Products of Tomorrow

See the products of tomorrow, including a practical way to make hydrocarbons powered solely by the sun; an air traffic control system for drones that can effectively and accurately track anything in an identified low-altitude airspace; and a robotic system whose primary structural platform, or “orb,” can be injected into a pipe network and perform reconnaissance of piping infrastructure and other interior volumes.

AI Helps UAVs Predict Oncoming Turbulence

Professor Animashree (Anima) Anandkumar and her team at The California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have developed a control strategy for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that uses reinforcement learning to adaptively learn how turbulent wind can change over time and then uses that knowledge to control the UAV based on what it is experiencing.

An Autonomous Drone Based on Animal Brains

A team of researchers at Delft University of Technology has developed a drone that flies autonomously using neuromorphic image processing and control based on the workings of animal brains.

5Ws of the Neuromorphic AI Drone

A team of researchers at Delft University of Technology has developed a drone that flies autonomously using neuromorphic image processing and control based on the workings of animal brains.

Drones Detect, Monitor, and Prevent Wildfires

The detection would start on the ground via internet-connected sensors placed in CalFire-determined areas of danger. For reconnaissance missions, the team is building a rotorcraft equipped with navigation systems, sensors, and cameras.

Amateur Drone Videos Could Aid Natural Disaster Damage Assessment

By using artificial intelligence, researchers are developing a system that can automatically identify buildings after disasters and make an initial determination of whether they are damaged and how serious that damage might be.

New Algorithm Keeps Drones from Colliding in Midair

When multiple drones are working together in the same airspace, perhaps spraying pesticide over a field of corn, there’s a risk they might crash into each other. To help avoid these costly crashes, MIT researchers developed a system called MADER in 2020.

Maneuvering Robot Control Using Machine Learning

Researchers from MIT and Stanford University have devised a new machine-learning approach that could be used to control a robot, such as a drone or autonomous vehicle, more effectively and efficiently in dynamic environments where conditions can change rapidly.

Drones Navigate Unseen Environments via Liquid Neural Networks

Researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have introduced a method for robust flight navigation agents to master vision-based fly-to-target tasks in intricate, unfamiliar environments.

Training a Quadrotor Drone to Cope with Collisions

Advanced technology plays a vital role in search and rescue operations after natural disasters such as earthquakes. Thermal imaging equipment and sensitive listening devices are deployed to seek out signs of life.

Robotic Wing Could Improve Drone Performance

Ornithological animals have always benefited from folding their wings during upstroke. So, a Swedish-Swiss research team has constructed a robotic wing that can flap like a bird.

Using Small Drones to Monitor Volcanoes

A team at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz has recently been assessing the potential for using a small, portable observation drone in remote regions.

Enhancing Fault Isolation and Detection for Electric Powertrains of UAVs

NASA’s System-Wide Safety (SWS) project is developing innovative data solutions to assure safe, rapid, and repeatable access to a transformed National Airspace System.

Teaching Drones How to Navigate Real-World Weather

For drones to autonomously perform necessary but quotidian tasks, they must be able to adapt to wind conditions in real time.

Unmanned Hover Plane

The Trojan Unmanned Hover Plane (UHP) is a one-of-a-kind system that bridges the gap between the need to hover and the need to reach long ranges, giving it the ability to perform aerial missions with pinpoint precision.

Anti-Phase Noise Suppression Rotor Technologies

Acoustic optimization for anti-phase asymmetric rotor.

University of Colorado Boulder

Founded in 1876, the University of Colorado Boulder (CU Bolder) is a public research university in Boulder, CO. The College of Engineering and Applied Science at CU Boulder was founded in 1893. With an increased...

Extending Battery Life of Small Drones

A continuous flight of small drones over its perimeter could enhance security of the nation's border, but there is one small problem: The battery limitation of small drones (they last about 30 minutes) is...

New Printing Process Advances 3D Capabilities

Substances such as plastics, metals, and wax are used in 3D printers to make products and parts for larger items. Products created through the 3D printing of plastics include every-thing from toys...

Facility Focus: The Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Learn about the aviation, space, cybersecurity, and engineering achievements happening at Embry-Riddle.

Giving Bug-Like Bots a Boost

A new fabrication technique helps improve the performance of flying micro-robots.

Bipedal Robot Achieves Better Body Balance

A new robot developed by Caltech researchers LEO carves out a new type of locomotion somewhere between walking and flying.

5 Ws of the Winged Flying Microchip

About the size of a grain of sand, the flying microchip (or microflier) does not have a motor or engine.

Non-Destructive Evaluation of Structures Using Transient and Lock-in Thermography

Applications include avionics, data storage, process control, reconfigurable manufacturing lines, and civil and structural engineering.

Approach Makes Unmanned Agents Self-Sufficient

UAVs can land on moving unmanned ground vehicles without GPS.

Compact 3D LiDAR Imaging System

A silicon chip provides a low-cost solution to help machines see the world clearly.

Algorithm Flies Drones Faster than Human Racing Pilots

The algorithm calculates time-optimal trajectories that fully consider the drones’ limitations.

System Trains Drones to Fly Around Obstacles at High Speeds

The new algorithm could enable fast, nimble drones for time-critical operations such as search and rescue.