Obstacle Avoidance For Drones, Learned From Mosquitoes

Our understanding of the sensory capabilities of animals has a lot of blanks, and often new discoveries serve as inspiration for new technology. Researchers from the University of Leeds and the Royal Veterinary College have found that mosquitos can navigate in complete darkness by detecting the subtle changes in the …read more

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Sony announces camera sensor chips with built-in AI processing

Sony has shown off what it’s calling “the world’s first image sensors to be equipped with AI processing functionality.” These new sensors handle AI image analysis on board, so only the necessary data can be sent for further cloud processing.Continue Re… Continue reading Sony announces camera sensor chips with built-in AI processing

Free Cloud Data Logging Courtesy of Google

Pushing all of your data into “The Cloud” sounds great, until you remember that what you’re really talking about is somebody else’s computer. That means all your hard-crunched data could potentially become inaccessible should the company running the service go under or change the rules on you; a situation we’ve …read more

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Breathable electronic material makes for more comfortable wearables

Engineers from North Carolina State University have developed a thin, stretchable electronic wearable sleeve that allows the user’s skin to breathe, making for more comfortable long-term use as a biomedical sensor or human-machine interface.Continue Re… Continue reading Breathable electronic material makes for more comfortable wearables

Sweat could power battery-free health trackers of tomorrow

Many of us now keep tabs on how we’re doing by wearing health and fitness trackers like those from Fitbit, which run on batteries that need charging. Researchers from Caltech have developed an electronic skin that can be packed with sensors, and that’s… Continue reading Sweat could power battery-free health trackers of tomorrow

Lock Your Keys in the Car On Purpose with Aluminum Foil

[TJ] is a surfer, and drives his car to get to the beach. But when he gets there he’s faced with a dilemma that most surfers have: either put his key in your baggies (shorts) or wetsuit and hope it doesn’t get lost during a wipeout, or stash it on …read more

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Sprayable sensors make any surface interactive

Imagine touching the armrest of your sofa to change the channel on your television, or pressing against a lightbulb stencil on the wall to turn on your smart light – these functions and many more like them are now possible thanks to research from a tea… Continue reading Sprayable sensors make any surface interactive

ESP8266 and Sensors Make for a Brainy NERF Ball

For his final project in UCLA’s Physics 4AL program, [Timothy Kanarsky] used a NodeMCU to smarten up a carefully dissected NERF football. With the addition to dual MPU6050 digital accelerometers and some math, the ball can calculate things like the distance traveled and angular velocity. With a 9 V alkaline …read more

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Intel’s neuromorphic Loihi chip is rapidly learning to discern smells

Computers can already boast superhuman sensory abilities in sight and hearing, but smell has been much more difficult. The human nose isn’t a particularly good one compared to the rest of the animal kingdom, but it’s still a complex piece of machinery,… Continue reading Intel’s neuromorphic Loihi chip is rapidly learning to discern smells