Tag Archives: drone

Lifesaver Drone comes with a built-in inflatable raft that deploys to rescue people at sea

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By combining the lifesaver tube with a drone, the LIFE DRONE from Hyunjun Choi can easily rescue people by keeping them afloat as well as transporting them to safety.

Building on what a drone is capable of doing, the LIFE DRONE is an amphibious rescue-device that can travel in air as well as on water. It comes with a unique format that allows it to go from your regular airborne quad-copter drone to a waterborne motor-raft whenever needed. The drone comes with a dynamic body that opens up to orient the propellers in an X formation to take to the skies. The base of the drone comes with an automatic inflating life-raft that deploys near the person who needs help. The drone then closes, going from an X-formation to an I-formation, and the propellers begin working underwater, to push the raft towards safety… along with the person on it.

The LIFE DRONE works quite like a life-raft, except it doesn’t need a human to throw it to the drowning person. Just ping the drone with the location of the person drowning and it takes off on its own. When it approaches the location, the inflatable raft automatically deploys and the drone descends into the water. Once the person climbs onto the raft, the drone then works almost like a motorboat, using the propellers to guide the raft to the nearest location of safety. It does this without requiring a lifeguard to jeopardize their life.

Although conceptual, the LIFE DRONE is an interesting idea that can definitely be built. Amphibious drones definitely exist, and with the LIFE DRONE, it’s just a matter of building out a drone that has enough power to carry itself in the air, and propel forward with the weight of a human on water. My guess is that the propellers and motors would be significantly larger if you had to build this out, and you’d need space for pressurized CO2 containers for the raft to deploy. That dynamic X-to-I format is interesting too (it reminds me of this drone concept), and I’d honestly love to see a robotics/drone company at least experiment with a prototype!

Designer: Hyunjun Choi

This thermal imaging drone could help firefighters quickly locate the source of fire in a building

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I’m of the firm belief that robots should be assigned duties that are too difficult or dangerous for humans. Take for instance the Prophet by Marius Kindler, an autonomous drone that’s designed to monitor and assess structures/areas on fire so that blue light departments (firefighters, police & paramedics) can effectively carry out their protective and preventive measures. The drone comes fitted with a FLIR camera that captures a heat-map, helping rescue missions detect sources of fire or even helping them plot the position of humans who need to be rescued.

The tricopter drone’s design can be split into three elements – the propellers, a hockey-puck-shaped FLIR thermography camera at the bottom, and a removable/replaceable battery pack on the top. On-site, the drone can be programmed to run pre-determined routes and will constantly patrol a specific area, analyzing the structural fire to give the rescue team a clear idea of the fire’s source, the building’s layout, and possibly even identify potential safe routes for ingress and evacuation.

“Equipped with FLIR‘s thermal imaging technology it monitors heat exposure and the fire‘s behaviour over time”, says designer Marius Kindler. “Based on the gathered data it can identify anomalies and even predicts how the situation could develop in the near future. The system also makes it possible to link several drones together to a network, enabling all first responders to share their information, responsibilities and their equipment in a collaborative way during emergency incidents.”

The Prophet Drone was the result of a 10-week term project at Umeå Institute of Design in collaboration with FLIR Systems. Although conceptual, it definitely makes a case for how drones can be designed to help protect people and contain major disasters. The technology isn’t too far off, to begin with. Thermography cameras already exist, and autonomous drones are definitely a thing… so it shouldn’t be too farfetched to assume that human-assisting drones could soon be a part of every urban neighbourhood’s firefighting arsenal.

Designer: Marius Kindler

This sleek drone fits in your pocket and transforms uses its magnetic modular design!

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The rise of drone photography and videography has opened the door to plenty of technological and design advancements. Likewise, with the rise of social media, drones have seen some major improvements across the board, spanning from obstacle avoidance to camera quality and speed. Adding portability to the list, industrial designer Kendal Toerner conceptualized Xenon Drone, a handheld and modular drone designed for the most rugged of adventures.

Xenon Drone was first designed for the drone videographer looking for a drone that’s as durable as it is portable. Noticing the lack of handheld and high-quality drones on the market, Toerner sought to balance functionality and space. Broken down into three pieces, Xenon Drone is made from recyclable, plant-based thermoplastic and features a magnetic launching pad wedged between two drone modules. To communicate Xenon’s portability and simplicity, Toerner designed the drone to be versatile in its assembly, resulting in three different possible forms for flying and stacking achieved via magnetic connectors.

