Aerial Robotics Competition

anphilip writes "The annual International Aerial Robotics Competition just wrapped up, and I thought while our teams waited for the results I'd let the folks at Slashdot know about it. At any rate there's a brief story here and the group website is here."

Re:Acrobatic Robots

[greymond]

When they make Cherry 2000's is when most people will care.

Re:Acrobatic Robots

[marked23]

Cherry 2000, Old and Busted. Jessica Dooley, New Hotness!

Army can't do it?

[solive1]

Mike Kennedy (from the article): "These kids are cutting edge. They're doing things the Army can't do yet." What information does he have that says that the Army can't do this yet? Surely the Army doesn't give away all its secrets to this guy.

Re:Army can't do it?

[swb]

It's not that the Army isn't doing it in some R&D lab, but regular army is pretty constrained by all that bureaucracy.

It's kind of like how hikers and campers often have gear the regular army doesn't have.

It's not just bureaucracy...

[Anonymous Coward]

There are a lot of considerations the military has to deal with that don't apply to "normal" situations.

The example of hiking gear is a good one. Sure you can sell all kinds of stuff to hikers who go out a couple of weekends a year... that's completely different from providing something to someone who is going to spend six months of every year in all kinds of outdoor environments from the desert to arctic/alpine climate. (Ask me how I know gear is used like this :-/ )

When I was in the 82nd, sure my pack w

Parent should be MODDED UP!

[xmas2003]

Ditto all of that from the AC parent - this is an extreme example (meant to be modded funny), but if people are shooting at you, which would you rather have - this hovercraft [komar.org] or this airboat [komar.org] ;-)

Re:Army can't do it?

[myte]

I guess it depends on which army they are talking about.The team's home country our the US Army.

For example, if Canada...I believe it. ;-)

Re:Army can't do it?

[RWerp]

FYI: the Canadian government does not like to brag about it, but Canadian snipers had more kills in Afghanistan than any others (probably per sniper, but who knows).

Re:Army can't do it?

[javiercero]

.... and that relates to aerial robotic research... how?

Re:Army can't do it?

[RWerp]

The guy suggested that Canadian army has lousy equipment.

Re:Army can't do it?

[Moofie]

Doesn't take a hell of a lot of equipment for a sniper to do his job, does it?

Re:Army can't do it?

[RWerp]

No, you just need any rifle to take out a person at >2 thousand meters.

Re:Army can't do it?

[Moofie]

A Barrrett Light .50 costs, what? $6000? Maybe another few grand for a badass scope? Then you need a spotter with some good binoculars.

Two guys with long guns is not "a hell of a lot of equipment".

Re:Army can't do it?

[Rolo Tomasi]

So what? Fuckin AWP campers ...

Re:Army can't do it?

[D.Throttle]

If you read the article more carefully it says "Mike Kennedy, a robotics projects officer at the lab". He's an officer in the ARMY at Fort Benning where this took place.

Re:Army can't do it?

[Gary Destruction]

Just because he's a robotics projects offer doesn't mean that he knows everything that goes on. It depends on security clearance levels.

Re:Army can't do it?

[asynchronous13]

"What information does he have that says that the Army can't do this yet?"

Maybe the DARPA contract that hired Georgia Tech [gatech.edu] to design a UAV helicopter? Incidentally, this is the lab I work for. A choice quote from a high ranking army official at a recent demonstration of the GTMax [gatech.edu]was, "It is criminal for this thing to be sitting in the lab". He was impressed, and the Army wants one.

Most people like to see the videos [gatech.edu]

Re:Army can't do it?

[Rolo Tomasi]

That is cool. Maybe then some day we won't need soldiers to carry out tedious tasks like these [xmission.com].

Re:Army can't do it?

[tuxlove]

I'd hazard a guess that flying autonomous military robots like, oh, say, Tomahawk missiles, can pretty much do what these things do (except land, but of course you don't want them to :). And they've been around a long time.

But, in fact, the military is actively developing flying robots of other kinds as well. You certainly don't hear all about it, but the stuff you do hear is pretty damn amazing.

Whoa

[cephyn]

"It's a robot -- just a flying one," said senior Jessica Dooley, 22, of Phoenix, stepping mechanically like a robot and making "err, err, err" sounds.

Wow. She sounds hot...

Re:Whoa

[Anonymous Coward]

"It's a robot -- just a flying one," said senior Jessica Dooley, 22, of Phoenix, stepping mechanically like a robot and making "err, err, err" sounds.

Wow. She sounds hot...

"Computers are cool", said girl, 18.

Wow, she sounds hot too.

Re:Whoa

[natron 2.0]

Of course to the typical /. poster, any girl talking about robots is hot.

Re:Whoa

[Anonymous Coward]

any girl talking about robots is hot

"talking about robots" is redundant

Re:Whoa

[mikeophile]

She is. [arizona.edu]

Re:Whoa

[mao che minh]

No she isn't

Re:Whoa

[Anonymous Coward]

But check out the rocket between her legs here. [arizona.edu]

Oh, mama!

Re:Whoa

[cephyn]

Once again, ability to make robot sound effects properly predicts good mating characteristics!

