President Obama Shakes Revolutionary Robotic Hand Of Paralyzed Man

live from the kdka broadcast center in downtown pittsburgh. this is kdka tv news as 6:00. president obama has now left pittsburgh. air force one took off in the last half-hour. the president spent the day touring cutting-edge projects during a white house frontiers conference. it was a show host cohosted by the university of pittsburgh and carnegie mellon university.

the president have the opportunity to look at several projects and one was a small autonomous drones that can surge disaster areas or look at hard-to-reach places such as bridges and the president loved every minute of it. [ clip playing ] i was doing pictures before i came out here with some folks and they said thank you for what you have done to science. i confess, i am a science geek. i am a nerd. i don't make apologies for it. there was another project that he was excited about. a decade after an accident left a man paralyzed with no feeling in his arms and fingers he is once again experiencing touch. it is all possible through mind control and robots.

professors, scientists, and astronauts, it is the white house frontiers conference. among the guests nathan koplan of dunbar, paralyzed from the chest down in a car accident 12 years ago. following brain surgery pa upmc collaborated to produce a robotic arm that can be moved by his thoughts and for the first time includes the sense of touch. we are using these devices, this person is able to reach out and control the movement and grab objects.

not only that, we can generate sensations that feel like they come from his own hand. he volunteered to help future generations. there are not a lot of people that could do it, when they asked me it was basically like why not? why would i not do it eventually this will help tons of people.

for now i get memories and i get to do cool stuff. a crowd gathers on fifth avenue, a special guest is coming. what a better exemplified the importance of that technology? what other than a visit from the president of the united states led by motorcycles, the presidential limo makes a turn towards alumni hall. nathan koplan, meet the president. [ clip playing ] the sensation you receive what we are shaking hands? yes. barack obama has shaken many.

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Shelley, Stanford's Robotic Car, Hits the Track

Stanford University. Let us know when we are clear to test. >> You are clear to test. [sound] >> We're here today testing our autonomous race car. [sound] This afternoon what we want to do is to get everybody out of the car, take off the speed limit, and let the car go as fast as it possibly can around the track. 

sound] One of the things that the car does very well is figure out exactly the right point on the track to brake, and also trade off between braking and steering, and it's doing this on a turn-by-turn basis. 

Thunderhill is a great track. It's a series of fifteen turns and each one of those turns is very different. Some of them are very high speed. [sound] Some of them are very sharp turns that come after long straights, so you're going in very fast and have to slow down very quickly.

Some of them are chicanes. They go from turning in one direction to turning in the other direction. [sound] And then there's a hill, where you actually have to turn at the top of a hill with no ability to see ahead of you. [sound] So each one of these really represents a separate challenge for the car and tests a different part of our algorithm. 

The basic idea here is also applicable to safety systems. If we can have cars that will drive up to the limits and recover if they go pass, this is something that could actually help ordinary drivers, for instance on a slippery road. [sound] For more, please visit us at stanford.edu..

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Robotic arm v0 1 composed of servos, an Arduino Uno and a Raspberry Pi

Each servo has a mass of 45g. With an arm length of 30cm and considering only the weight of the two servos on the right end of the lever we get a resulting torque of approximately 27Ncm which is equivalent to the maximum torque of the used servos. Thus, the servo at the first pivot point can't lift the robotic arm. When building the machine in such a way that all pivot axes are pointing to the earth's center, there is no gravitational force to overcome for the first three servos.

This construction principle is called "Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm". The weak servos can move all three joints with ease. Objects are grabbed with servo number five... ...and lifted with servo number four. The lever is just 5cm, by what the servo can lift objects with a mass of up to 500g - in theory. Because of friction the maximum force is just 3.6N... ...by what up to 250g can be lifted reliably. 

The servos are controlled by an Arduino Uno. As demonstrated in my video about servos, those devices are commanded by a pulse-width signal with a base frequency of 50Hz. The pulse width is usually between 1 and 2ms and the software can alter the signal in microsecond steps. The pulse width at the center position is 1.5ms, thus 1500 microseconds. A 30cm aluminum bar is mounted on the servo horn and the center position is marked by the tip at the end of the lever. Now, the pulse width is raised stepwise until a movement of the lever can be detected.

Initially, there is no movement... ...until the servo turns jerky at 1504 microseconds, deflecting the lever for 1mm. When lowering the pulse width, the servo turns clockwise at 1499 microseconds. As you can see, the lever did not return exactly to the initial position. One source of inaccuracy is the rotational sensor of the servo: A single turn potentiometer is used to detect the angle of rotation through the voltage output at the wiper. 


There is always some backlash between the pivot axis of the potentiometer and the servo horn. Another thing to be considered is noise at the input DC voltage of the potentiometer. The resolution can't be better than the random variation of the output voltage.

Thus the control loop of the servo can't balance tiny variations between setpoint and actual value. To avoid oscillations around the setpoint, only a fraction of the maximum power is forwarded by pulse width modulation to the motor whenever the error between actual value and setpoint is small. 

