Battery life has long been a key limiting factor in drone use. Although there are commercial models that can stay aloft for 45 minutes or longer on a single charge, being able to keep drones in the air for longer would be helpful for many purposes. Researchers at the University of Southern Denmark have been working on that issue for several years by developing drones that can recharge directly from power lines.
This time around, the scientists attached a gripper system to a Tarot 650 Sport drone, which they customized with a electric quadcopter propulsion system, an autopilot module and other components. When the drone's systems detect that the battery is running low, the device employs its camera and millimeter-wave radar system to pinpoint the closest power line, as New Atlas notes.
The drone then flies up to the power line from underneath, using a pair of inward-sloping arms to guide the cable into the gripper. An inductive charger pulls current from the power line. When the battery is full, the gripper opens and the drone continues on its way.
At the outset, the idea is for drones that inspect power lines to use this charging system. The researchers first showed off a self-charging drone that tops up its battery from power lines in 2022. This time around, they improved the gripper system and demonstrated a real-world use case for the tech.
In a paper they're presenting at next month's IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, the team described the project as "to the best of our knowledge, a first-in-the-world system with the ability to sustain operation throughout many inspection/charging cycles powered by energy harvesting from power lines in a real outdoor environment." In arguably the most successful test, the drone stayed aloft for over two hours through five cycles of power line inspection and charging.
Drones have been used for years to monitor and inspect power lines. They're particularly useful in remote areas, such as mountain tops, where examining power lines manually is a tough ask. Still, it's hard not to feel a little uneasy about drones clamping onto power lines. If anything goes wrong and a drone somehow ends up damaging a power line, an entire region could lose electricity. Charging pads for drone exist and may be a safer option, but they'd require extra space for infrastructure.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/drones-that-charge-on-power-lines-may-not-be-the-best-idea-163942109.html?src=rss
Battery life has long been a key limiting factor in drone use. Although there are commercial models that can stay aloft for 45 minutes or longer on a single charge, being able to keep drones in the air for longer would be helpful for many purposes. Researchers at the University of Southern Denmark have been working on that issue for several years by developing drones that can recharge directly from power lines.
This time around, the scientists attached a gripper system to a Tarot 650 Sport drone, which they customized with a electric quadcopter propulsion system, an autopilot module and other components. When the drone's systems detect that the battery is running low, the device employs its camera and millimeter-wave radar system to pinpoint the closest power line, as New Atlas notes.
The drone then flies up to the power line from underneath, using a pair of inward-sloping arms to guide the cable into the gripper. An inductive charger pulls current from the power line. When the battery is full, the gripper opens and the drone continues on its way.
At the outset, the idea is for drones that inspect power lines to use this charging system. The researchers first showed off a self-charging drone that tops up its battery from power lines in 2022. This time around, they improved the gripper system and demonstrated a real-world use case for the tech.
In a paper they're presenting at next month's IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, the team described the project as "to the best of our knowledge, a first-in-the-world system with the ability to sustain operation throughout many inspection/charging cycles powered by energy harvesting from power lines in a real outdoor environment." In arguably the most successful test, the drone stayed aloft for over two hours through five cycles of power line inspection and charging.
Drones have been used for years to monitor and inspect power lines. They're particularly useful in remote areas, such as mountain tops, where examining power lines manually is a tough ask. Still, it's hard not to feel a little uneasy about drones clamping onto power lines. If anything goes wrong and a drone somehow ends up damaging a power line, an entire region could lose electricity. Charging pads for drone exist and may be a safer option, but they'd require extra space for infrastructure.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/drones-that-charge-on-power-lines-may-not-be-the-best-idea-163942109.html?src=rss
Google has finally launched its long-awaited Find My Device network after teasing it at last year’s I/O event. The technology leverages a crowdsourced network of over a billion Android devices to help people locate lost gadgets, with a basic functionality in line with similar offerings from Apple and Tile. It’s rolling out today to Android users in the US and Canada, with a global release coming soon.
Once installed, people can use the app to locate compatible Android phones and tablets. The tool will cause them to ring at your command and their location will pop up on a map. This map data works even if the items are offline. Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro smartphones will appear on the map if they’re powered off or if the battery is completely dead. That sounds pretty handy.
