Category: Future Tech

Say what you will about Elon Musk, the man knows how to build hype and get people talking. As soon as the media buzz about the 2019 LA Auto Show died down, the PayPal, SpaceX, and Tesla founder conducted his own invitation-only event to show off his latest creation, Tesla’s much-anticipated pickup truck, officially dubbed the Cybertruck.

I recently attended the 2019 Tokyo Motor Show, and among the numerous displays of production and concept cars, I came across the booth for the Toyota Boshoku Corporation, who makes seating, interior, and exterior components for vehicles.

While wandering the expansive show floor at the 2019 Tokyo Motor Show, I came across a pretty interesting technology which could someday find its way into vehicles. Basically, it’s a projection system that would allow vehicles to cast moving images onto the ground in front of them.

I’m here in Tokyo this week for the 2019 Tokyo Motor Show, and while here, I stopped by the new headquarters for the Toyota Research Institute – Advanced Development (TRI-AD) to check out some of the technologies the company and their partners are working on.

If you grew up any time in the latter half of the 20th century or later, you’ve been promised that flying cars (and personal jetpacks) would someday take to the skies on a regular basis. While there certainly have been a number of concepts and prototypes over the years, living like the Jetsons has yet to materialize.

While I prefer to walk my dogs, there have been times when the weather has been bad, or I’m just too tired at the end of the day, and they end up pooping in the yard.

I always thought the point of a drone was so it could fly around and do its work without having to touch the ground. But engineers from Caltech’s Center for Autonomous Systems & Technologies (CAST) have been working on an unusual drone which actually has legs.

Robots usually have either legs or wheels to move them around. But this unusual robot has both. Its builders say the combination provides it with greater versatility than other quadruped robots, and from the looks of the video footage engineer Marko Bjelonic shared, I’d have to agree.

While most robots use legs or wheels to move around, more and more robotic systems are adopting other kinds of locomotion. Some even wriggle around like snakes or worms. This worm-like robot is designed to maneuver through veins – which sounds scary, but could actually save lives.

Scientists from NC State University have created a new type of armor that could replace the rolled steel sort of military applications. The team created the new armor using a composite metal foam (CMF) that is less than half the weight of normal armor but can stop .50 cal ball and armor piercing ammo.

Amazon has been working on delivery by drone for a while now. And now the world’s largest online retailer has revealed its latest drone variant. The newly-revealed Amazon Prime Air delivery drone flies using a similar approach to VTOL aircraft, taking off and landing vertically, but orienting itself horizontally once airborne.

Forget having to fill up your car tires ever again. Airless tires are where it’s at. Soon you won’t have to worry about getting flat tires and filling them up to the proper pressure levels. The Uptis (Unique Puncture-proof Tire System) is a line of airless tires that Michelin and GM have teamed up to launch on some consumer vehicles by 2024.

Astrobees may sound like cyborg killer insects that invade Earth to make honey from our flesh, but they actually have an Earthly origin. They are robots created by humans to help astronauts in space. Astrobees are flying robots who will help astronauts with their missions.

Ford knows that autonomous cars will be used in a big way for delivery services. People who buy stuff online don’t always have time or the desire to walk out to the road to get their packages off the autonomous delivery vehicle.

If you aren’t afraid of drone attacks on humans in the near future, you should be. And if your plan was to simply knock them out of the sky, well, forget that. Drones can now dodge balls that are thrown at them.

Here in the states, the big electronic gadget exhibition is CES. But in Europe, its the Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin, aka IFA (pronounced “eee-fah”). Each September, the show kicks off in Berlin, Germany, showcasing a wide variety of technology in consumer electronics, personal care and health technology, home appliances, and much more.