With increasing error, the servo motor is powered with a higher duty cycle. The motor has to build up a certain torque to overcome friction caused by the gear train in order to turn the servo horn.

That's what also causes a jerky movement and so worsens the accuracy of the servo. With no mechanical load, we get a deflection of approximately 2mm at the end of the 30cm lever which correlates to an angle of almost degrees. There are three joints in the assembled robotic arm, thus the deflection is added up to 15mm. 

There is another physical quantity that worsens the accuracy of a robotic arm: Inertia. There are noticeable oscillations, especially when turning the arm around the first pivot point. The slower the movement, the fewer oscillations. Friction absorbs oscillations. 

To get more friction, the screws on top of the pivot axes have to be be tightened, but be sure the servos are still able to turn the joints easily. The arm moves smoother with higher friction. Caused by the long lever, even a tiny side load effects a clear deflection from the set point. As mentioned before, the servo motor is not fully powered whenever there is just a small error between set point and actual point. As you can see, the movement isn't very smooth. To compose a high quality robotic arm you need high torque motors, you have to almost eliminate backlash and you must have excellent rotational encoders.

Those three demands are hard to implement which is why quality robotic arms are very expensive tools. Nonetheless it is worth spending some time to build even this cheap robot: Only by knowing the weak points you can start to improve the design of future machines. Furthermore you can study the software used to control this cheap robotic arm. As mentioned before, an Arduino Uno generates the control pulses of the servos. The commands are sent from a Raspberry Pi through the USB interface. The control software is a mix of HTML, Javascript and Perl, which is why the Apache web server runs on the Raspberry Pi.

You can open the page in a browser and control the robotic arm with your mouse or a touchscreen. With the control buttons you can turn the joints of the robot. Each position can be stored if needed. Multiple stored corner points result in a motion sequence. That sequence can be replayed by processing all stored coordinates. With that tiny robotic arm, composed of 4 potentiometers and a switch, you can also control the large arm. With the analog-to-digital converters, the Arduino can read the angles of all potentiometers at the tiny robot. 

The recorded values are converted into pulse width signals used to control the servos, by what the large robot follows the movement of the tiny arm. The analog-to-digital converters and the potentiometers are another source of error: Considering the backlash at the joints of the tiny arm and noise at the input voltage of the potentiometers, there is a noticeable discrepancy between set point and reading of the Arduino. Once more there is: Those simple constructions aren't precision tools, but they are useful to understand the working principles.

You don't need a screen on your Raspberry, because you can open the control page in any browser with a network connection to the pi. Thus you can control the robotic arm even through Internet. You can initiate stored motion sequences... ..by what the robotic arm is turned into a teleplotter. With all the weak points of the construction as explained in this video, you don't get straight lines or right angles, but you will notice the intention to draw a square. Don't use too small building bricks if your intention is to arrange objects. The wooden bricks I am using have the dimensions 22 times 8 times 50mm. To prevent oscillations, the robotic arm stops for one second at all stored corner points. Software is an essential part of a precise robotic arm. 

Nonetheless it's the hardware that needs improvement, first and foremost. You can see the arm shake from time to time and the speed is anything else but breathtaking. Programming the robotic arm through the browser interface is time consuming. Setting up this motion sequence took a whole morning.

I have marked the initial positions of the wooden blocks with thin pencil lines to be able to arrange them correctly multiple times. Surprisingly the success rate was very high: Only twice in approximately ten runs the robotic arm failed to place a brick upright. Robotic arm version is just the beginning of a series of such machines, trying to improve the precision with each evolution step. I will show what can be achieved with cheap materials and finally illustrate why fast and precise robotic arms are so expensive tools - or vice versa why the cheap ones are very likely no qulity machines.

You can get the build instruction of robotic arm on the project page. The tools needed are just a metal saw and a drill machine. Materials are aluminum angles, a 4 and 10mm threaded bar as well as some 3 and 4mm nuts and bolts. Things you can get in a DIY store. Finding a piece of wood for the base plate should be an easy job. The electronic parts are 5 servos, an Arduino Uno and a Raspberry Pi.

An old computer power supply feeds the arm with electricity. That's all about robotic arms for now. Thanks for watching and: "I'll be back!".

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Mother Robot can build and test its own Children

Researchers have observed the process of evolution by natural selection at work in robots, by constructing a ‘mother’ robot that can design, build and test its own ‘children’, and then use the results to improve the performance of the next generation, without relying on computer simulation or human intervention. 

Researchers led by the University of Cambridge have built a mother robot that can independently build its own children and test which one does best; and then use the results to inform the design of the next generation, so that preferential traits are passed down from one generation to the next. 

Without any human intervention or computer simulation beyond the initial command to build a robot capable of movement, the mother created children constructed of between one and five plastic cubes with a small motor inside.

In nature, organisms are able to adapt their physical characteristics to their environment over time. These adaptations allow biological organisms to survive in a wide variety of different environments – allowing animals to make the move from living in the water to living on land, for instance. But machines are not adaptable in the same way. 

