Tag: Flying

Because our scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they never stopped to think if they should; researchers at the University of Tokyo have developed a giant flying robotic spider. Named SPIDAR (the all-too-obvious acronym for ‘SPherIcally vectorable and Distributed rotors assisted Air-ground amphibious quadruped Robot’), the four-legged beast can take to the skies thanks to a total of 16 thrusters on its legs.

Developed by researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the waterproof Mirs-X autonomous drone is capable of both flying AND swimming underwater using its same four rotors for propulsion. It positions itself vertically to swim up or down and tilts itself horizontally to swim side to side or at an angle.

Appropriately piloted by a man dressed as Elvis, the Ryse Recon electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) craft was recently flown over the old Las Vegas strip. And, because the hexacopter is classified as an ultralight aircraft, it doesn’t require a pilot’s license to fly.

Because if you can dream it, you can build it (at least with LEGO bricks), Riley of Youtube channel Brick Science wanted to build a tabletop flight simulator entirely out of LEGO. Something that would sit on the table, and you could move with functional controllers.

Inspired by the legs and feet of a peregrine falcon, engineers at Stanford University’s Cutkosky Lab have developed a set of SNAG (“stereotyped nature-inspired aerial grasper”) robotic legs that can perch on different sized branches and grasp objects in a manner similar to the bird of prey.

This is the Mad Fly Sports Raptor Football, a toy football/plane hybrid that can be thrown over 100 yards. So maybe for once when my brother tells me to go long, he’ll actually mean it. The toy does require a unique throw (read: not a football spiral) for the creation of maximum lift and distance though, so there is a learning curve involved.

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.

Daniel Riley of Stratus Productions built a super bright 1,000W LED flashlight. Then, he did what any inventive geek would – he managed to mount it to a powerful Freefly Alta drone. The result is a flying machine that can crank out some truly breathtaking aerial effects.

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.

Generally speaking, drones have either vertical takeoff capabilities or they need a runway. However, a South African startup has a better way. Their solution is to add some legs to their drone. The Passerine Sparrow Jumper has fixed wings and legs and feet for takeoff and landing.

Drones can do all kinds of things, and now you can add window washing to the list. After all, washing windows is a dangerous job. Humans can die if they fall while working on a skyscraper.

Somebody call Spider-Man, because I think we just spotted the Green Goblin! What you’re about to see is a jet-powered Flyboard Air being piloted at speeds up to 103.4 mph. This thing looks like a lot of fun.

We’ve seen drones that mimic real bird flight, but the ones we’ve seen have been for strictly experimental purposes. However, China is taking flight with the idea and taking it seriously. This drone looks like a dove so naturally it is called “Dove”.

One of the things I am often glad of is that snakes can’t fly. I can’t think of anything worse than being chased by a flying snake set on biting me with its gross forked tongue and fangs.

Fathers and sons do it, people do it in the park with their dogs, and Baseball players do it professionally, so why not let the robots get in on a fun game of catch? They want in on this human pastime too.

Basic drones are a dime a dozen these days, turning up everywhere from Walmart to your local 7-Eleven. But most of them share a few drawbacks – they’re cumbersome to carry around, easy to damage, and their spinning propellers can be a hazard to anyone who goes near them.