This example of programmable architecture uses lightweight materials and drones to help it adapt to environmental changes. Digital fabrication and automation is changing the way we build, allowing for cutting-edge concepts to take form through computer-aided design tools and integrating robotics into building techniques. Three graduate students over at University of Stuttgart's Institute for Computational Design and Construction (ICD) and Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE) recently unveiled a modular architectural canopy that can be reconfigured in real-time, using drones. Dubbed Cyber Physical Macro Material, the 2.5-metre (8.2-foot) high canopy is designed as a "new dynamic (and intelligent) agile architecture for public spaces," which can respond to weather conditions. Built with lightweight carbon fibre filament, magnets and a variety of sensors and processors, the canopy demonstrates the possibility of'live' construction processes, facilitated by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have recently rapidly grown to facilitate a wide range of innovative applications that can fundamentally change the way cyber-physical systems (CPSs) are designed. CPSs are a modern generation of systems with synergic cooperation between computational and physical potentials that can interact with humans through several new mechanisms. The main advantages of using UAVs in CPS application is their exceptional features, including their mobility, dynamism, effortless deployment, adaptive altitude, agility, adjustability, and effective appraisal of real-world functions anytime and anywhere. Furthermore, from the technology perspective, UAVs are predicted to be a vital element of the development of advanced CPSs. Therefore, in this survey, we aim to pinpoint the most fundamental and important design challenges of multi-UAV systems for CPS applications. We highlight key and versatile aspects that span the coverage and tracking of targets and infrastructure objects, energy-efficient navigation, and image analysis using machine learning for fine-grained CPS applications. Key prototypes and testbeds are also investigated to show how these practical technologies can facilitate CPS applications. We present and propose state-of-the-art algorithms to address design challenges with both quantitative and qualitative methods and map these challenges with important CPS applications to draw insightful conclusions on the challenges of each application. Finally, we summarize potential new directions and ideas that could shape future research in these areas.

A new report says Uber plans to roll out a fleet of food-delivery drones by 2021. A drone flies over a city. Uber's flight ambitions expand beyond just shuttling people. It also includes delivering food. According to a job posting spotted by The Wall Street Journal, Uber is looking to hire an executive to help launch its drone food delivery program known internally as UberExpress.

Inspired by the beauty and flying ability of birds, Leonardo da Vinci strived centuries ago to create a human-powered flapping-wing flying machine. But his designs, which da Vinci explored in his Codex on the Flight of Birds, were never developed in any practical way. Even today, mimicking bird flight still presents challenges due to the physiological complexity of a bird's flapping wings. For years, researchers at the University of Maryland's A. James Clark School of Engineering have been moving ever closer to faithfully imitating bird flight with Robo Raven, the first bird-inspired unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that has successfully flown with independent wing control. Robo Raven can also be programmed to perform any desired motion, enabling the UAV to perform aerobatic maneuvers.

At this year's Uber Elevate Summit in May, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi discussed the possibility of a drone-based food delivery service. Now, it looks like a job posting has hinted that the company is looking to launch the service by 2021. According to the Wall Street Journal, Uber is looking to hire someone with "flight standards and training" experience, who can "enable safe, legal, efficient and scalable flight operations." If the info is legit, It looks like Uber is looking to keep development of the program under wraps as the job posting is no longer listed on its website. According to the Wall Street Journal's report, the drone-based delivery service has been dubbed "UberExpress," and will exist under the umbrella of Uber Eats.

Uber's dream of delivering food via drones may no longer be just pie in the sky. The ride-hailing giant is eyeing the launch of its drone delivery service in multiple markets as soon as 2021, the Wall Street Journal reported. This plan is described in a since-deleted job listing on Uber's website, where it appears to be looking for a drone executive to'enable safe, legal, efficient and scalable flight operations.' Uber's dream of delivering food via drones may no longer be just pie in the sky. The drone executive would be tasked with making Uber's delivery drones functional by 2019 and, ultimately, commercially operational by 2021.

US Military New Secret Technology Super Micro Drone Swarm https://youtu.be/rFrB-3D2p-A The US military has launched 103 miniature swarming drones from a fighter jet during a test in California. Three F/A-18 Super Hornets were used to release the Perdix drones last October. The drones, which have a wingspan of 12in (30cm), operate autonomously and share a distributed brain. A military analyst said the devices, able to dodge air defence systems, were likely to be used for surveillance.

Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your Automaton bloggers. We'll also be posting a weekly calendar of upcoming robotics events for the next few months; here's what we have so far (send us your events!): Let us know if you have suggestions for next week, and enjoy today's videos. With all the hype about SpotMini recently, it's a good time to take a look back at another quadruped that Boston Dynamics helped develop. This system is the first of its kind that can automatically keep a cluttered room neat and tidy at a practical level, something that has been difficult to achieve using conventional robot system.

Thermal Imaging sensors are commonly referred to terminology such as thermal camera, temperature camera, heat vision camera, infrared camera, thermal imaging sensor, heat signature camera, and even thermal heat vision sensor. In this post we will refer to this type of imaging as infrared or thermal imaging. Infrared energy is generated by the vibration of atoms and molecules. The higher the temperature of an object, the faster its molecules and atoms move. This movement is emitted as infrared radiation which our eyes cannot see but our skin can feel. Thermal imaging is the use of a special infrared camera sensors to illuminate a spectrum of light invisible to the naked eye.

Drone technology has advanced markedly in the last few years, with improved stability and handling making them easier than ever to fly. But whether through mechanical malfunction or sheer pilot incompetence, there will always be occasions when we're left watching helplessly as our crippled quadcopter plummets from the sky as if it was never meant to be up there in the first place. One solution is to stick a parachute on the drone that automatically activates when it detects problems. Such a system would not only save the drone from breaking into multiple pieces when it hits terra firma, but also reduce the risk of injury if the machine lands on someone's head on the way down. Among a growing number of such offerings is one from Austria-based Drone Rescue, which has been working on incorporating parachutes into drones for a while now.