between different shapes — like going from a drivable robot to a flying drone.

The challenge: Most of today’s robots are really good at one function — drones are designed to fly, but they can’t swim, and wheeled bots can drive, but they can’t fly.

The few exceptions typically use complex systems of motors, gears, and hinges to reconfigure themselves into different shapes suited for different tasks, but every extra part is a new potential point of failure.

Feb 14, 2022

Drones could deliver your online orders in minutes

Posted by in categories: drones, engineering

So where are all the drones? 🤔

#engineering

Feb 14, 2022

Video filmed in the city of Guangzhou in China’s Guangdong Province on Jan. 30 shows 1,000 drones flying in the sky to form Bing Dwen Dwen, the mascot of the 2022 Winter Olympics

Posted by in category: drones

The drones also formed a tiger’s head to celebrate the coming of the Year of the Tiger.

Feb 14, 2022

Singapore consortium to use drones for shore-to-ship parcel delivery

Posted by in categories: drones, engineering

A nine-month drone delivery pilot in Singapore will explire the use of drones for shore-to-ship parcel delivery of maritime essentials.


Singapore-based ST Engineering, Sumitomo Corporation, and Skyports are joining forces for a nine-month drone delivery pilot, wherein drones will be used for shore-to-ship parcel delivery of maritime essentials.

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Feb 13, 2022

The Near Future of Military Autonomy Isn’t Robotanks, But ‘Microservices’

Posted by in categories: drones, military, robotics/AI

Robot tanks and drones swarming the battlefield represent only a small fraction of the ways the military might put autonomy to use in the years ahead.


Instead of commanding killer robots, most troops will get helping hands from things like driving assistance software.

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