The technology isn’t yet available for everyday items, but that’s coming soon. Bluetooth tracker tags from Chipolo and Pebblebee will get integrated into the Find My Device app in May. This will let users locate just about anything, including car keys, purses, wallets and, hopefully, wandering felines. The upcoming tags are being built specifically for the network.
Google
The Pebblebee offerings include tags, clips and slim cards for wallets. They hit store shelves in late May or early June. Chipolo is making versions of its One Point and Card Point trackers for Android devices, which will arrive in May. Google says more trackers are coming later this year, including products made by Motorola and eufy.
Google’s Find My Device service also integrates with Nest smart home gadgets. If you lose something in the home, the Find My Device app will show you the location of the item in relation to pre-existing Nest devices. This should help provide an “easy reference point” to snatch them back up.
Finally, there’s a nifty feature that lets you share the location of an item with other people, so friends and family can keep an eye on precious belongings. Google says it’ll let folks “easily divide and conquer if something goes missing.”
The new Find My Device tracking technology works on devices running Android 9 and above. That OS came out in 2018, so it means a whole lot of people will have access to this service. As for compatible products beyond Android devices and Bluetooth tags, the company says future software updates will allow integration with a full range of headphones from JBL and Sony.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/googles-long-awaited-find-my-device-network-launches-today-160014930.html?src=rss
Google has finally launched its long-awaited Find My Device network after teasing it at last year’s I/O event. The technology leverages a crowdsourced network of over a billion Android devices to help people locate lost gadgets, with a basic functionality in line with similar offerings from Apple and Tile. It’s rolling out today to Android users in the US and Canada, with a global release coming soon.
Once installed, people can use the app to locate compatible Android phones and tablets. The tool will cause them to ring at your command and their location will pop up on a map. This map data works even if the items are offline. Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro smartphones will appear on the map if they’re powered off or if the battery is completely dead. That sounds pretty handy.
The technology isn’t yet available for everyday items, but that’s coming soon. Bluetooth tracker tags from Chipolo and Pebblebee will get integrated into the Find My Device app in May. This will let users locate just about anything, including car keys, purses, wallets and, hopefully, wandering felines. The upcoming tags are being built specifically for the network.
Google
The Pebblebee offerings include tags, clips and slim cards for wallets. They hit store shelves in late May or early June. Chipolo is making versions of its One Point and Card Point trackers for Android devices, which will arrive in May. Google says more trackers are coming later this year, including products made by Motorola and eufy.
Google’s Find My Device service also integrates with Nest smart home gadgets. If you lose something in the home, the Find My Device app will show you the location of the item in relation to pre-existing Nest devices. This should help provide an “easy reference point” to snatch them back up.
Finally, there’s a nifty feature that lets you share the location of an item with other people, so friends and family can keep an eye on precious belongings. Google says it’ll let folks “easily divide and conquer if something goes missing.”
The new Find My Device tracking technology works on devices running Android 9 and above. That OS came out in 2018, so it means a whole lot of people will have access to this service. As for compatible products beyond Android devices and Bluetooth tags, the company says future software updates will allow integration with a full range of headphones from JBL and Sony.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/googles-long-awaited-find-my-device-network-launches-today-160014930.html?src=rss
The GoPro Hero 12 already had the promise of a better battery life than its predecessors. When you toss a battery grip into the mix, the company says you'll get over five hours of continuous 4K recording at 30 frames per second (depending on conditions). That's bound to be pretty enticing for those who like to capture as much footage as they can during a day of action sports or travel vlogging. What's even better is that a bundle of the camera and battery grip is on sale for $499 at Amazon and GoPro directly. The bundle is $100 off the regular price and a record low.
Along with 4K footage, you can film in HDR at a resolution of 5.3K at up to 60 frames per second. You can shoot in 4K at up to 120 fps too, while there's 10-bit color support. A vertical capture feature makes it a cinch to shoot footage for apps like TikTok even while the camera is in a horizontal orientation.