Hot chicks on Slashdot

[TiggertheMad]

This is the point in the converstaion where all the Spammer-hunters jump in, and post her address, home phone number, HS year book pictures and DMV records.

Any time now.

Waiting...

Awe, come on, you sick twisted stalkers, you can't keep all the nice ones to yourself!

Re:Hot chicks on Slashdot

[cephyn]

Hmm now i feel kinda guilty for having mentioned anything...

Re:wtf is that?

[Rorschach1]

"That pic is useless for determining hotness level."

Dude... she's clearly female, and has a laptop. That's good enough for the /. crowd.

Re:wtf is that?

[indiechild]

Ah, but the real question is: does she use Linux?

Grass-root urban surveillance

[mikeophile]

I won't trade privacy for security...but I might trade it for a remote control voyeur-bot.

Robotic X-Prize

[artlu]

Similar to having an X-Prize, there should be greater monetary rewards for robot evolution. Ie: a biped robot that can beat a human on a mile stretch, etc. Then, maybe we would see some quicker robot evolution!

GroupShares Inc. [groupshares.com] - A Free and Interactive Stock Market Community

Re:Robotic X-Prize

[cephyn]

Right. That's all we need...a robot that looks like us and beats us to death.

Re:Robotic X-Prize

[SparklesMalone]

Wouldn't a Pentagon contract be enough? And is 2nd place a contract with the Russians? Somewhere down around 40th place is a contract with the Korean military...

Re:Robotic X-Prize

[JeanBaptiste]

"Ie: a biped robot that can beat a human on a mile stretch, etc"

oh, im pretty sure asimo could take me at a mile stretch. [honda.com]

Re:Robotic X-Prize

[Jim Starx]

Do you crawl the mile??

Re:Robotic X-Prize

[darthBear]

This year any team to complete the whole mission would have taken home $40,000 US. Since no team achieved all the objectives the pot will grow by $10,000 for next year.

Re:Robotic X-Prize

[apikoros]

The problem is not to beat a human....
The problem is to stay on the course [msn.com]!

I'll bet there would be real problems flying these things in the "real world", you know the one with power lines [msn.com] and flag poles.

Re:Robotic X-Prize

[syukton]

mile stretch? no problem. mile on a non-circular track? now we're talking. How about a mile on a random course over rough terrain? ok, NOW we're talking. That's something that's worth a reward.

Psh!!

[iamdrscience]

These guys are just now making flyring robots that may one day be able to fight? Gigantor the space age robot has been fighting and flying for over 40 years now! Further proof that the Japanese are lightyears ahead of us in robot technology.

Gigantor Gigantor Gigaaaaa-aaa-aaantor!

Gigantor the space aged robot,
He is at your command.
Gigantor the space aged robot,
His power is in your hand.

Bigger than big, taller than tall,
Quicker than quick, stronger than strong.
Ready to fight for right, agains

Groups site google cache.

[the1truedan]

Waterloo Aerial Robotics Group Google Cache [64.233.167.104]

Karma police, enjoy.

Robot Soccer?

[raquelita]

See this...

The 9th World Cup is coming [fira.net]

And then we talk...

Naming is important

[Profane MuthaFucka]

If you call it a flying robot, that's OK. But if you build essentially the same thing and call it a cruise missile, the government of New Zealand will have a problem with it.

Attack Drones

[Chagatai]

Someone recently sent a model plane over the Atlantic [robotbooks.com] much in the same manner as these kids. I wonder if terrorists would develop something like this. Imagine, some guy in the Middle East builds forty or fifty of these aircraft, programs them with waypoints, and lets 'em loose. They recharge by day through solar energy and run off of batteries at night. A few days later, Washington DC is surrounded by these planes flying circles over the city en masse, at which point they do something nasty.

Hey, Congressmen: No amount of legislation would stop this.

Re:Attack Drones

[Chairboy]

Or... they bypass the unecessarilly complex solar arrangement and use commonly available R/C parts in the US to do the same thing.

Of course, you can always depend on slashdot for:
1. Rube Goldberg type planning ('What's to stop Microsoft from using their monopoly position to force retailers to put robots in the stores that shine lights at people when they don't buy MS products, eventually herding them to the Microsoft aisle?')

2. Vaguely threatening situations like the 'flock of planes' doing something 'na

Re:Attack Drones

[proj_2501]

slashdot is like an SCA meeting that way.

Re:Attack Drones

[cephyn]

Hey, what IS to stop microsoft from doing that? someone should make a law!

You mean like the Japanese Fire Balloons?

[bensyverson]

During WWII, the Japanese sent many hydrogen-filled "fire balloons" [wikipedia.org] across the Pacific on the jet stream. Some of them actually hit targets believe it or not, and one was the cause of the only civilian casualty on American soil during WWII.

Re:Attack Drones

[HeghmoH]

Oh no, fifty ten-pound model aircraft flying around over our nation's capital! What shall we do?! Somebody might get hurt, if they were really really unlucky!

Voiding the warranty

[Himring]

...and then launch a probe that could send video images of the interior to soldiers at a safe distance.