Getting Xenon Drone out of your hands and into the sky is simple—users need only attach the two drone modules at their center magnetic grooves, connect their propellers, and let it fly. One end of each module contains the chunk of embedded electronic wiring; the other end holds Xenon Drone’s triple-axis gimbal camera and batteries. But, while getting it up in the air is exciting, Toerner didn’t lose sight of the importance of a safe landing. Embedded with ultrasonic sensors, Xenon Drone depends on a magnetic landing wand to guide its safe descent—by raising the magnetic wand, Xenon Drone can land safely no matter where it flies from.

Users can also control Xenon Drone’s route from their smartphones using an elastic joystick controller that can adapt to almost any smartphone. From your smartphone, Xenon Drone’s joystick controller displays the drone’s altitude, distance, and velocity, as well as the haptic joystick and pan controls. In addition, integrated GPS technology and Bluetooth connectivity allow users to locate Xenon Drone wherever it lands.

Designer: Kendall Toerner

Broken down into two parts, each module of the Xenon Drone attaches at its magnetic center.

A launching pad was wedged between the two modules to ensure an effective takeoff.

Embedded magnetic springs pluck out to deploy each drone module.

After the two modules connect, propellers are attached before Xenon can take flight.

Xenon’s magnetic connector.

Users need only attach the two modules and connect their respective propellers.

A magnetic landing wand guides Xenon in a safe descent.

An elastic joystick controller allows users to choose Xenon’s route.

“By modulating an electromagnetic force on your fingertip, the flat surface of the controller feels just like a joystick. The further from the center, the more resistance. This allows for eyes-off flying, mitigating finger-drifting issues,” Toerner notes.

“Using the onboard transceiver, GPS, and Bluetooth, the exact location of the two drone parts is always known even when they separate.”

“A camera with a triple-axis gimbal allows for optical image stabilization and manual panning. Having both a wide-angle and telephoto lens allows for unique options when capturing adventures.”

“A thermoplastic, layer-based circuit board can be decoupled from its components with a hot liquid solvent, allowing for reuse and recycle of almost every part. Xenon is manufactured using renewable energy, plant-based thermoplastic, (recyclable) metal, and can be fully disassembled because it uses fasteners and a removable thermal adhesive.”

Completely absurd patent by Vivo shows a smartphone with its own built-in tiny drone camera

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What will they think of next? A smartphone that can 3D print?? (Okay scratch that, that would actually be pretty awesome)

Just last week (Friday to be specific), LetsGoDigital uncovered this rather outrageous patent filed by Chinese phone manufacturer Vivo at the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) showcasing a phone with its own drone camera. Sort of like how Marvel superhero Falcon had his own flying sidekick ‘Redwing’, Vivo’s phone had its own mini-drone that could pop out on command and click photos at you from any vantage point.

Sliding cameras on smartphones aren’t new, although Vivo’s concept takes it a couple of notches ahead. The patent shows a phone with a massive pop-out tray on the front. Within it, sits a tiny drone (sort of like the Air Selfie Drone from AirPix but smaller) with four propellers and a bunch of cameras and sensors. Fire your camera app and the tray instantly pops out and the drone takes off. A front-facing camera on the drone’s body lets you click photos (either of yourself or of landscapes) from a variety of vantage points, going above and beyond what your smartphone camera and your outstretched hand can do. Given how small drones, it isn’t entirely an idea I can actually dismiss… although what would Vivo’s marketing team call it? A Dronephone? A Smartdrone? A Phdrone?!

Practicality aside, the tech isn’t too far-fetched. The drone fits right into the phone’s slightly thick body, and comes with dual portrait-mode cameras on the top (that directly face you when the tray pops out), a main camera on the front (that works as the drone’s eyes), and IR sensors on the left and right that help the drone detect and avoid objects. The presence of cameras on the drone mean Vivo’s smartphone doesn’t need any cameras at all. This means no front-facing camera and a clean notch-less hole-punch-less display, as well as no massive camera bump on the back. The smartphone is a complete monolith of glass, metal, and screen, punctuated by a charging port and a set of buttons. The drone tray sits flush against the phone when closed, and pops up only when you fire up the camera app. (I’m assuming the app has drone controllers built in too)

Now let’s argue practicality from both sides of the argument. There’s a fair amount of evidence to say that this is a terrible idea. Moving components on a smartphone are historically the first to fail – Dust gets stuck in it, components wear out, parts accidentally break. The presence of a drone would mean saying goodbye to water-resistance, and there’s also a high chance your drone can get lost or stolen, leaving you with absolutely no camera (that’s if Vivo implements something exactly like this). Not to mention the fact that it practically means the end of privacy as we know it. (Imagine hundreds and thousands of drones flying around in every public space, or worse, or a drone entering a private space).