GoPro's stabilization tech is in full force here as well, with the company claiming HyperSmooth 6.0 can give you "impossibly smooth footage no matter how rough it gets." A horizon lock option should keep the horizon steady as you move the camera.
There's directional audio support thanks to the microphone on the included Media Mod, which has a 3.5mm mic port and micro HDMI port too. You can also connect AirPods, Bluetooth earbuds and wireless microphones to the camera and even use voice commands..
The battery grip affords you single-hand control over the camera. It has a built-in tripod and you can remove it to operate the GoPro Hero 12 remotely from up to 30 meters (98 feet) away. Along with the battery grip and Media Mod, the bundle includes a self-explanatory Light Mod and Enduro Battery.
The GoPro Hero 12 already had the promise of a better battery life than its predecessors. When you toss a battery grip into the mix, the company says you'll get over five hours of continuous 4K recording at 30 frames per second (depending on conditions). That's bound to be pretty enticing for those who like to capture as much footage as they can during a day of action sports or travel vlogging. What's even better is that a bundle of the camera and battery grip is on sale for $499 at Amazon and GoPro directly. The bundle is $100 off the regular price and a record low.
Along with 4K footage, you can film in HDR at a resolution of 5.3K at up to 60 frames per second. You can shoot in 4K at up to 120 fps too, while there's 10-bit color support. A vertical capture feature makes it a cinch to shoot footage for apps like TikTok even while the camera is in a horizontal orientation.
GoPro's stabilization tech is in full force here as well, with the company claiming HyperSmooth 6.0 can give you "impossibly smooth footage no matter how rough it gets." A horizon lock option should keep the horizon steady as you move the camera.
There's directional audio support thanks to the microphone on the included Media Mod, which has a 3.5mm mic port and micro HDMI port too. You can also connect AirPods, Bluetooth earbuds and wireless microphones to the camera and even use voice commands..
The battery grip affords you single-hand control over the camera. It has a built-in tripod and you can remove it to operate the GoPro Hero 12 remotely from up to 30 meters (98 feet) away. Along with the battery grip and Media Mod, the bundle includes a self-explanatory Light Mod and Enduro Battery.
Apple, in its latest update to its App Store developer guidelines for iPhones and iPads, flagged by 9to5Mac, says it will allow game console emulators – and even downloadable games.
Apple warns developers, however, they “are responsible for all such software offered in [their] app, including ensuring that such software complies with these Guidelines and all applicable laws.” So don’t expect to play Super Mario, Spyro, or a third game series that starts with an 'S'.
Meanwhile, we have a guide to watching (and recording) the total eclipse in North America later today. The best chance of good viewing along the path of eclipse totality is still in northeastern parts of the US (Buffalo, NY, Burlington, VT) and southeast Canada (Niagara Falls and Montreal).
If so, they violated YouTube creators’ copyrights.
OpenAI and Google trained their AI models using text transcribed from YouTube videos, potentially violating creators’ copyrights, according to a report from The New York Times. The report centers on how OpenAI, Google and Meta have attempted to maximize the data they can feed to their AIs and cites numerous people with knowledge of the companies’ practices.
Not that these companies relied on the auto-generated (hit-and-miss) auto-transcriptions provided by YouTube itself. Reportedly, OpenAI used its Whisper speech recognition tool to transcribe more than a million hours of YouTube videos to train GPT-4. The report, however, claims people at Google knew but did not act — because Google was doing the same to train its own AI models. Google told NYT it only uses video content from creators who have agreed to it.
Hours after Reuters published a report about the automaker scrapping its plans to produce a low-cost EV, Tesla boss Elon Musk took to X to say the company would unveil a robotaxi on August 8. The same report said Musk’s directive was to “go all in” on robotaxis built on the company’s small-vehicle platform.
In response to the report, the Tesla chief tweeted “Reuters is lying (again).” Given he confirmed the robotaxi plans, he could have meant a more affordable Tesla EV was still on the table, at least for now.
