Newhall - Fire-fighter injuries and delays in fire-retardant-dropping air-bombers increase when model aircraft, drones, fly within or near restricted airspace that is intended for wild-fire fighting, according to the National Inter-agency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho. See whole story, www.dailymail.co.uk.
Thursday, June 25, 2015
400 ft. 4,000 ft. 11,000 ft...One of Those is Right
Newhall - A drone flying at approximately 11,000 feet required the loss of two hours of fire-fighting time, after the drone interfered with fire-fighting operations in Newhall, California. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) classifies drones as model aircraft, and-as-such, limits their flight altitude to 400 feet maximum. See whole story, www.ktla.com.
Monday, June 22, 2015
MOST SOUGHT AFTER SPORTS CAR
Carmel - The 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO, known by connoisseurs as, 'chassis number 3851 GT', that sold in California in August 2014, set a new high for a classic car at $38 million. The Ferrari 250 GTO beat the previous sale record of approximately $30 million, for a Mercedes W196. The Ferrari 250 GTO is among the world's most rare and sought-after cars. Only 39 Ferrari 250 GTOs were built. See whole story, www.latimes.com.
Thursday, June 18, 2015
Robotic Soccer
Pittsburgh - According to the Economist robots are coming on stronger. Half a century is roughly the time that separates ENIAC, America's first electronic computer, from Deep Blue, the IBM machine that beat chess playing grandmaster Garry Kasparov in 1997. Now, robots are beginning to do to European football (soccer) what IBM's Deep Blue did to the board game of chess.
RoboCup is a competition for robot soccer players, rather than flesh-and-blood ones. This year RoboCup kicked off on July 19, 2014 in Joao Pessoa, Brazil. A question that is on many minds is: when will real machines conquer the sport. Robots do not require a salary and may reduce the annual costs of running a soccer team. When the first RoboCup was held in 1997, those who launched it set a target of 2050 as the decade engineers would produce a humanoid robot that will rival the champions of that future teams era. The plodding clumsiness of the RoboCup players is quickly improving. For instance, self-driving cars and delivery drones, which seemed hopelessly futuristic a decade ago, are now products that businesses may purchase for use now, in 2014. This years RoboCup had 150 teams. However, the tournament includes features the organizers hope will accelerate innovation, without the incentive of cash. For instance, the teams run on very low yearly budgets that are regulated by league rules. The second rules is a clever combination of competition and co-operation. Leading up to the playoffs, teams prepare new strategies and fine-tune their hardware and software secrets. And, immediately after the finals have been played the teams must publish the methods they employed during the competition. That fills in the gap for something another team might be weak at, and thus the level of learning how to make the robots play, is raised for the entire sport of robotic-soccer. Thirdly, there are limits to how far teams can push their hardware. This encourages machinists and engineers to develop smarter ways to win, rather than by using mere brute force. Fourthly, RoboCup is comprised of several leagues. These RoboCup leagues range from a little league of miniature cylinders on wheels, like the "Star Wars" character R2-D2, and in which league, the entire team is controlled by one computer using input from overhead cameras to a fully-limbed humanoid league, like R2-D2's companion C-3PO. In the humanoid league, which is further divided into three sizes of robot - kid, teen, and adult - each android has its own independent on-board sensors and artificial intelligence software. Also with software, for those robo-jocks who are better at software than hardware, their is a virtual league. Competition in the virtual league focuses on improving the software needed to program the robots. That software will be used for the fast play style of robotic soccer. The software will eventually be combined with the hardware - machinery of the robot - to make the robot. While robots in the humanoid league are still lumbering and prone to error, the speed-and-accuracy of the smaller robots is stunning. In the little league the robots mechanical accuracy is better, perhaps because they require less power. Little league robots can kick a ball at speeds of up to 24 feet per second. They could easily shoot harder were it not for hardware-control regulations that set a maximum speed. Manuela Veloso helped found RoboCup and her group has won the most final's titles in the little league. In 2009 Dr. Veloso and her colleagues decided to share with their competitors, the software that had led their team to a win-streak of RoboCups. See also, www.popularmechanics.com.
