DARPA’s Learning Locomotion Program is developing a robotic dog with sophisticated software and sensor technologies, to enable it to navigate difficult terrain. If its footing fails, it learns and attempts a different route.
Imagine if we unleashed thousands of these bots in Pakistan to hunt Osama and other terrorists?
Defense Research and Engineering has announced a public competition to develop wearable batteries for soldiers, which are 1/2 the current weight of batteries that are currently used to power electronic gear, including GPS, night vision gear, and radios. In addition to weighing significantly less, the batteries must also be able to withstand rigorous use for up to 96 hours. [DoD press release]
USC’s Institute for Creative Studies and AnthroTronix have developed a scent collar, as a means of augmenting emotional connection in a simulated environment. The research was funded by the US Army, and the scent necklace releases a variety of scents recently introduced during virtual reality training for military applications.
Yasuyuki Yanagida at the Media Information Science Laboratories in Japan is developing a scent projector that delivers localized odors through the air without requiring users to wear any special devices, and because the projector emits only a small amount of scented air, different scents can be delivered within a short time. Commercial applications for this kind of technology are numerous, including heightening the realism of movies, television viewing, and video games.
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory announced this week the program’s top inventions of 2005. A breathalyzer mask device that can detect disease before it spreads can rapidly assist medical personnel determine if a patient’s symptons are caused by biological or chemical attack, or simply the common flu. The device was developed by JHUAPL senior scientist Joany Jackman and researcher Nathan Boggs.
Other winning inventions include a device that may enable amputees to communicate reflexive movements simply by thinking about them, and a Dust Storm Forecaster, an automated system that makes 72-hour forecasts of dust conditions and predicts the time, location and magnitude of dust storms, which regularly disrupt military and commercial operations in the Middle East, Africa and Southwest Asia.
[via JHUAPL]