Three companies are pitching lunar vehicle designs to support NASA’s upcoming Artemis missions. The space agency announced this week that it’s chosen Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost and Venturi Astrolab to develop their lunar terrain vehicles (LTV) in a feasibility study over the next year. The LTV will need to function as both a crewed and uncrewed vehicle, serving sometimes as a mode of transportation for astronauts and other times as a remotely operated explorer. NASA says it’ll contract the chosen vehicle for lunar services through 2039. Take a look at the options.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-apple-allows-game-emulators-on-the-app-store-111454837.html?src=rss
Apple, in its latest update to its App Store developer guidelines for iPhones and iPads, flagged by 9to5Mac, says it will allow game console emulators – and even downloadable games.
Apple warns developers, however, they “are responsible for all such software offered in [their] app, including ensuring that such software complies with these Guidelines and all applicable laws.” So don’t expect to play Super Mario, Spyro, or a third game series that starts with an 'S'.
Meanwhile, we have a guide to watching (and recording) the total eclipse in North America later today. The best chance of good viewing along the path of eclipse totality is still in northeastern parts of the US (Buffalo, NY, Burlington, VT) and southeast Canada (Niagara Falls and Montreal).
If so, they violated YouTube creators’ copyrights.
OpenAI and Google trained their AI models using text transcribed from YouTube videos, potentially violating creators’ copyrights, according to a report from The New York Times. The report centers on how OpenAI, Google and Meta have attempted to maximize the data they can feed to their AIs and cites numerous people with knowledge of the companies’ practices.
Not that these companies relied on the auto-generated (hit-and-miss) auto-transcriptions provided by YouTube itself. Reportedly, OpenAI used its Whisper speech recognition tool to transcribe more than a million hours of YouTube videos to train GPT-4. The report, however, claims people at Google knew but did not act — because Google was doing the same to train its own AI models. Google told NYT it only uses video content from creators who have agreed to it.
Hours after Reuters published a report about the automaker scrapping its plans to produce a low-cost EV, Tesla boss Elon Musk took to X to say the company would unveil a robotaxi on August 8. The same report said Musk’s directive was to “go all in” on robotaxis built on the company’s small-vehicle platform.
In response to the report, the Tesla chief tweeted “Reuters is lying (again).” Given he confirmed the robotaxi plans, he could have meant a more affordable Tesla EV was still on the table, at least for now.
Three companies are pitching lunar vehicle designs to support NASA’s upcoming Artemis missions. The space agency announced this week that it’s chosen Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost and Venturi Astrolab to develop their lunar terrain vehicles (LTV) in a feasibility study over the next year. The LTV will need to function as both a crewed and uncrewed vehicle, serving sometimes as a mode of transportation for astronauts and other times as a remotely operated explorer. NASA says it’ll contract the chosen vehicle for lunar services through 2039. Take a look at the options.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-apple-allows-game-emulators-on-the-app-store-111454837.html?src=rss
I’ve always preferred the glow of multiple lamps to the onslaught of overhead lights, but clicking them off one by one can get tedious. With smart plugs, any lamp can be controlled with a phone, your voice or even a programmed schedule or routine so you don’t have to think about them at all. Smart plugs also work with some appliances like basic coffee makers, fans, humidifiers and other items that have a simple on/off switch. Smart plugs all look pretty similar — a white rectangle with rounded corners — but as we've learned in our testing, they don’t all perform the same. We tested over a dozen models for both indoors and out to find ones that are easy to set up and perform reliably within your chosen smart home ecosystem so you can pick the best smart plug for you.
What to consider when buying a smart plug
Before you buy one, it helps to know how a smart plug works best. They are designed for things that have an on/off switch, making them great for turning lamps into smart lights. If you want a plug-in fan to move some air around before you get home, a smart plug can help. You can load a basic coffee maker with grounds and water the night before and wake up to a fresh pot in the morning. And instead of an air purifier running all day, you could set it to just run when you’re away. But gadgets that needs to be programmed further, or requires a stand-by mode, isn’t ideal. If you want to control built-in lights, you’ll need smart switches, which are more involved than smart plugs as they can involve installation.
Some smart plugs can even monitor how much energy they use and display those figures within their companion app. That might not be much use on its own, as lamps with LED bulbs consume very little energy, but it could help you keep tabs on your overall energy consumption.
