Honda Aircraft Company unveiled the HondaJet 2600 Concept at the 2021 NBAA Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (NBAA-BACE) in Las Vegas, and it’s the world’s first light jet capable of nonstop transcontinental flights in the United States. The aircraft is 40% longer and wider compared to its predecessor, capable of carrying a maximum of 10 passengers, which is 4 more than the original model can transport. Read more for two videos, including an in-depth tour, additional pictures and information.
Ghost Robotics has partnered with Sword Defense Systems to develop a sniper rifle-equipped Vision 60 robot. At 17-pounds, it comes equipped with a Teledyne FLIR Boson thermal camera boasting 30X optical zoom perfect for stealthy missions, and a Special Purpose Unmanned Rifle (SPUR) that fires 6.5 mm Creedmoor rounds or 7.62 x 51 mm NATO rounds from a 10-round magazine. Read more for additional pictures and information.
First Person View (FPV) drone racing is a popular sport nowadays, but flying one of these machines in a homemade cockpit takes things to a whole new level. To make this a reality, an R/C transmitter was disassembled for its gimbal and potentiometers. The gimbal was then equipped with a long stick for aileron and elevator control, while the potentiometers were hooked up to pedals for the rudder. Read more for a video and additional information.
H/t: Car Scoops
Touchscreen infotainment systems are nothing new, but back in 1986, they were a big deal, especially on a family car. The 1986 Buick Riviera had a touchscreen Graphic Control Center (GCC) as standard equipment, or to be more specific, a CRT screen covered with an invisible Mylar switch panel that utilized transparent conductors. That’s right, this switch panel was row- and column-encoded to perform a specific task on a particular page. Read more for two videos and additional information.
Mechanical engineers from The University of Utah are currently developing a powered exoskeleton to help amputees walk again, and it utilizes motors, microprocessors, as well as advanced algorithms to help them regain mobility with less effort. At 5.4-pounds, the device is designed to be as comfortable as possible, thanks to a carbon fiber frame, plastic composites and aluminum parts. Read more for a video and additional information.
James J. Orgill of The Action Lab is no stranger to bizarre experiments, and this one involving magnetic ferrofluid and a superconductor ranks right up there. To start things off, he places a superconductor, which is most likely a metal alloy, down on the flat surface before placing a magnet above it, thus causing the object to both float as well as spin in place. After the magnet is set in place, ferrofluid is poured over it. Read more to see what happened next.
Hospital nurses normally spend between 18% – 40% of their time directing patient care tasks, whether it be shaving, hair-washing, or makeup. Scientists at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) in collaboration with the Soft Math Lab at Harvard University want to help make their lives easier, and so they came up with RoboWig. This robotic arm is equipped with a camera that helps it “see” and assess curliness to help it develop an efficient brush plan. Read more for a video and additional information.
Inventor Nathaniel F. may be close to creating a real-life Pyro – an alpha level mutant in the X-Men universe – flamethrower kit. However, this one makes use of a brain-computer interface and machine learning. You won’t need an EEG machine that scans brain patterns, but rather just a Mindflex by Mattel and lots of custom programming. That’s right, when combined with a machine learning system running TensorFlow, you’re good to go. Read more for a video demonstration and additional information.
Photo credit: Wired | YouTube
Jonna Mendez, former CIA Chief of Disguise, specialized in concealing the identities of operatives and assets in the field, while also developing new methods of deception. This entailed creating photorealistic masks that look indistinguishable from a real face. She proved this by wearing one to a meeting with President George H.W. Bush in the Oval Office. Today, she spends her time on the International Spy Museum’s Advisory Board in Washington D.C. Read more for two videos and additional information.
An auto-aiming NERF blaster may not be practical, that is unless…you hold annual office wars using these toys, but the idea of one is most certainly intriguing. One gamer who goes by “3D Printed Life” online, decided to make it a reality. First, he started with a borrowed design from a catalog of open source NERF guns, and then modified it to include a two-axis gimbal between the lower as well as upper section. Read more for a video and additional information.