They are essentially stuck in one shape for their entire ‘lives’, and it’s uncertain whether changing their shape would make them more adaptable to changing environments. Evolutionary robotics is a growing field which allows for the creation of autonomous robots without human intervention. 

Most work in this field is done using computer simulation. Although computer simulations allow researchers to test thousands or even millions of possible solutions, this often results in a ‘reality gap’ – a mismatch between simulated and real-world behaviour.

While using a computer simulation to study artificial evolution generates thousands, or even millions, of possibilities in a short amount of time, the researchers found that having the robot generate its own possibilities, without any computer simulation, resulted in more successful children..

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A humanoid robot

Today, one in 88 children is being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder or ASD. For them, mastering simple social skills that come naturally to most proves difficult. At Vanderbilt University, engineers and autism experts have teamed up to help. The NSF-funded team designed an interactive room including a very special robot that is helping ASD children, like 3-year-old Aiden. 

To develop, these children need to learn to focus their attention and master new skills. The study found that autistic children spent far more time looking at the robot than a typically developed child did and that humanoid robots can be almost as effective as human therapists in drilling young children with ASD in simple social skills that they have trouble mastering. ROBOT: Aiden, look. AIDEN: It's crazy! ROBOT: Good job. NILANJAN SARKAR: We demonstrated that if the children were really more interested towards the robot than human therapists then the robot might be able to use this engagement to some beneficial activities.

DENA HEADLEE: Capturing attention is critical for early intervention treatment for young children with ASD. The team hopes that Aiden's little robot buddy, Nao, will become an important new tool for therapists to utilize. Their findings have been published in the IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering. Researchers at the University of Michigan have found a way to bring x-ray technology into the 21st century by harnessing low-energy terahertz radiation. This technology could potentially enable doctors to see deep into tissues without the damaging effects of x-rays.

The NSF-funded team developed a laser-powered terahertz source and detector system that transmits 50 times more power and receives 30 times more sensitivity than existing technologies. The team believes the system's ability to provide 1500 times more detailed imaging and sensing, will result in safer, more efficient medical screenings as well as airport security and other applications. 

Researchers at Rice University have discovered that rocks in the earth's mantle beneath the ocean floor melt much deeper than previously thought. Happening as deep as 250 kilometers, the team says this process of deep melting magma helps shed light about life on earth.

Lead researcher Rajdeep Dasgupta explains. RAJDEEP DASGUPTA: What we are interested in is this process called partial melting in the mantle. This is the process by which magma in the interior of our planet forms and it is this key ingredient that eventually percolates upward to the surface of our planet bringing water, bringing carbon dioxide to the near surface environment. 

So if we understand how this magmas form in the interior, we understand how our life and other mineral resources come into being on the surface of our planet. DENA HEADLEE: Using high-powered hydraulic presses, the team reproduces high pressures and temperatures similar to what they believe is happening in the mantle, and subject small amounts of rock samples to these conditions to see what happens. Powerful hydraulic presses squeeze and melt the rocks, producing magma. 

The NSF-ARRA funded team believes the production and extent of this deep magma could affect geophysical and geochemical properties of the planet as a whole. It's official, Blue Waters, one of the world's most powerful supercomputers is now available for use nationwide at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign.

Its unparalleled processing power enables researchers to perform large-scale scientific applications at the cutting edge of computational science. THOMAS DUNNING: It's really a very balanced computing system. It's a computing system that could provide scientists and engineers with the computing resources that they need right now. Whether it's compute intensive, whether it's memory intensive, whether it's data intensive, Blue Waters can handle all of that type of computing requirements. It also has, however, new computing technologies built into it that will allow the scientists and engineers to prepare for the future. DENA HEADLEE: From tracking disease to tornadoes to climate change, Blue Waters is already providing unprecedented insights into our planet and our universe. For more information about these stories, visit us at NSF.gov. This is NSF Science Now, I'm Dena Headlee.

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BUDDY the robot play games with children with autism

Congratulations, you found the lion! Hello, Ready for the game? Please find the elephant. So, did you hear what he asked? Elephant! You must put the paper in front of the camera. It's here. Hello, Ready for the game? Please find the giraffe. Congratulations, you found the giraffe! Congratulations, you found the snake! My name is Melanie, I am an instructor and educator at The IME Oasis. Please find the lion. The boy whom I take care of is Mathieu. I have seen Mathieu adapt fairly quickly to working with Buddy. 

He was very happy to see that the answers he gave to BUDDY were quickly understood by the robot. And I think it made him really happy to work with something that responds to his demands. What do you want him to do? Great, You made the robot turn to the right. He enjoyed the moment when he got to make Buddy dance. 

I was surprised and I think he did not expect that the robot would be able to do this kind of thing. Well done Mathieu! Bravo ! I think at times when the robot’s head is down, that after awhile, the position of the head can be reset and become straight, otherwise you have to redo all the manipulations.

It is true that it may be a bit more complicated to reset the face’s angle every time. Otherwise, apart from that, it is a very good tool. I will turn it! If you want to turn the robot, ask him. Back, back! He will be back! My name is Sandra Lanurien. 

