A Yacht that Pilots Itself

As reported by Phys.Org: Driverless technology is making inroads in maritime shipping, search-and-rescue operations and security work. But it has been conspicuously absent from recreational boating.

That is changing.

Buffalo Automation Group, a robotics startup founded by three University at Buffalo undergraduate engineering students, is developing technology to create autonomous boats similar to Google's driverless cars. Since forming last year, the company has successfully tested its technology on a 16-foot catamaran, filed two provisional patent applications and secured thousands of dollars in funding.

"The success we've had illustrates there is a market for safe, highly-effective and easy-to-use marine autopilot systems that provide recreational boat owners with well-deserved peace of mind," says Thiru Vikram, the company's CEO, who expects to earn a computer science degree from UB this spring.

Co-founders include Shane Nolan, chief operating officer (electrical engineering, class of 2017) and Alex Zhitelzeyf, vice president of product development (mechanical engineering, class of 2016).

Helping pleasure boaters

Each year, recreational boating accidents cause hundreds of fatalities and thousands of injuries nationwide, according to U.S. Coast Guard data. Buffalo Automation Group wants to reduce those numbers through use of its technology. The company is targeting small yachts and inboard boats up to 40 feet long.

"These are vessels that are big enough for a family to spend anywhere from a few days to a few weeks on the water. But they're often too small to hire a crew, or even a junior captain, so the captain must keep constant vigil over the boat," Nolan says.

Like airplanes, many of these boats have an autopilot option. The problem, Zhitelzeyf says, is that these systems are reactive, meaning that they respond only after the boat senses a change in tide, wind or other conditions.

The technology that Buffalo Automation Group is developing - a combination of sensors, cameras and wireless communication systems - is predictive, meaning it fuses real-time data, such as weather conditions and obstacles in the water (boats, swimmers, logs, etc.), with nautical charts and other static information to preempt any threats to the boat and its course of direction.

Designed for new and used vessels, the system would dock the boat and allow the captain, at any time, to easily regain control over the boat. It also has the potential to reduce insurance costs.

"Essentially, you will connect your smartphone or laptop to the system. From there, you use your device to tell the system where you'd like to go. It then guides the boat, from port to port, using the safest, most efficient route possible," Zhitelzeyf says.

How they got started

Each co-founder grew up interested in robotics. Vikram began shaping the business idea in early 2014. That spring, he and a separate team of students won third prize at UB's elevator pitch competition.

Around that time, he approached Nolan, a friend he met through the Academies, living and learning communities at UB that bring together like-minded students. They soon paired up, added Zhitelzeyf and received a research grant from UB's Center for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities.

From there, Buffalo Automation Group was born.

The company is based out of tenX, a co-working space operated by UB's Office of Science, Technology Transfer and Economic Outreach (STOR) at Baird Research Park in Amherst, New York. The students work under the guidance of Bina Ramanurthy, teaching associate professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

They received a boost this summer by winning the inaugural Buffalo Student Sandbox, an innovative economic development contest created by WNY Innovation Hot Spot that pays college students to further their respective businesses during the summer.

The co-founders plan to continue to refine the technology - as well as complete their course work - this school year while meeting with potential investors, boat manufacturers and retailers that sell marine electronics.

Amazon Made a Huge Plastic Box Called 'Snowball' so People can Ship Data to the Cloud

As reported by The Verge: Backing data up to the cloud is pretty fast for most of us since we're syncing small files, but it can be a hugely time-consuming process if you're backing up something bigger, say, an entire data center. So Amazon has come up with a solution: essentially a big ugly box that holds 50TB of storage and can be mailed back and forth with ease so that the transfers can all be done locally, at much higher speeds.

50 POUNDS OF MACHINE, 50TB OF STORAGE

The idea of sending hard drives back and forth isn't new; it's something that a lot of cloud storage services already offer, including Amazon. But what's different here is that Amazon is building hardware just for this purpose, and the hardware is pretty intense.