Setup and use
Adding a smart plug to your home is relatively simple. You’ll use the manufacturer’s app to initially connect, after which you can add the plug to a compatible smart home ecosystem so you can use voice control and other features. Both the brand’s app and your smart home app will let you name the plug, set schedules and program “routines” which provide automation for multiple smart devices at once. But as you can guess, a manufacturer’s app only lets you control products from that brand. If you want whole-home automation, operating, say, a plug from TP-Link’s Kasa, a bulb from GE’s Cync and a camera from Arlo without switching apps, you’ll need to use a smart home platform, which means you’ll need to consider compatibility.
Compatibility
Smart home devices connect through wireless protocols, often using more than one to communicate with your phone, smart speaker, router and in some cases, one another. The majority of smart plugs use Wi-Fi, but some have recently incorporated Matter, a relatively new wireless standard intended to solve integration issues between different brands and manufacturers, while also improving security and reliability.
More of these smart plugs are coming to market and, for now, most Matter devices work via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a low-power mesh network called Thread. Matter requires a controller that stays at home, like a hub or smart speaker, to manage things when you’re out and about.
As for Bluetooth, most plugs, including all Matter plugs, use the short-range protocol to get the device set up for the first time. Some can continue to run on Bluetooth in the absence of another option, but the connection isn’t as reliable and you won’t be able to control the plug when you’re away from home, or perhaps even just on the other side of the apartment.
Because Matter is relatively new, it may be easier to consider the manufacturer’s system you’d use the most. There are four major “branded” smart home platforms: Amazon’s Alexa, Google Home, Apple’s HomeKit and Samsung’s SmartThings. The first two work with the widest range of brands and are compatible with both iOS and Android devices. HomeKit not only limits app access to Apple devices, but it’s also compatible with fewer plugs. You can also turn to open-source software like Home Assistant or go with the larger functionality of IFTTT if you want to, say, have your lights turn off when your Uber arrives. For the purposes of our testing, we stuck with the four big players. Nearly every plug we looked at clearly stated which platforms it works with, both on the packaging and retail product pages.
Of course, there’s no rule that says you have to stick with one home assistant. You might have an Echo Dot in the basement, a HomePod in the living room and a Google Nest Mini in the kitchen, each controlling any compatible devices. My kid has a great time telling Alexa to turn on a light then asking the Google Assistant to turn it back off.
Photo by Amy Skorheim / Engadget
Hubs and smart plugs
All of our top picks recommended here don’t require a hub and connect directly to your home’s Wi-Fi router. That means if you already have wireless internet and a smartphone or tablet, you can quite literally plug and play. The exception is Apple’s HomeKit. If you want to pair up a compatible plug with that platform, you’ll need a HomePod speaker, Apple TV or an iPad that stays in your home to enable remote control when you’re away.
Some smart plugs require a hub regardless of which platform you use. For our guide, we focused on the simplicity (and lower cost) of options that work on their own, but hub-dependent devices may make sense in certain situations. Some companies, like Aqara for example, make a vast range of smart home products, adding automatic shades, window sensors, smart locks and air quality monitors to the more traditional cameras and plugs. If you’re going all-in on one brand and plan to get a plethora of connected devices, a hub can keep your Wi-Fi network from getting too crowded and provide a more seamless setup with reliable connectivity.
We tested the Aqara plug and hub and, while we found the connectivity was good and the proprietary app to be helpfully configurable, it’s tough to recommend the nearly $100 combo to anyone who isn’t planning to get a complete Aqara smart home setup.
Sharing
Once a plug is set up with your platform and voice assistant of choice, anyone can control the plug just by talking. If someone else wants to control things with their phone, things get more complicated. Google makes it easiest, allowing you to invite another person just by tapping the + button within the Home app. Whomever you invite will have full access to your connected devices – including cameras – so this is only for people you trust the most.
HomeKit makes it similarly easy to grant app access to someone else, but as with most things Apple, it only works for other iOS users. Amazon only allows you to share access to your Echo, not your connected home devices.
Many smart plug manufacturers allow you to share control through their app by inviting another person via email. But this only grants access to devices of that brand. Hopefully as Matter expands, multi-admin features will become more widespread.