I'm executive assistant at the IME Oasis, that has provides services to 50 children with autism from the ages of 5 to 20. Well, we'll tell him to move forward, then you can press "new". So, we put this program in the trash. Yes, in the trash and now you press "new". Now, you make it scroll. I want it still rotating. 

Turn it again! This is on top and there, then press "dance". He turns by itself, he turns by itself! He’s dancing! What I have seen with Buddy and children that I had this morning, is really a mutual understanding between the robot and the child. Almost all children have understood very quickly how to use the robot, even if the interface design is not necessarily suited and the understanding of a rule of a game is perhaps a little difficult for them.

But anyway, they have a real interaction with the robot which uses an understandable language for children. So in terms of communication, it can be a professional tool, which would evolve the level of communication and understanding for children with Autism, concentration, memory, mobility. As with tablets, but with a robot that responds and that is interactive. although it still needs more tools, it is already really great! You want to try? You try? Do you want to press the button? Hello, Ready for the game? Please find the monkey. Great ! You found the snake! My name is Charlotte, I am an educator of young children at the IME Oasis, so in the younger group. You must try again to find the right animal. 

Great! you found the lion! It’s not the right animal. Great! You found the lion! Great! You found the monkey! The interaction with the robot and this boy was very interesting. The kid loved it. But it was too fast for him, as he required more time to respond. And for the cards, double-sided cards would be better, because there is a handling problem, as he is a child who has a mobility and accuracy problem, so it's a little complicated for him.

However, he still enjoyed the interaction and the fact that the robot speaks. Great ! You found the lion! Again? Great! You found the lion! Dance! let’s go, dance! The advantage compared to tablets is that there is a real interaction with a small robot that moves his head. It’s true that for children like Thierry, who needs much visual stimulation, the robot is really very interesting. but it should be just a little bit slower, because he is a child who needs time to observe and understand, so the robot is still a little too fast compared to his ability, to answer questions.

The cards are also somewhat difficult to handle. It was hard for him to take them off the floor. And they are not double-sided, making it hard for him to submit them to the robot. So those are some things to think about it for this type of child. This is a step at a time. Do you want to stop the game? Well done, Thierry! Emotionally in terms of reactions, I have seen that the children were really attracted by Buddy, because there are other children who have asked to participate in this session but I had not registered them in the group. They came spontaneously to see Buddy. They have not been afraid and they had no fear of this robot, and this is the first time that we used a robot here.

They were really pleased and excited by the robot singing and dancing so it's been pretty easy for them, to connect with BUDDY. And they looked so happy. We, the adults, we were delighted to get to know BUDDY..

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$8000 Robot Unboxing!

Was geht Leute? Lew hier, zurück mit einem neuen Video. Und dieses hier ist ein ganzes Stück anders als sonst. Das ist, warum wir hier sind. 

Im Hauptbereich. Es ist eine große Entwicklung Und vielleicht nicht das, was du hier auf Unbox Therapy erwartest. Heute werden wir einen Roboter auspacken Um genauer zu sein; den NAO Roboter Nun, dieses Ding ist nicht billig Aber der Preis wurde vor kurzem gesenkt Du kannst es für etwa sechs oder siebentausend Dollar haben. Und ich weiß. 

Das klingt nach einer enormen Menge Geld aber diese werden normalerweise in schulischen Institutionen genutzt. Für's lernen. Lasst uns den NAO Roboter auspacken. Ich sage zu ihm "Er" Normalerweise ist das ein Produkt, das keine Persönlichkeit hat. 

Aber ich nenne ihn "Er" Weil er ein Humanoid is! Schau ihn dir an Zunächst werden wir mit diesem kleinen Poster begrüßt. Zuerst musst du ihn hochnehmen, ihn anschließen Internetverbundung natürlich; drei bist fünf Minuten und er kann dieses Wort sagen: "Agnak ganu", was auch immer das bedeutet.

Trag eine IP Adresse ein und booya, willkommen! Nun, NAO, ich sage immer wieder "nun". Er heißt NAO und ich sage "nun", heh. Hier ist noch ein bisschen mehr Papierkram. 

Und dann hast du eine Box; einen gigantischen Ladestecker Der NAO Roboter Das ist wie eine Geburt für ihn Für uns ist es ein Unboxing, für ihn ist es sein Geburtstag. Ist das nicht etwas besonderes?.

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Top 10 Futuristic Weapons Already Being Used

Welcome to Top10Archive! While peace is ideal, conflict always seems inevitable. While not at war, most nations will continue their research into devastating weapons to remain a contender in the war of nations. While these advances can lead to improvements and forward thinking along with technological advances, at what cost will we go to remain safe? 10. Active Denial System A non-lethal, directed energy weapon developed by the U.S. military, the Active Denial System was designed for area denial, perimeter security and crowd control.

Informally, the weapon is called a ray gun or heat ray since it works by heating the surface of targets, such as the skin of targeted human subjects. The ADS was deployed in 2010 with the U.S. military in the Afghanistan War, but was withdrawn without seeing combat. On August 20th, 2010, the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department announced its intent to use the technology on prisoners in the Pitchess Detention Center.