Amazon is calling its storage device "Snowball," which is kind of like when you name a giant dog Fluffy. The Snowball has thick gray housing that's meant to make the entire device rugged and shippable. It's weatherproof, and it's supposed to be able to withstand a 6g force without taking damage. Amazon says that you won't even have to pack this thing up; you can apparently just hand it over to a shipping service.

The Snowball weighs 50 pounds and is meant to be light enough for a single person to carry — there are even handles on top. The device also has an E Ink display for controlling it. And, of course, there's a 10Gbps network connection for transferring data.

Rather than selling the devices, Amazon is renting them out as needed. Companies can request one for $200 per transfer (plus shipping costs), which Amazon says could be a pretty solid deal; it claims that it can be as low as one-fifth the cost of backing up over the internet. All data is encrypted during transfer, and Amazon says it will thoroughly wipe the device before sending it out again. Transfers are expected to take only a single day, with the only slowdown being for shipping.

FAA Suggests $1.9M Fine Against SkyPan Over Drone Operations

As reported by NPR: The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced yesterday that it’s proposing an unprecedented $1.9 million fine against Chicago-based SkyPan International, a company that shoots aerial photos and videos with camera drones. This is the largest civil penalty ever proposed against a drone operator for endangering airspace safety.

According to the FAA, between March 21st, 2012, and December 15th, 2014, SkyPan flew 65 unauthorized aerial photography drone flights in some of the country’s most congested airspace and over heavily populated cities (e.g. New York City and Chicago).

These flights violated “airspace regulations and various operating rules,” the FAA writes. “These operations were illegal and not without risk […] SkyPan operated the aircraft in a careless or reckless manner so as to endanger lives or property.”

“Flying unmanned aircraft in violation of the Federal Aviation Regulations is illegal and can be dangerous,” says FAA Administrator Michael Huerta. “We have the safest airspace in the world, and everyone who uses it must understand and observe our comprehensive set of rules and regulations.”

The proposed $1.9 million fine dwarfs the previous largest fine proposed for drone operations, which was a $18,700 penalty handed out to a New York video production company called Xizmo Media, the Chicago Tribune reports. The FAA tells the Tribune that SkyPan’s ginormous fine is due to the number of times the FAA warned SkyPan about its operations (to no avail).

Interestingly enough, on SkyPan’s website, the company proudly touts the fact that it’s one of around 1,700 companies that has received an FAA Section 333 exemption that allows it to operate drones commercially:

China Launches 20th BeiDou GNSS Satellite

As reported by InsideGNSS: China launched a new-generation satellite into orbit that will support its GNSS network at 7:13 a.m. Beijing Time Wednesday, September 30, 2015.
 
According to the China state news agency Xinhua, the spacecraft was launched from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern province of Sichuan on a Long March-3B carrier rocket. It was the 20th satellite for the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) and for the first time featured a hydrogen maser atomic clock.
 
A series of tests related to the clock and a new Phase III navigation signal will be undertaken, according to a statement from the China Satellite Navigation Office.

Las Vegas Bets that SpaceX Will Make it to Mars Before NASA

As reported by Engadget: NASA may believe that it'll be the first to land humans on Mars, but don't tell that to Las Vegas betting houses. Popular Mechanics has asked Docsports' Raphael Esparza to set odds for the first organization to put people on Mars, and he believes that SpaceX stands a much better chance of reaching the Red Planet (5 to 1) than anyone else, including NASA (80 to 1). To put it bluntly, SpaceX has the money and the motivation that others don't -- NASA would be the favorite, but its budget cuts are holding it back.

With that in mind, you might not want to make a wager just yet. Esparza's odds for latecomers like China and Europe (100 to 1 and 300 to 1) are plausible, but he gives the crew at Mars One better odds than NASA (15 to 1) despite serious concerns about both its safety and plans to fund the trip through a reality TV show. Although there is a case to be made for private explorers getting to Mars ahead of government agencies, we wouldn't rule out countries with the political and scientific incentives to pursue a manned Martian expedition.

Tesla Cars Will Reach 620 Miles On A Single Charge “Within A Year Or Two,” Be Fully Autonomous In “Three Years”

As reported by TechCrunch: Tesla CEO Elon Musk sat down with a Danish TV show last week and had some interesting predictions to share.

