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Category: drones

Questions to inspire discussion.

🚕 Q: What’s the expected price range for Tesla’s upcoming Robo Taxi? A: Tesla’s Robo Taxi will enter a new price tier under $30,000, significantly increasing sales and profitability due to its lower hardware cost structure.

Tesla’s Expansion in China.

🇹🇳 Q: How is Tesla expanding its Full Self-Driving (FSD) in China? A: Tesla is offering a 30-day free trial of FSD in China, with new software version 13.2.8 for both Hardware 3 and 4, likely rolling out between end of April and early May.

đŸ€ Q: Why is Tesla’s relationship with China important? A: Tesla’s good relationship with China, established 5 years ago without a joint venture, is crucial for success as China benefits from learning Tesla’s FSD perspective and benchmarking against their own vehicles.

💰 Q: How will tariffs affect low-priced vehicles in the US? A: 25% tariffs on imported vehicles will apply to nearly 80% of vehicles priced under $30,000, impacting popular models like Civic and Corolla.

Continue reading “Tesla Major Announcements, Tariff War Draws Blood” | >

A race is on in solar engineering to create almost impossibly-thin, flexible solar panels. Engineers imagine them used in mobile applications, from self-powered wearable devices and sensors to lightweight aircraft and electric vehicles. Against that backdrop, researchers at Stanford University have achieved record efficiencies in a promising group of photovoltaic materials.

Chief among the benefits of these transition metal dichalcogenides – or TMDs – is that they absorb ultrahigh levels of the sunlight that strikes their surface compared to other solar materials.

“Imagine an autonomous drone that powers itself with a solar array atop its wing that is 15 times thinner than a piece of paper,” said Koosha Nassiri Nazif, a doctoral scholar in electrical engineering at Stanford and co-lead author of a study published in the Dec. 9 edition of Nature Communications. “That is the promise of TMDs.”

The search for new materials is necessary because the reigning king of solar materials, silicon, is much too heavy, bulky and rigid for applications where flexibility, lightweight and high power are preeminent, such as wearable devices and sensors or aerospace and electric vehicles.

New, ultrathin photovoltaic materials could eventually be used in mobile applications, from self-powered wearable devices and sensors to lightweight aircraft and electric vehicles.

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A smaller, lighter and more energy-efficient computer, demonstrated at the University of Michigan, could help save weight and power for autonomous drones and rovers, with implications for autonomous vehicles more broadly.

The autonomous controller has among the lowest power requirements reported, according to the study published in Science Advances. It operates at a mere 12.5 microwatts—in the ballpark of a pacemaker.

In testing, a rolling robot using the controller was able to pursue a target zig-zagging down a hallway with the same speed and accuracy as with a conventional digital controller. In a second trial, with a lever-arm that automatically repositioned itself, the new controller did just as well.

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WASHINGTON — Maxar Intelligence developed a visual-based navigation technology that enables aerial drones to operate without relying on GPS, the company announced March 25.

The software, called Raptor, provides a terrain-based positioning system for drones in GPS-denied environments by leveraging detailed 3D models created from Maxar’s satellite imagery. Instead of using satellite signals, a drone equipped with Raptor compares its real-time camera feed with a pre-existing 3D terrain model to determine its position and orientation.

Peter Wilczynski, chief product officer at Maxar Intelligence, explained that the Raptor software has three main components. One is installed directly on the drone, enabling real-time position determination. Another application georegisters the drone’s video feed with Maxar’s 3D terrain data. A separate laptop-based application works alongside drone controllers, allowing operators to extract precise ground coordinates from aerial video feeds.

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Originally released December 2023._ In today’s episode, host Luisa Rodriguez speaks to Nita Farahany — professor of law and philosophy at Duke Law School — about applications of cutting-edge neurotechnology.

They cover:
‱ How close we are to actual mind reading.
‱ How hacking neural interfaces could cure depression.
‱ How companies might use neural data in the workplace — like tracking how productive you are, or using your emotional states against you in negotiations.
‱ How close we are to being able to unlock our phones by singing a song in our heads.
‱ How neurodata has been used for interrogations, and even criminal prosecutions.
‱ The possibility of linking brains to the point where you could experience exactly the same thing as another person.
‱ Military applications of this tech, including the possibility of one soldier controlling swarms of drones with their mind.
‱ And plenty more.

In this episode:
‱ Luisa’s intro [00:00:00]
‱ Applications of new neurotechnology and security and surveillance [00:04:25]
‱ Controlling swarms of drones [00:12:34]
‱ Brain-to-brain communication [00:20:18]
‱ Identifying targets subconsciously [00:33:08]
‱ Neuroweapons [00:37:11]
‱ Neurodata and mental privacy [00:44:53]
‱ Neurodata in criminal cases [00:58:30]
‱ Effects in the workplace [01:05:45]
‱ Rapid advances [01:18:03]
‱ Regulation and cognitive rights [01:24:04]
‱ Brain-computer interfaces and cognitive enhancement [01:26:24]
‱ The risks of getting really deep into someone’s brain [01:41:52]
‱ Best-case and worst-case scenarios [01:49:00]
‱ Current work in this space [01:51:03]
‱ Watching kids grow up [01:57:03]

The 80,000 Hours Podcast features unusually in-depth conversations about the world’s most pressing problems and what you can do to solve them.

Learn more, read the summary and find the full transcript on the 80,000 Hours website:

Nita Farahany on the neurotechnology already being used to convict criminals and manipulate workers

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