The ADS is currently only a vehicle mounted weapon, though police and U.S. marines are both working on portable versions which may make this technology more readily available and widespread. 9. Autonomous Weapon System Referring to remote controlled or artificially intelligent mobile robots or devices designed for military applications from transport, search and rescue, and defensive and offensive capabilities, many Autonomous systems are currently in use, but many more are under development. Autonomous robotics could save and preserve soldier's lives by removing serving soldiers from the battlefield. The goal is to allow machines to operate on their own for extended periods of time, possibly behind enemy lines. Some autonomous systems in development are the US Mechatronics sentry gun, a four wheeled robot outfitted for perimeter movement detection, the Autonomous Rotorcraft Sniper System that operates a sniper rifle attached to an unmanned helicopter, and the Mobile Autonomous Robot Software research program to develop more advanced military robots.

8. Electromagnetic Railgun The electromagnetic railgun is a projectile launcher that uses a pair of parallel conductors, or rails, along which a sliding armature is accelerated by the electromagnetic effects of a current that flows down one rail into the armature and then back along the other rail. Railguns are being researched as a weapon that would use neither explosives nor propellant, but rather rely on electromagnetic forces to achieve a very high kinetic energy for a projectile. In 2005, an electromagnetic railgun INP, or innovative naval prototype, was initiated and achieved its phase one goal for proof of concept. In 2012, phase 2 is underway and attempting to demonstrate a repetitive rate of fire capability. 7. LaWs - Laser Weapon System The AN/SEQ-3 laser weapon system or XN-1 LaWS is a directed energy weapon developed by the United States Navy. The weapon was installed on the USS Ponce for field testing in 2014, and in December of the same year, the United States Navy reported the weapon system worked perfectly. LaWS uses an infrared beam from a solid state laser array which can be tuned to high output to destroy the target or low output to warn or cripple the sensors of a target.

Among the advantages of this device versus projectile weapons are the low cost per shot, no repeated manufacture cost, and it does not take up storage space. The Laser Weapon System was designed to intercept enemy projectiles and small crafts, destroying or rendering them inert. 6. Gauss Gun Sometimes referred to as a coilgun, the Gauss gun is a type of projectile accelerator consisting of one or more coils used as electromagnets in a configuration of a linear motor that accelerates a ferromagnetic or a conducting projectile to high velocity. The coilgun generally consists of one or more coils arranged along a barrel, so the path of the accelerating projectile lies along the central axis of the coils.

The coils are switched on and off in a precisely timed sequence, causing the projectile to be accelerated quickly along the barrel by magnetic forces. While not a new concept, most Gauss guns are too heavy for field applications and require a more powerful energy source than currently available to make them equal or exceed current firing speeds. If these two problems, along with a few others are solved, the Gauss rifle is capable of exceeding railgun speeds. 5. Metal Storm Sentry Gun The Metal Storm Sentry Gun utilizes only one moving part, the bullet. Its design combines the barrel and magazine and has bullets lined behind each other, allowing it to fire at a faster rate. The bullets are fired using an electronic ignition system where at the push of a button, a series of electrical signals are sent down the barrel to the bullet. Removing the mechanical firing mechanism has made Metal Storm extremely reliable and the most powerful automatic gun in the world.

Metal storm can fire a devastating hail of bullets in two modes, it can unleash a stream of bullets, effectively making a supersonic spear that can pierce armor, and an unstoppable wall of bullets fired out of multiple barrels. Using 9mm rounds, Metal Storm can fire 16,000 rounds a second through multiple barrels, which is capable of destroying missiles before they reach their targets. Explosive rounds can also be utilized, and it requires nobody to man the gun effectively becoming a silent assassin.

4. Corner Shot Corner shot is a weapon accessory invented by Lieutenant Colonel Amos Golan of the Israeli Defense Forces in cooperation with American investors. It was designed in the early 2000s for SWAT teams and special forces in hostile situations that usually involved terrorists and hostages. Its purpose is similar to a periscope rifle as it allows its operator to both see and attack an armed target without exposing the operator to a counterattack. The pistol is mounted in the front end of the weapon, which bends horizontally at a sixty degree hinge, and a digital camera and flashlight are attached to the barrel in a bayonet position. On the butt side of the hinge is the trigger, camera screen, and controls for the camera and light.

The Corner shot is claimed to be accurate and effective with 9mm, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP pistols at 328 feet or 100 meters and 656 feet or 200 meters with a 5.7x28mm pistol. 3. DREAD Silent Weapon System From Trinamic Technologies, the DREAD silent weapon system utilizes a new concept for propulsion using electrical energy. The DREAD offers an extraordinary rate of fire of up to 120 rounds per minute in controlled bursts with no recoil. This combination provides an extremely high hit probability and the ability to simultaneously engage multiple targets. The DREAD has no blast, flash, or heat signature, allowing it to remain in a sustained fire mode without being detected. The lack of recoil allows the DREAD to be mounted on virtually anything and be deployed in any combat situation. Its simple mechanical construction and self cleaning capabilities totally eliminate the multiple failure modes of other weapons. 2. Aurora Excalibur Designed by Aurora Flight Sciences, the Excalibur is expected to fill a gap between current weaponized UAVs, or Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, and manned tactical air support platforms.