How we tested the best smart plugs
Before we decided which smart plugs to test, we considered brands Engadget staffers have had the best experiences with, both in review capacity and personally. We also checked out other online reviews. We then looked at factors like price, compatibility and relative popularity. I got ahold of ten indoor smart plugs and four outdoor versions from eight manufacturers.
I set up each one using its companion app, then added it to all compatible smart home platforms. Plugging in a cadre of lamps and string lights, I tested the plugs using an iPhone 11, Galaxy S10e, Echo Dot, HomePod mini and Nest Mini. I accessed the plugs via the apps and through voice commands and controlled them in my home and away from it. I programmed schedules and routines and moved the plugs to different outlets, including ones in the basement to gauge range. For the outdoor devices, I plugged them into an outlet in the garage (approximately 85 feet from my Wi-Fi router) and an outlet attached to the back of the house.
Here’s every smart plug tested before settling on our top picks:
*Emporia issued a recall on its smart plugs purchased before August 1, 2023 due to a potential fire risk, though no incidents were reported. The plugs have since been updated to resolve the issue and are back on sale. We’ll be testing the revised version for an upcoming update to this guide.
Honorable mentions
GE Cync Indoor
My main concern with the Cync plug is the way the scheduling works within the proprietary app. Instead of programming when an outlet should turn on, you tell it when it should turn off. Despite my best efforts, I could not figure out how to program the Cync-connected lamp to come on at sunset, as I did with every other plug. Other than that, the app is very elegant, set up is easy and reliability is spot on. It only works with Alexa and Google Home, not HomeKit or SmartThings, but at $15, it’s a couple bucks cheaper than the Wyze plug that has the same compatibility.
The best outdoor smart plugs
Most people will likely use outdoor plugs for two things: patio lighting and holiday string lights. The devices are designed for the outdoors with ingress protection rating of IP64 or higher, which means they’re impervious to dust and can handle splashing water from rain and sprinklers. They have a longer Wi-Fi range than indoor plugs, for obvious reasons, and many have dual outlets, with individual control over each one.
Setup is the same as for indoor plugs: you’ll use your phone to help the plug find your Wi-Fi using its companion app. The only tricky part is getting your phone within Bluetooth range of the plug (which it uses to initialize setup) and in Wi-Fi range at the same time. I had to awkwardly stand at a triangulated point in the middle of my driveway to get things communicating properly. Once set up, the plugs will communicate using your router for voice and app control and your phone needn’t be anywhere near the plug.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/best-smart-plug-131542429.html?src=rss
Apple’s second-generation AirPods Pro have dipped to under $200 in a deal from Amazon. The AirPods Pro, which normally cost $250, are $60 off right now, bringing the price down to just $190. That’s the same price we saw during Amazon’s Big Spring Sale. The AirPods Pro offer a number of premium features over the standard AirPods, including active noise cancellation for when you want to shut out the world, and an impressive transparency mode for when you want to hear your surroundings.
The second-generation AirPods Pro came out in 2022 and brought Apple’s H2 chip to the earbuds for a notable performance boost. It offers Adaptive Audio, which will automatically switch between Active Noise Cancellation and Transparency Mode based on what’s going on around you. With Conversation Awareness, they can lower the volume when you’re speaking and make it so other people's voices are easier to hear.
We gave this version of the AirPods Pro a review score of 88, and it’s one of our picks for the best wireless earbuds on the market. The second-generation AirPods Pro are dust, sweat and water resistant, so they should hold up well for workouts, and they achieve better battery life than the previous generation. They can get about six hours of battery life with features like ANC enabled, and that goes up to as much as 30 hours with the charging case. Apple says popping the AirPods Pro in the case for 5 minutes will give you an hour of additional listening or talking time.
AirPods Pro also offer Personalized Spatial Audio with head tracking for more immersive listening while you’re watching TV or movies. The gesture controls that were introduced with this generation of the earbuds might take some getting used to, though. With AirPods Pro, you can adjust the volume by swiping the touch control.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-second-generation-airpods-pro-are-back-on-sale-for-190-142626914.html?src=rss