To: Canon Factory Service
1440 Chase AVE
Elk Grove Village, IL 60007

Concerning:
Canon Elura 65 digital camcorder malfunction

To whom it may concern,
I have greatly enjoyed my Elura 65 camcorder. I got it after reading a review by PCWorld. I bought it from Staples on 6/12/04 and have used it a lot. This past weekend, the lens became unable to fully close or fully open, and any videos taken with

Always wanted to make...

[NoMoreNicksLeft]

A gasoline powered flying robot, a helicopter of some sort. Have any electronics powered by some sort of small generator/dynamo running off the engine. Here's the cool part... have it with a sensor in the gas tank, so it knows when it is getting empty. Have a straw coming out the bottom that it can siphon with... then put up a big 50 gallon drum with a homing beacon for it to find. Wouldn't have to be really intelligent, just enough to keep from crashing into things, and to find its way home. Send it out al

Re: Robotic Helicopters and 55 Gallons of gas

[some guy I know]

1. Robotic helicopter with a very hot engine and a straw sticking out the bottom.
2. 55-Gallon drum of gasoline outgassing from a hole where the straw goes in.
3. (In the words of that "Dances with Wolves" guy from "The Red Green Show") BOOOOM!

Re: Robotic Helicopters and 55 Gallons of gas

[NoMoreNicksLeft]

Gasoline isn't explosive unless vaporized. Catching on fire is a concern, but hell, actively cool the refueling station. But yeh. Even a failure could be quite the fireworks event. ;)

Re: Robotic Helicopters and 55 Gallons of gas

[some guy I know]

Gasoline isn't explosive unless vaporized.

Which is why I wrote "outgassing".
While I wrote the post as a joke, here is how I envision the explosion could take place:

1. Outgassing gasoline vapor ignites from coming in contact with the hot model helicopter engine.
2. The explosion procedes along a gas 'trail" to the drum opening.
3. The explosion near the opening rips the opening wider, and/or maybe creates new openings nearby.
4. Turbulence and high pressure from the explosion forces atmospheric oxygen through the op

Re: Robotic Helicopters and 55 Gallons of gas

[NoMoreNicksLeft]

So you're suggesting that not only do I isolate this from my body and important properties, but that I set up a camcorder to prudently record the expensive but satisfying entertainment? Fair enough, but whenwe get this on slashdot, you're going to have to mirror the mpeg too....

mmm...

[JakeisBland]

Yarf! err...err...err Yap!

Re:The bigger picture is

[Deadstick]

The military used helicopters for search, rescue and medical evacuation twenty years before using them for anything else.

where are the ballonbots?

[flechette_indigo]

I checked out their site and didn't see any balloon robots. Then I googled and observed a definite dearth. What's up with that? Such an obvious design and so few implementations.

Re:where are the ballonbots?

[ryanmfw]

It would have to go three miles in fifteen minutes, then fly into a building. It might be good for the flying into the building bit, but I've never seen a fast blimp.

Re:where are the ballonbots?

[darthBear]

this is an idea we considered but in order to be able to life a reasonable payload the blimp actually has to be bigger than the opening in the building.

Re:where are the ballonbots?

[ryanmfw]

I can believe it. :-) And the payload (in the form of batteries and motors) that would be necessary to move it fast enough would require that increase in size. Probably.

Military Research - yuck

[hey]

Its sad to me that sooo much research military-related. Yes, the Internet was done by [D]ARPA. I wish we could focus that energy into something besides ways of snooping on people then shooting hellfire missles at them. How about an X-Prize for vaccuming robots instead.

Are we celebrating this?

[d474]

FTA:

"...paving the way for a new generation of surveillance gear that could help soldiers during urban warfare..."

Urban warfare? Great future - sounds like lots of fun.
Sometimes I really wonder how programmed we all are...

NOW you tell us

[SEWilco]

You really should give us a heads-up before them things start buzzing around.

Competition homepage

[aggiefalcon01]

A bit late maybe, but this link oughtta be added in there: it's the homepage for the competition itself:
http://avdil.gtri.gatech.edu/AUVS/IARCLaunchPoint. html [gatech.edu]
Scrolling down in that page provides a list of the teams competing, as well as links to their homepages.

This link [gatech.edu] is about this particular event.

I have to think, though, that a competition with 11 USA teams and 4 Canadian ones is hardly 'international' ...

I went to the competition and...

[seltzered]

The American teams were fairly disappointing.

The American teams that brought their stuff were South Dakota School of Mines & Tech (SDSMT), Southern Poly State University(SPSU), Arizona State, and LeTourneau.

The problem is that SPSU, SDSMT and LeTourneau (who all used helicopters) all spent ~1500 bucks on a navigation system (made by rotomotion), instead of being creative and making their own. To make matters worse, the rotomotion system is horribly designed and their navigation system is still very un

Re:I went to the competition and...

[RevRigel]

That Rotomotion system is actually $5500. [rotomotion.com]

In other news...

[TapeCutter]

....Hackers caused havoc today as a large number of police spybots started deliberately flying into each other over police headequarters. Video from the kamakzi spybots has been circlating on the web...