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Dec 9, 2021

Tesla Model 3 Is A Competent Police Car, UK Trial Reveals

Posted by in categories: sustainability, transportation

Police departments all over the world are warming up to electric vehicles and their findings after using EVs on a daily basis are encouraging.

Earlier this year, the Westport Police Department in Connecticut shared some interesting conclusions after buying a Tesla Model 3 in December 2019. They found the EV to be not only cheaper to buy than the Ford Explorer SUV they typically use but also more affordable to modify, maintain, and run, leading to savings of about $6,000 a year.

Now, new data is coming in from the UK, where several Tesla Model 3s custom built by Tesla UK as patrol cars have completed nine months of initial trials with the police. Max Toozs-Hobson, account manager and emergency services lead at Tesla, shared the findings on LinkedIn and said the Model 3 police cars have been “getting some great results.

Dec 9, 2021

Airobotics, Solar Drone to develop new drone for solar panels cleaning

Posted by in categories: drones, mapping, robotics/AI, solar power, sustainability

Israeli drone manufacturer Airobotics has collaborated with Israeli solar farm services company Solar Drone to develop and supply to Solar Drone a unique solar panel cleaning drone system. The fully automated system will include a drone docking station for automatic battery replacement and cleaning fluid replenishment, enabling the system to operate continuously.

While solar power and solar panels are essentially maintenance-free systems, but solar panels do require cleaning from time to time to enable proper function. Dirt, dust, mud, and bird dropping greatly reduce solar panel efficiency, impacting power output. Frequent cleaning is expensive and time-consuming, especially when panels are remote, difficult to access, or difficult to clean.

Continue reading “Airobotics, Solar Drone to develop new drone for solar panels cleaning” »

Dec 9, 2021

The Moon has enough oxygen to sustain 8 billion people for 100,000 years

Posted by in category: space travel

Extracting oxygen from regolith would also require substantial industrial equipment. We’d need to first convert solid metal oxide into liquid form, either by applying heat, or heat combined with solvents or electrolytes. We have the technology to do this on Earth, but moving this apparatus to the Moon – and generating enough energy to run it – will be a mighty challenge.

Earlier this year, Belgium-based startup Space Applications Services announced it was building three experimental reactors to improve the process of making oxygen via electrolysis. They expect to send the technology to the Moon by 2025 as part of the European Space Agency’s in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) mission.

Dec 9, 2021

Google disrupts cybercrime web infecting 1 mn devices

Posted by in categories: bitcoin, cybercrime/malcode

Google said Tuesday it has moved to shut down a network of about one million hijacked electronic devices used worldwide to commit online crimes, while also suing Russia-based hackers the tech giant claimed were responsible.

The so-called botnet of infected devices, which was also used to surreptitiously mine bitcoin, was cut off at least for now from the people wielding it on the internet.

“The operators of Glupteba are likely to attempt to regain control of the botnet using a backup command and control mechanism,” wrote Shane Huntley and Luca Nagy from Google’s threat analysis group.

Dec 9, 2021

Uganda to Launch its First Satellite in 2022

Posted by in categories: health, satellites

Uganda is preparing to launch its first satellite by August 2022. The satellite, PearlAfricaSat-1, is the latest mission from the Joint Global Multi-Nation Birds Satellite project. The initiative began in October 2019 as part of a directive by Uganda’s President to develop a National Space Agency and Institute.

Uganda signed the collaborative research agreement with the Kyushu Institute of Technology (Kyutech), Japan. The agreement involved enrolling and upskilling three graduate engineers to design, build, test, and launch the first satellite for Uganda. Consequently, Japan registered three Ugandan graduate engineers, including; Bonny Omara, Edgar Mujunu, and Derrick Tebuseke.

The core missions for PearlAfricaSat-1 are a multispectral camera payload. The Multispectral Camera mission will provide about 20-metre resolution images for Uganda to facilitate water quality, soil fertility, and land use and cover analysis. The satellite will play a vital role in the oil and gas operation by monitoring the East African crude oil pipeline. This will enable accurate weather forecasts by gathering remote sensor data for predicting landslides and drought. Once the satellite reaches orbit, an Uganda ground station will monitor its health status for a few days before it starts executing its mission.

Dec 9, 2021

Engineers build in-pipe sewer robot

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, transportation

Scientists from the Division of Mechanical Science and Engineering at Kanazawa University developed a prototype pipe maintenance robot that can unclog and repair pipes with a wide range of diameters. Using a cutting tool with multiple degrees of freedom, the machine is capable of manipulating and dissecting objects for removal. This work may be a significant step forward for the field of sewerage maintenance robots.

Various sewer pipes that are essential to the services of buildings require regular inspection, repair, and maintenance. Current robots that move inside pipes are primarily designed only for visual surveying or inspection. Some robots were developed for maintenance, but they couldn’t execute complicated tasks. In– robots that can also clear blockages or perform complex tasks are highly desirable, especially for pipes that are too narrow for humans to traverse. Now, a team of researchers at Kanazawa University have developed and tested a prototype with these capabilities. “Our robot can help civic and industrial workers by making their job much safer. It can operate in small pipes that humans either cannot access or are dangerous,” explains first author Thaelasutt Tugeumwolachot.

One of the main challenges with designing a robot of this kind is how to achieve a snug fit inside pipes of different sizes. Previous models can expand or contract their width by only about 60 percent. Here, the researchers used six foldable “crawler” arms around the body of the robot. This adjustable locomotion mechanism allowed it to work in pipes with sizes between 15 to 31 cm, a range of over 100 percent. Another is how to crowd complex and tough arm mechanism into small space. This robot equipped a compact arm which enables complicated cutting movements by being driven via gear train from several motors inside the robot body.

Dec 8, 2021

2 new secret combat drones are in the works, Air Force secretary says

Posted by in categories: drones, finance, military, robotics/AI

Exclusive

The disclosure is the strongest indication yet that the service is banking on autonomous weapon systems to give it an edge in the increasingly fierce military competition with China.

Dec 8, 2021

AWS outage shines a light on hybrid cloud

Posted by in category: futurism

The latest AWS outage shone a spotlight on some of the benefits of adopting a hybrid or multi-region cloud strategy.

Dec 8, 2021

TSMC Founder: Pat Gelsinger Too Old to Make Intel Great Again

Posted by in category: futurism

TSMC and Intel exchange rants.


Intel’s Gelsinger may not have enough time to regain Intel’s process technology leadership.

Dec 8, 2021

SunPower launches in-house financing for US homeowners who want rooftop solar

Posted by in category: finance

California-headquartered SunPower (Nasdaq: SPWR) announced today that it’s launched SunPower Financial, which means that customers working with SunPower to buy rooftop solar and storage no longer need a third-party lender to obtain and manage financing.

SunPower claims that it’s now the first and only solar provider to give US homeowners a one-stop shop for the purchase of solar and storage, including design, sales, installation, financing, and warranty.

A key aim of the launch of its financial arm is to expand access to residential solar for lower-income customers.