Tinkerbell and bird-like UCVs
Fascinating article on some work being done at MIT to create an automated algorithm that would allow an airplane to land like a bird on a wire. MIT Associate Professor Russ Tedrake, a member of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, and Rick Cory, a PhD student in Tedrake's lab are pioneering the work. While it's still very early in the development process, I really enjoyed the quote from Mr. Cory at the end of the article because it sums up the power of the creative/innovative mind:
Cory will be moving to California to take a job researching advanced robotics techniques for Disney, [but] he hopes to continue collaborating with Tedrake. "I visited the air force, and I visited Disney, and they actually have a lot in common," Cory says. "The air force wants an airplane that can land on a power line, and Disney wants a flying Tinker Bell that can land on a lantern."
And this is exactly right.
More interestingly, this also makes a strong statement about the innovativeness of Disney, which is looking at the same technology the Air Force is, only they just want to entertain people with it.
Video
Image via Jason Dorfman (MIT/CSAIL)
Filed under //
Air Force
Disney
MIT
UCV
airplane
aviation
biomimicry
innovation
technology
unmanned combat vehicle
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