The Excalibur's smaller scale model was 13 feet or 4 meters in wingspan and successfully tested on June 24th, 2009. A full scale version will be capable of carrying four AGM-114 Hellfire missiles and has a travel speed of 460 miles or 749 kilometers per hour. When the aircraft is on the ground, weapons and payloads are placed over the wings to protect them from damage from dust or debris, but after takeoff it rolls upside down to a normal flight pattern with the payload and weapons in normal position under the wings. It is powered by a turbine engine, placed in an oblique position to generate thrust for forward flight, rotating vertically and for taking off and landing.

With a successful test flight, we will most likely see this device in action for swift decisive strikes. 1. MAHEM The Magneto Hydrodynamic Explosive Munition, or MAHEM, is a weapon being developed by DARPA that would utilize molten metal to penetrate enemy armored vehicles and reinforced structures. The molten metal would be propelled by electromagnetic fields from explosions. The MAHEM program offers the potential for higher efficiency, greater control, and the ability to generate and accurately time multiple jets and fragments from a single cartridge. If MAHEM works it would be a significant improvement on current explosively formed penetrators. This kind of weapon can be highly effective, but there are some drawbacks according to the U.S.

military planners. Drawbacks include them being one time use weapons and cannot efficiently form multiple SFPs, or Self Foraging Penetrators from a single charge. Not much more is known about this weapon as DARPA is closely guarding their secrets..

Gadget Gifts For Men

Top 5 BEST ROBOTICS GADGETS  Your Kid Must Have

[Voiceover] For ages, the dog has been man's best friend. We want to introduce you to man's new best friend. Meet Chip. Chip is a robotic dog that's much more than just a cool gadget. Chip is an interactive pet that there's to greet you at the door. With a smart band, Chip recognizes who his owner is. - [Man] Hey, have you seen my other slipper? Have you seen my other slipper? (robotic dog barks) - [Voiceover] And shows affection to them when near.

(contented whimpering) Chimp is obedient, and can follow commands. But he also learns new things, so you can teach him tricks. And the smarter Chip becomes, the more badges he earns. When you like what you see, just press the "like" button on the band, which can encourage him to behave or be a little mischievous. Your choices change Chip's behavior, and shapes his personality, so that no two Chips (contended whimpering and barking) are ever alike. Chip is a connected experience. He has a translator. (whimpering) - What is it, Chip? - [Voiceover] So you can understand his thoughts. (barking) He comes with his own smart ball, so you can play fetch and stay active together. He also has sensors, so he can maneuver around obstacles with ease. And with the mobile app, you can feed Chip. It shows you care. And that's important. Because when you're in need, no matter it big or small, he's there for you. With his beacon sense technology, Chip is fully aware of his surroundings.

- [Man] Seriously, no one's seen it? This is like the fifth time. - [Voiceover] He even knows how to return to his bed when it's time for a charge, so he never runs out of energy. Chip is a smart device. Chip is a robot. Chip is a dog. (barking) But most importantly, Chip is a friend. (barking) The best kind. (upbeat, energetic music) - [Voiceover] Introducing Robo Wunderkind, a revolutionary robotics kit for kids of all ages, which can be programmed and controlled with smart phones and tablets. Robo cubes can be attached from either side, so you can make different robots. - Two years ago, I was studying computer science at the Vienna University of Technology, and I was building robots on Arduino platform. My friends were fascinated by what I was doing, and they also wanted to build their own robots, but there's no fun and simple way for them to get started. This is why I decided to create a robot that would be easy to build and code and be accessible for everyone.

- We're inventing different electronics, such as micro controllers, sensors, motors, and giving camera onto the cubes. This way, kids can easily build unique robots with different functions and in any shape they can imagine. (dramatic, suspenseful music) (electronic beep) (exclamation) (electronic beep) (upbeat, cheerful music) - Hi, I'm Seifer, the designer of Vortex. Vortex is a revolutionary product for children. It is a smart and responsive robot that kids can play with and program. Using the Vortex and apps, kids can play different games, learn about robotics, and even create their own. Playing with Vortex is incredibly fun and easy, thanks to its unified system and intuitive app.

For example, the bumping fight is a sumo-style party game suitable for multiple players. The computer inside Vortex has sensors to detect motions like hitting, spinning, or being still. Vortex embraces new technologies, and allows users to experience them. The Fugitive is a unique game with augmented reality motion tracking technology. Children already love playing with our Vortex prototypes, and we can't wait for kids everywhere to get their own Vortex. Vortex is compatible with both iOS and Android devices, and comes with an open SD kit. Anyone who wants to develop a game for Vortex is empowered to do so, because every Vortex is a death kit. The only limit: your imagination. Vortex's app allows kids to learn to program their robots in a fun, simple, and educational environment.