That being said, drone photography is truly the final frontier in consumer photography. The smartphone camera is already comparable to a DSLR, so now imagine being able to point that camera from any vantage point. You could take distant selfies without selfie sticks, sunsets from inside your house, and get better photos at concerts. It’s safe to assume that the drone would have a rather small battery (given its size), but one could easily make the argument that the drone could also wirelessly charge while docked inside the phone). As far as safety and privacy go, companies could build safeguards and throttles into the drone, preventing it from flying too far from its smartphone. There’s a lot to discuss and unpack here, although at the end of the day, fair reminder – this is just a patent and it’s likely that we won’t see anything like this for at least a couple of years. It’s fun to dream though…

Designer/Visualizer: Sarang Sheth for LetsGoDigital

This concept was first published on LetsGoDigital. Click here to view the original piece.

Government Developing Confetti Launching Anti-Drone Technology

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Turning unwanted drone surveillance into an impromptu surprise party, the US Department of Defense’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is developing a new anti-drone countermeasure that fires confetti-like streamers to entangle a spy-copter’s rotors, bringing it back down to earth like a drone-shaped rock.

The Mobile Force Protection system is “part of a larger initiative where X band radar is used to detect, identify, and track unmanned aerial threats.” If deemed a threat, a reusable drone can be launched from a moving vehicle, where it will intercept the target and launch its payload into the drone’s blades. Of course, this is assuming the enemy doesn’t have anti-ANTI-drones that already intercepted this one.

Obviously, the next logical development in the government’s anti-drone countermeasures is a t-shirt cannon. And, God willing, I’ll be there to catch one, probably eating a hot dog with a mustard stain on my shirt and waving a giant foam finger.

[via IFLscience]

Sony is disrupting the photography industry with its Airpeak S1 drone that can mount ANY Sony Alpha camera

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Sony is probably the only company at the moment to be able to boast of having a robust camera as well as a burgeoning aerial-tech business. It’s preceded only by GoPro, which launched the Karma drone back in 2016 and discontinued it in 2018 after a very tepid response. GoPro’s cameras, however, are still some of the most popular payload options to add on existing drones, but that pales in comparison to what Sony is offering. Sony’s first drone, the Airpeak S1, is a large pro-level drone that is designed to carry a gimbal along with a full-size mirrorless Sony Camera. It expands what your existing camera is capable of, and essentially means your professional camera (and its lenses) can now take to the skies, capturing professional-grade image and video content.

Make no mistake, the Airpeak S1 isn’t your average drone. It isn’t meant for FPV racing or for consumer-grade aerial shots like drones from DJI or Parrot. The Airpeak S1 is the kind of drone a high-budget photographer or cinematographer would use for taking film-grade shots. The drone comes built entirely by the folks at Sony, engineered to work seamlessly with a 3-axis gimbal and a host of Sony’s cameras, including the A1, A911, A7s111, A7RIV, and FX3 cameras, along with E-Mount lenses between 14mm and 85mm.

The Airpeak S1 is currently the smallest drone ever made to be able to carry a full-size camera. Measuring 644mm in total span, the drone’s most compelling features are its ability to go from 0-50mph in 3.5 seconds, and its stability and wind resistance, making it perfect for aerial shots no matter the weather… although those figures change with different cameras and lenses. According to Sony, the Airpeak can stay stable in winds of up to 44.7 miles per hour, a feat made possible by the 5 additional stereo cameras located on the drone that help it constantly optimize its performance, along with an infrared range-finder that actively helps it avoid obstacles.

