In April 2018, Starship Technologies started transporting groceries to residents in Milton Keynes, U.K., from a co-op food store. A year later, the company has announced it has made more than 50,000 commercial deliveries with its autonomous robots. In total, the robo-deliverers have travelled more than 200,000 miles in more than 100 cities worldwide. Lex…
Europe Takes First Steps Toward a Secure Quantum Communications Network
Cyber criminals are always prowling today’s networks. In preparation for Europe’s quantum communications network, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Commission (EC) have joined forces with their sights set on security. Magali Vaissiere, director of Telecommunications and Integrated Applications at ESA, says, “Only by stimulating innovation can Europe place itself at the forefront…
Spacewalking Astronauts Upgrade Power Systems, Install Cables for Wireless Comms
Astronauts Anne McClain and David Saint-Jacques embarked on a spacewalk Friday, April 8, to continue work on the International Space Station (ISS). This marks the third spacewalk of 2019, adding to the successful March 22 and March 29 journeys outside the space station. The latest spacewalk established a “redundant path of power” to the Canadian-built…
Students Battle It out in Autonomous Vehicle AI Algorithm Competition
The Japan Automotive AI Challenge recently took place, an event where university students can pit there AI algorithm against others, competing for superior accuracy during self-driving car tests. Velodyne Lidar was a gold sponsor of the event. Dr. Shinpei Kato, founder & CTO, Tier IV, Inc., says, “This competition seeks to discover and nurture future…
Communicating with the Spacecraft That’ll Travel Closest to the Sun
The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Solar Orbiter will venture just one-fifth of Earth’s distance to the Sun, subjecting itself to intense heat all in the name of science. Its mission is to conduct high-resolution, close-up studies of the Sun and inner heliosphere. The spacecraft is currently undergoing vibration tests (Figure 1) in Ottobrunn, Germany, at…
Drones Gather Intel on Supercell Thunderstorms
Supercell thunderstorms are terrifying natural marvels that carry high risks of lethality and devastation. To improve prediction and reduce “false alarm” tornado warnings, researchers are planning an investigation centered on radar and unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) called the Targeted Observation by Radars and UAS of Supercells (TORUS). The study will gather intel on the supercell’s…
Wayve’s Self-Driving Car Uses Only Basic Cameras and Sat-Nav
By using end-to-end machine learning, Wayve has developed an autonomous vehicle system that has human-like driving skills by using “only cameras and a sat-nav,” according to the company. The system forgoes hand-coded rules, sensor suites, and high-definition maps, yet still demonstrates complex navigation on unfamiliar urban roads. Below you can see Wayve’s data-centric system on…
Volkswagen Tests Level 4 Automated Vehicles in Hamburg, Germany
Among the urban traffic in Hamburg, Germany, will be a fleet of five e-Golf automated test vehicles from Volkswagen Group Research. According to the company, it will be “the first time Volkswagen has begun to test automated driving to Level 4 at real driving conditions in a major German city.” Hamburg is currently undergoing a…
Brain Corp Announces Autonomous Proof-of-Concept Delivery Robot
San Diego-based Brain Corp has announced a proof-of-concept, in-store, autonomous delivery robot. Dubbed AutoDelivery, the robot is described as an “autonomous tug” that can pull several types of carts and transport goods in a number of public environments. It’s also a customizable design, which provides a versatile autonomous delivery solution to commercial facilities, warehouses, factories,…
Spacecraft Antenna Searches for Possible Life-Sustaining Ocean on Europa
Scientists believe that underneath the icy surface of Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons, lies a vast salty ocean that could contain favorable conditions for life. The Europa Clipper spacecraft will investigate this claim, and onboard will be a high-gain antenna (HGA) that will send and receive signals to and from Earth, beaming back “high-resolution images…