By abstracting complicated actions and visualizing the process, the app teaches the basics of programming without any coding or advanced skill. Learning by doing has never been easier. Just drag, drop, and hit "upload." That simple. We wanted to make a great product, and to do it, we gathered the best people from industrial design, user experience, hardware, software, and game development. For the past two years, Vortex has undergone countless revisions and improvements, and we know that only through this process can we create a product that won't disappoint our future inventors.

Vortex is built on Arduino, an open-source hardware platform. It can see and speak by using infrared, gray scale, and sound speakers. Vortex can find its way around obstacles, tech lines, and report back to you. (electronic squeek) We've pre-installed the program and done the assembling. Vortex is fun right out of the box. Just open the app, switch it on, and start exploring. Vortex is also designed to be highly customizable, with colorful parts, stickers, maps. - Hello, Internet. My name's Kevin King, founder of Plum Geek. I'm here today to introduce Ringo. Ringo is a palm-sized robot based on the Aduino Uno.

He's perfect for any robotics enthusiast. The wide range of smarts and sensors we've included will challenge and entertain even the most advanced programmers, yet he's still a perfect fit for anyone taking their first steps into robotics or programming. Ringo ships with 10 interesting behaviors pre-loaded, so you can start having fun as soon as you open the box. You can activate and control the behaviors with the included remote-control. The light chase. Here, Ringo uses the three light sensors to track and follow the light. The pretty glow's coming from the two lights on his underside. You can make these any colors you want. The line follow. Here, he's using the edge sensors under his feelers to see the line. His eye flashes green when the sensor on that side sees the line. The finger nipper. Here, he's using his accelorometer in determining which direction he's pushed from. Then he attacks in that direction. The scaredy bug. Similar example, but he runs the opposite direction when disturbed. In this example, the gyroscope is used to keep Ringo pointed a specific direction even when disturbed.

Wind him up like a clock and let him go. He returns to the starting position. Pretty cool, huh? After you learn how the sensors work with the pre-loaded examples, you can customize them with your own personal touch, by editing our easy-to-understand example code. This is a great way to learn the basic structure of how a program works, and to move towards more advanced skills. You can make him come to life, like he has a real personality. He drives around using a pair of pager motors. The tips of the motors make contact with the surface on either side.

Both motors can run in either direction and at variable speed. This makes him very maneuverable. Ringo can determine where he is, how he's moving, and where he's pointing, thanks to an on-board accelerometer and gyroscope. He can be programmed to use these sensors to go in straight lines and to travel specific distances. This control lip can be made a bit sloppy on purpose, which results in a characteristic buggy swagger. No swag. A bit of swag. Lots of swag. It's as easy as changing a variable in your code. He can show you how he's feeling with six RGB LEDs. These are the same lights used in neopixel products from Adafruit.

Each can be made to show any color you can think of, and then it can be controlled individually. Ringo can see light from 360 degrees, using three sensors. He can determine the direction of light and shadows. There's sensors under the feelers that can be used to follow a line, sense edges, and avoid jumping off your table. Thanks to an on-board TV remote control receiver, you can trigger and control behaviors with a remote, or teach him to respond to just about any other TV remote. He has three infrared light sources pointed 120 degrees apart, which can be used to communicate with other Ringo bots, appliances like your TV, or used together with the light sensors to sense objects or movement nearby. (jazzy music).

please see the video ----->>click

Cool Desk Gadgets

Hey, What's up Guys! Naman Kashyap here for NK Softeck and welcome to a very exciting tutorial on How to cutomize your desktop in Windows 10 from this to.. this awesome isn't it ? So let's jump right into it First of all you need to download and install rainmeter software for that type in your browser "rainmeter.net" here are two files beta release and another is 3.final release for now I am going to download 3.

final release and remember all this links I have provided in the description down below and also I have compressed all this things to one file and uploaded it by which you can easily get all this files at once it is of MB just download this or you can also download each things seperately after downloading it just go to you downloads folder and extract the .rar file here you will get all files which I am going to use in this tutorial first, 

we are going to install Rainmeter software simple by just double clicking on it after that unload this preloaded skin which comes default with rainmeter software by simply right clicking on it and select unload skin cuz we are going to use customized rainmeter skin now go back to your downloads folder and open rainmeter skins folder here are all the skins now we will install rainmeter skins manually to install any rainmeter skin just right click on it and select install now to open rainmeter 

click on show hidden icons button in your taskbar here you will find rainmeter icon just double click on it to open it in skins tab you will find your skins which you have installed launch any rainmeter skin by simply just double clicking on it you can also launch your raimeter skin according to your desktop resolution after that you can simply manage your skins to move any skin just click and drag it simple isn't it :) ? 

if you want to adjust more settings on any skin just right click on it and select settings according to you rainmeter is fully customizable you can adjust many settings according to you once you have finished setting up your desktop you will get an awesome live desktop one thing I forgot to mention if you are using windows 10 you can make start, taskbar and action center transparent to do this go settings select personalization now in colors tab scroll down and turn on the last option which says make start, taskbar and action center transparent Now, you have an awesome live desktop up and running and that's all this to it Thanks for watching guys :) 

I really hope you enjoyed the tutorial if you have any comments, questions or suggestions just leave them in the section down below please remember to subscribe cuz I will upload many awesome tutorials on this channel hit that Like button and Share the video around it really help me alot and you know you can also follow me on twitter or facebook until next time I will see you later :)

Cool Cooking Gadgets

Re-Sealer Gadget: Alright, so here we go a packet of chips. We’ve all done it, we’ve eaten some chips and then we want to not eat anymore and leave it for another day. What do we usually do? Roll it up like this and close it with one of these, but the problem is air leaches in and then they become old. There must be a better way. 