For now, the Airpeak S1 can either be controlled via its remote, or the Airpeak Flight app, which will be available later this year only for iOS devices. Sony has worked with drone gimbal experts at Gremsby to develop a bespoke 3-axis stabilizer for the Airpeak S1, although this will be available as an additional purchase. The drone and gimbal can both be controlled singularly by the remote that can hook up to an iPad for viewfinding purposes. Somewhere down the line, Sony will allow the drone and the gimbal to be operated independently (allowing one person to take on piloting activities while the other person oversees cinematography). While launching the drone, Sony also announced that it was working on a cloud-based app called Airpeak Base, that would let users plot automated flight routes and manage a fleet of Airpeak drones.

The Airpeak S1 currently exists as an incredibly niche product that’s made for professional use. Just the drone itself comes with a whopping $9,000 price tag (the gimbal and camera cost extra), which definitely puts it in a class of its own, but then again, the drone lets you mount 8K cameras on it along with a wide range of lenses. While this isn’t something that would probably excite consumers, it opens up an entirely new class of drones, which could one day even work with smartphones (imagine an Apple-branded drone that works with your iPhone 12 Pro).

Sony’s $9,000 drone will be made available at the end of this year – For that price tag, you’ll get the drone along with 2 batteries, a charger, and a remote. The Airpeak S1 still awaits approval from the FAA, although Sony’s even made it clear that the production and manufacturing of all the drone’s hardware is happening in Japan, in light of US legislation and controversies around all drones being manufactured in China.

Designer: Sony

The Nike AirBuddy drone gives you an airborne AI-powered trainer that tracks your workout

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Nike AirBuddy Drone

Designed as a response to several restrictions imposed during the lockdown, the NIKE AIRBUDDY is a conceptual drone that ‘spots’ you while you exercise. It can be carried around via a shoulder-strap located on the base of the drone, and can be deployed anywhere. Once in the air, the drone connects with your Nike Fitness App and tracks your performance, giving you a comprehensive breakdown of your routine at the end.

Nike AirBuddy Drone

The drone embodies a clean, sophisticated design language, with 4 rotors branching out of a capsule-shaped body. The drone’s body is outfitted with a single camera that acts as a watchful eye, observing every movement you make like a trainer would. This would hint at the fact that the drone doesn’t come with any obstacle avoidance, so it’s best used in open fields (as opposed to densely forested parks or the woods). The AirBuddy does come with a light-strip located right in front of its camera, which means for the most part it can see what’s in front of it, avoiding obstacles as it flies forwards. Just in case the drone suffers wear and tear, the AirBuddy’s modular design solves this problem as the propellers are detachable and can be easily replaced with newer parts if they ever do get damaged.

Nike AirBuddy Drone

The AirBuddy is a conceptual drone designed by South Korea-based designer Cheolhee Lee. It features a customizable design that allows users to choose their own color-ways to match their workout-garments and gear, and although conceptual, sounds like quite a flex from a company that has always been at the forefront of innovation, having also worked on laceless shoes in the past, which were recently upgraded with the world’s first-ever hands-free shoes!

Designer: Cheolhee Lee

Nike AirBuddy Drone

Nike AirBuddy Drone

Nike AirBuddy Drone

Nike AirBuddy Drone

Nike AirBuddy Drone

Nike AirBuddy Drone

Nike AirBuddy Drone

Nike AirBuddy Drone

This sustainable flying craft helps restore lost biodiversity in our dystopian, eroded future!

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The rapid climate change and  – to a point where researchers believe has no point of return is rather ominous for the future. Just imagine what would it be like decades into this century – all the water sources would deplete, turning the currently habitable lands into an oasis of sands. This threatens the survival of our species, as well as countless other animal species that already have a bleak future due to human-induced climate change. David Wolter from Umeå Institute of Design peeks into the future, in the year 2090 when human settlements will constrict to the last inhabitable pastures on planet earth. The concept artist imagines the exponential spread of deserted lands around the equator, and how humans will make their last-ditch effort to restore the planet.

His concept centers around Terra Nova, a lighter than air propelled solution for hauling people and cargo in the barren lands without impacting the environment. When we’ll be pushed to the extreme, the role of biodiverse restoration efforts will be more or less dependent on mobility. This will play a pivotal role in slowing down desertification, initiating large-scale reforestation with the help of high-end technologies. The air propelled rig has soft organic shapes and a bold sharp design is, and is powered-assisted by the sun’s energy and is made from biodegradable materials to keep the environmental impact down to the minimum. It carries cargo and people from one station to the other – with docking capability onto the drone docking station having the autonomous capability to carry out replantation, water management, and organic pesticide control. It has operational capacity for four days, after which the Terra Nova drones, bring in the needed supplies for revitalizing the desertified landscape.

