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New breed of drones.
Drones give us a unique perspective of the world around us.
But just imagine what these small, agile, unmanned aircraft could do if they weren’t
completely dependent on GPS to navigate.
They could assist in underground search efforts or even deliver your next package without
worrying about their proximity to buildings and other obstacles that can block GPS signals.
NSF-funded researchers at Brigham Young University are producing a new breed of fixed-wing UAV’s
that can navigate effectively when GPS signals are interrupted, weak or nonexistent.
The team's system uses onboard devices like cameras, depth sensors and other types of
sensors with sophisticated algorithms to overcome the dependence on GPS.
The aircraft uses relative navigation, which estimates the UAV’s position, velocity and
attitude-so it can navigate relative to local surroundings.
To test the method, the team’s UAV traveled 1 mile successfully for two and a half minutes
with an error of less than 3 percent of the distance traveled.
The relative navigation approach allows the onboard algorithm to readily incorporate information
from other aircraft or known landmarks to further improve its estimate of its location.
While additional development is needed, advances such as these will lead to safer, more reliable
UAVs when GPS is degraded or unavailable.
Autonomous bots.
Don’t adjust your screen!
You’re not watching Olympic synchronized robotics.
These robotic modules combine to make this robot.
An NSF-funded Cornell-led research team has designed modular robots that can for the first
time perceive and react to their surroundings.
These critters can assess the environment and autonomously transform themselves into
a different shape and successfully navigate the changing and unfamiliar landscape.
University of Pennsylvania researchers developed these robots with flexible, interchangeable
parts.
They are also outfitted with multiple cameras and small computers for collecting and processing
data about their surroundings.
The robots’ software includes perception algorithms that can map, navigate and classify
the environment.
While still in research stages, these bots might one day navigate complex terrain for
exploration, or rubble for search and rescue.
3D bioprinting.
Hardened blood vessels are associated with cardiovascular disease, but engineering a
solution for viable artery and tissue replacement has been challenging.
NSF-funded researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder recently developed a 3D printing
technique that could one day lead to the creation of blood vessels, artificial arteries, and
even organ tissues.
The team’s technique allows for localized control of an object’s firmness by controlling
the amount of oxygen and light exposure present.
This gives the researchers the freedom to control which areas of an object are solidified
to be harder or softer-while keeping the overall geometry the same.
The table-sized printer is capable of working with biomaterials at about the size of one-tenth
of the width of a human hair.
The team demonstrated the technique by printing a small Chinese warrior figurine with outer
layers remaining hard and interior layers remaining soft.
The researchers are optimistic about the future of their technique in fabrication of living
artificial organ tissues.
For more information about these stories, visit us at nsf.gov.
This is NSF Science Now, I"m Dena Headlee.
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