There is, there’s this little gadget here. It’s a little battery powered sealer. Basically it just heats up a little filament and then melts together plastic bags or chip packets. All you do is just press down like this and drag it alone and it seals together the two layers just like it was sealed in the factory allowing no air to get inside and it stays fresher for longer.

You see it’s nice and sealed like this, just great. I really love this gadget, I’m going to leave some links in the description where you can get one of these yourself and all the other gadgets in this video. Wi-Fi Kettle: So this here is a smart kettle. It can connect with Wi-Fi and do magical things. You can also operate it normally just like this, pressing the button manually and changing the temperature as you wish. 

But if you pair it with your Smartphone along with the Make Sushi app then you can turn it on from anywhere within your house. You see the light just turned on there, you can switch the temperature to whatever you want your water to be. The great thing about this is you could be in bed and you can turn on your kettle and then by the time you get to your kitchen it will be boiled and you can get straight down to business of making tea or soup or whatever you want.

Or say you’re working in the office and when you get to the kitchen its ready and you don’t have to waste any time waiting for your kettle to boil. I think this thing is epic. Beaker Weighing Scale: Alright so here I’ve got some standard measuring equipment, a weighing scale and a beaker and here I’ve got a great new little gadget, it’s a beaker and weight scale in one. All you do is press this little button here to activate the weighing scale component of it and then you can weight stuff.

For example this spoon is 2 ½ ounces. If I click this it’s 71 grams. It’s great converting in between things that’s what I found and you can just put different presets. For example water here and I’m just going to pour some water into it. If you have a recipe that’s using different measurements than what you’re used to and you don’t want to have to convert this thing can do it for you. For example here now it’s in cups, if I press units it goes to milliliters, press unit again it goes to fluid ounces.

It’s got little markings on the outside just in case. I think this is a great gadget for any kitchen. Check it out in the links in the description below. Egg Minder: This is here is called the egg minder. Basically it’s a high-tech egg tray that connects with any Smartphone. It gives you updated intelligence reports on your eggs. 

Now it works very simply you just take an egg and place it in and it registers it when you place it in. Here’s the first egg, second egg and this one here is the third egg. Now it indicates which on is the first egg you put in, the first one you should use with this little blue light.

If we take it out it moves to the second egg you put in, and so on and so on. So when I take this one out it will move to the third egg there. Now the awesome stuff really starts to happen when you connect it with your Smartphone. Here you go you can see in the app it tells you which egg to take, and if you click on an egg it tells you when you placed it in and when theoretically you should use it by. 

Now if someone happens to take an egg out it will directly update with your phone and tell you how many eggs you have left. As you can see I’m on my 4G network so this would work in the grocery store or when you’re outside the house. So there’s never any doubt of how many eggs you have left, you can always know exactly how many you have even if someone is taking them while you’re out of the house. And if you place them back as you can see it will directly update now and tell you how many eggs you have.

I think this is a definite buy; you should definitely have one of these, whoever you are. Automatic Bin: Okay this here is a bin you can operate it with your foot or you can operate it with your hand, pretty standard. But this here this is the future you just put your hand on top and it sensor activates and it opens it automatically. It runs on batteries or you can put it with a power cable. 


I’m honestly going to change every bin in my house in the kitchen for one of these things. Peeling Gadget: Apples, who really wants to peel these things? But if you do you use one of these gadgets or a ceramic peeler or any of these other peelers I’ve got. Apparently I’ve got way too many peelers. But who really wants to go through the effort of peeling? Well here I’ve got the solution, an electric peeling gadget.

All you do is just pop your apple in like this, drive the spike into it, pull this thing up and then just hit the button. And off it goes, it just starts peeling your apple. I should have probably started a little bit higher but it’s completely effortless, you have to do nothing. It’s fricken awesome! Look at that thing go. Once it’s done you can use apple for whatever you want. But I found something very interesting. If you put the apple in again and you start where you already peeled then it just starts to cut the actual fruit part of the apple into strands just like this.

This would be awesome for apple pies or adding into salads, who knows what other thousand ways you could use this, I’ll leave it to you to give it a go. There’s also other things you can peel with this, for example take a lime. Pop it in just like this, drive the spike into it and start peeling it. 

8tt 
 88zNow this is great for cocktails because you can use this lime peel for your drinks in some way, or orange peel, or you could even throw a little kiwi in there. Basically anything that is round, even potatoes, go crazy. This thing can handle basically anything. Definitely something you want to get. END.