RoboCup is a competition for robot soccer players, rather than flesh-and-blood ones. This year RoboCup kicked off on July 19, 2014 in Joao Pessoa, Brazil. A question that is on many minds is: when will real machines conquer the sport. Robots do not require a salary and may reduce the annual costs of running a soccer team. When the first RoboCup was held in 1997, those who launched it set a target of 2050 as the decade engineers would produce a humanoid robot that will rival the champions of that future teams era. The plodding clumsiness of the RoboCup players is quickly improving. For instance, self-driving cars and delivery drones, which seemed hopelessly futuristic a decade ago, are now products that businesses may purchase for use now, in 2014. This years RoboCup had 150 teams. However, the tournament includes features the organizers hope will accelerate innovation, without the incentive of cash. For instance, the teams run on very low yearly budgets that are regulated by league rules. The second rules is a clever combination of competition and co-operation. Leading up to the playoffs, teams prepare new strategies and fine-tune their hardware and software secrets. And, immediately after the finals have been played the teams must publish the methods they employed during the competition. That fills in the gap for something another team might be weak at, and thus the level of learning how to make the robots play, is raised for the entire sport of robotic-soccer. Thirdly, there are limits to how far teams can push their hardware. This encourages machinists and engineers to develop smarter ways to win, rather than by using mere brute force. Fourthly, RoboCup is comprised of several leagues. These RoboCup leagues range from a little league of miniature cylinders on wheels, like the "Star Wars" character R2-D2, and in which league, the entire team is controlled by one computer using input from overhead cameras to a fully-limbed humanoid league, like R2-D2's companion C-3PO. In the humanoid league, which is further divided into three sizes of robot - kid, teen, and adult - each android has its own independent on-board sensors and artificial intelligence software. Also with software, for those robo-jocks who are better at software than hardware, their is a virtual league. Competition in the virtual league focuses on improving the software needed to program the robots. That software will be used for the fast play style of robotic soccer. The software will eventually be combined with the hardware - machinery of the robot - to make the robot. While robots in the humanoid league are still lumbering and prone to error, the speed-and-accuracy of the smaller robots is stunning. In the little league the robots mechanical accuracy is better, perhaps because they require less power. Little league robots can kick a ball at speeds of up to 24 feet per second. They could easily shoot harder were it not for hardware-control regulations that set a maximum speed. Manuela Veloso helped found RoboCup and her group has won the most final's titles in the little league. In 2009 Dr. Veloso and her colleagues decided to share with their competitors, the software that had led their team to a win-streak of RoboCups. See also, www.popularmechanics.com.
Electronic Entertainment Expo 2015
Hollywood - New hardware (3-D Printers, hand-held game-controllers, virtual reality machines, etc.) new video games, new versions of previously existing video games, new software, and more. The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E-3) is an annual video game show and conference at the Los Angeles Convention Center. This years show took place from June 16-18.
For 2015, there was more of what we want, some of the leading computer and video companies, business partners, media,and industry analysts from over 100 countries converged on the Los Angles Convention Center. Among some of the extra features of E-3 were house-sized walk-through virtual reality exhibits and live-streamed interviews of experts, visionaries, and entrepreneurs from all walks of the computer and video-game industry. E-3 is owned and operated by entertainment software association (esa), which is dedicated to serving the needs of the companies publishing interactive games for video game consoles (machines that are distinct from coin-operated arcade machines or home computers, hand-held devices, personal computers, and the internet. See also, www.e3expo.com.
For 2015, there was more of what we want, some of the leading computer and video companies, business partners, media,and industry analysts from over 100 countries converged on the Los Angles Convention Center. Among some of the extra features of E-3 were house-sized walk-through virtual reality exhibits and live-streamed interviews of experts, visionaries, and entrepreneurs from all walks of the computer and video-game industry. E-3 is owned and operated by entertainment software association (esa), which is dedicated to serving the needs of the companies publishing interactive games for video game consoles (machines that are distinct from coin-operated arcade machines or home computers, hand-held devices, personal computers, and the internet. See also, www.e3expo.com.
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
On The Down-Low Drone Racing
Melbourne - Underground drone racing is really racing. Underground drone racing is increasng in popularity in Australia. Competitors build and prepare their drone-quadcopters for racing in abandoned warehouses, schoolyards, and neighborhoods.
In what has been called Game of Drones, the sport, of drone-flying, which has been done in neighborhoods, warehouses, and schoolyards across the country for decades, is being taken to a new level of intensity. This new version pits drone against drone in fast-paced races. Some drone clubs meet weekly to push their drones to the limit. According to, NOWTHISNEWS, some of these drones hit speeds of 60-70 miles per hour (mph). These drones are not autonomous (self-piloting). These drones use the skills of the pilots to fly at higher speeds and avoid obstacles. See whole story and video, www.aol.com.
In what has been called Game of Drones, the sport, of drone-flying, which has been done in neighborhoods, warehouses, and schoolyards across the country for decades, is being taken to a new level of intensity. This new version pits drone against drone in fast-paced races. Some drone clubs meet weekly to push their drones to the limit. According to, NOWTHISNEWS, some of these drones hit speeds of 60-70 miles per hour (mph). These drones are not autonomous (self-piloting). These drones use the skills of the pilots to fly at higher speeds and avoid obstacles. See whole story and video, www.aol.com.
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