The crux of this project is to build a transportation system that has minimal or no impact on the environment – as already so much damage would have been done. After all, we are talking about a time in the future, less than seven decades from now. Terra Nova multi-functional vehicle is going to be one of the many efforts humanity needs to take up to somehow save the planet from doom.

Designer: David Wolter from Umeå Institute of Design

In an unusual case of bio-mimicry, this drone is inspired by the shape of a hammerhead shark

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It’s not entirely common for a water-borne animal to be a strong source of inspiration for an air-borne product. Sure, the penguin or the kingfisher have provided design cues that have helped understand fluid and aerodynamics, but Anton Weaver’s Hammerhead Drone takes inspiration from the popular shark almost as a visual tribute, as opposed to nature-inspired design mimicry. The Hammerhead Drone comes with a quad-propeller design and a frame that creates protective rings around each propeller. Its silhouette resembles that of the hammerhead shark rather well, with the propellers looking like the familiar offset eyes of the large carnivorous fish.

For over a century, scientists have speculated why hammerheads evolved such an odd shape and whether having eyes so far apart would enhance their vision. It was speculated (and eventually even tested) that the sharks, which first made their appearance 450 million years ago, had much better binocular vision thanks to their massively offset eyes. It would help them zero down on the location of prey with much more accuracy than other sharks, and the highly offset nostrils helped them even identify the direction of enticing odors. That history lesson aside, the Hammerhead Drone recreates that same visual appearance of the shark with the way its body projects outwards to form protective rings around each propeller. This makes the drone much more resilient during flight, allowing it to easily recover after bumping into an object.

Aside from providing a physical system to prevent hardware damage to the drone’s propellers, the Hammerhead Drone comes with a bunch of other fail-safes that help it avoid collisions. The drone comes equipped with multiple cameras and sensors on every side that help it autonomously avoid obstacles. Red LED strips on the front and back help illuminate the areas too, and allow you to easily spot the drone from a distance. For video recording, the drone comes equipped with a primary action-camera mounted on a 3-axis stabilizer – a common detail with most drones. The rear houses a removable battery pack that powers the entire unit, and the drone even comes with unique landing gears that help cushion impact as the drone makes a descent towards the ground. A handheld remote control lets you operate the Hammerhead from a distance, and you can view what the drone’s main camera sees using a companion viewfinder app or program on your smartphone.

Designer: Anton Weaver

Whale-inspired underwater drone can carry out rescue operation where humans can’t reach!

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Shipwrecks have become more frequent as the number of vessels in the oceans increases due to open trade policies between nations. Owning to their scope and location, shipwreck rescues can become logistically complicated and humanly dangerous to carry out. This is where underwater rescue robots such as the Saver Whale designed after the good sense of whales – that are known to helping people – come into the scene.

The Saver Whale is ideally a concept of an underwater drone designed to reach where human rescuers can’t – or shouldn’t – go. Lots of human live-saving deep water rescues happen in challenging, dangerous conditions which are difficult for diving squads to negotiate without risking injury or loss of life. Maritime rescue drones such as the Saver Whale can reach uncharted waters – reducing risk to human life – and work as scouts to deliver medical and equipment to liberate any trapped or sinking soul.

The Saver Whale, equipped with cameras, sonar, and radar for detection, and a radio system for communication, can be deployed from the helicopter, to venture into depths of the hostile waters of the ocean where sending human is riskier. The drone, on detecting a survivor or diseased and can instantly relay the message to the rescue team and request assistance. In addition to calling out for backup and relaying its live location, this versatile sub can equip the survivor with a life vest, rope, and other gear from the first aid kit onboard.

Interestingly, the Saver Whale is also conceptualized to shoot out a net on a dead body located, to fix its position, so it’s not lost in the water current. There are already a range of rescue robots that can crawl in the rubble, fly over fires, and swim in deep waters to help first responders in executing operations. Yet, Saver Whale with its payload carrying capacity and more organized approach can definitely go through improvisations to one day dive to the ocean beds in search of marine accident victims.

Designer: Lim do-hwi