Asked, for example, when he thought the company could produce a car that can “break 1,000 kilometers” (or 620 miles) on a single charge, he said his guess would be “within a year or two,” adding, “2017 for sure.”

As readers might recall, a new record was established last month by one enthusiastic Model S owner, who drove a painful 24-miles-per hour to make it a stunning 452.8 miles on a single charge. (The car is advertised as having a 265-mile range.)

Musk didn’t elaborate on whether someone would need to drive just as slowly to reach 620 miles in 2017. We’d guess that’s not what he had in mind, though.

Musk also said that self-driving Tesla cars are around the corner.

Already, owners of Tesla’s Model S models are expecting a software update that will allow their cars to start driving themselves in a hands-free mode that Musk calls “auto pilot.” Musk told the Danish interviewer that the software is still being beta-tested and will “hopefully go into wide release next month.”

(A March New York Times story reported the software would be released this past summer. It also noted that “serious questions remain about whether such autonomous driving is actually legal.”)

Perhaps more notably, Musk is now saying that Tesla cars should have “full autonomy” in “approximately three years.”

As for when regulators are ready to sanction self-driving technologies, they  “probably will not allow for full autonomy for one to three years after that,” said Musk. “It depends on the market. Some will be more forward-leaning than others.”

Perhaps emboldened by Musk’s seeming candor, the interviewer also asked Musk what cars will look like 20 years from now.

Musk — who has famously argued that we need to put one million people on Mars to ensure the future of mankind — thought for a second. Then he said matter-of-factly: “I hope civilization is still around in 20 years.”

Here’s the full interview:

Nissan's New Concept Car is a Digital Canvas

As reported by ITWorld: Nissan's latest concept car will pass the digital cool test but it won't do much to stop distracted driving: the entire dashboard is one huge display on which drivers and passengers can post anything.

The car, due to be unveiled at this month's Tokyo Motor Show, has the snappy name "Teatro for Dayz" and the display concept spreads throughout the entire car to include the seats and even displays on the outside of the vehicle.

Nissan says it's designed for "digital natives," who are accustomed to using digital devices to share content so why should the car be any different?

Nissan's Teatro for Dayz concept car.

The car is the result of "extensive" surveys with the younger generation that came to the conclusion that, according to Nissan, young people "feel that time spent in a car should be time for connecting and sharing experiences with friends."

And so the car includes a camera, so drivers can instantly share what's going on in and around the vehicle with their friends.

As a concept car, the Teatro for Dayz is meant to attract attention and get people thinking differently about what a car could be like in the future.

It's not meant to be a fully thought out design that's ready for the market, which is probably just as well as the solid white seats wouldn't make for a very comfortable drive. Presumably, the younger generation haven't given up comfort for digital cleverness.

Nissan's Teatro for Dayz concept car.

So look at the image above and you'll see the seats, headrests, and instrument panel are digital screens on which the driver and passenger can project anything. Nissan calls it a "clean canvas."

The display function only works when the car is parked. In drive mode, all the driver can see are the various meters and controls necessary to drive the car and any maps that might be needed. All can be resized at will.

But what the car is really all about is grabbing the attention of young people, so they turn into car buyers and don't just rely on services like ZipCar or Uber.

"We can no longer attract their attention with the same old values," Nissan said in a statement while acknowledging "what moves kids today is not what moved their parents."

Nissan's Teatro for Dayz concept car.  The Teatro for Dayz is an electric car, seen above in recharging mode. Notice how the door trim provides an update on the charging progress?

The car will be on show at the Tokyo Motor Show, which begins on Oct. 30.

Nissan isn't the first car company to think about lots of displays in a concept. At the beginning of the year, Mercedes Benz showed off its F015 concept, which envelopes passengers with displays. The seats look slightly more comfortable and the F015 is also ready for self-driving with driver and passenger seats that turn around.

The interior of the Mercedes Benz F015 concept car has seats that face each other because the car will do all the driving, seen here at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit on January 13, 2015.