Aerospace giant Boeing will act as the lead donor in an $18 million project allowing MIT to construct a new, updated wind tunnel. The replacement of the 79-year-old Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel with a new facility will be "the largest and most advanced academic wind tunnel in the United States," says an MIT announcement. The new facility will be operated by the MIT … [Read more...] about Boeing and MIT Build New Wind Tunnel for Drones and Other Aerospace Ideas
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DARPA Waves Magic Funding Wand to Conjure Disappearing Drones
Two years ago, the Pentagon’s top think-tank issued a science-fiction level challenge to researchers – develop a disposable, vanishing drone. In 2015, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency released a funding proposal to create “a flock of small, single-use, unpowered delivery vehicles dropped from an aircraft, each of which literally vanishes after landing and … [Read more...] about DARPA Waves Magic Funding Wand to Conjure Disappearing Drones
MIT Researchers Develop Miniature Brains for Miniature Drones
MIT researchers are working to create miniature brains for miniature drones - designing a computer chip specifically for the purpose. "Standard computer chips for quadcoptors and other similarly sized drones process an enormous amount of streaming data from cameras and sensors, and interpret that data on the fly to autonomously direct a drone’s pitch, speed, … [Read more...] about MIT Researchers Develop Miniature Brains for Miniature Drones
The Drone with a 5 Day Flight Time
Researchers at MIT have developed a gasoline powered drone with a 5 day flight time. The glider-like drone is designed to carry a communications payload that could establish a temporary telecommunications network for disaster relief. The idea of using drones to establish temporary networks in disaster struck areas isn't new; but most solutions are expensive to operate and … [Read more...] about The Drone with a 5 Day Flight Time
Design and Test a Custom Drone with MIT’s Clever Software
Predictive computer simulations are supposed to be the stuff of Hollywood movies. The kind that show you what will happen to the Earthbound asteroid if Bruce Willis fires the nukes at a certain angle. Or the one that predicts which cities are at risk when Bruce Willis gets his angles wrong and causes a tsunami. But now the same predictive power is open to drone designers. A … [Read more...] about Design and Test a Custom Drone with MIT’s Clever Software
