Floppy Drive Motor

Scientists have good and bad news for hard-driving people who boast they need only six hours of sleep a night. The good news is a few may be right: Researchers at the University of California-San Francisco have identified a family with a genetic mutation that causes members to ...more

Japanese artist and visual designer Akira Nakayasu creates robotic plants that not only respond to human touch, but anticipate human touch. The first video in the gallery below, entitled "Plant", was inspired by grass blowing in the wind. The robotic plant has 169 artificial ...more

This panhandling robot isn't too proud to beg. In fact, it's custom-built for it. And who could refuse? Get a load of that puppy-dog eye. Creator Chris Eckert explains, "Gimme is a two axis numerically controlled sculpture that pans a room looking for people. Once found, the ...more

Ogre is a "Tank" built around a Zamor launching system nicknamed "Hailstorm". For more information, visit http://www.teamhassenplug.org/robots/...  It uses three XL PF motors, controlled either by a standard PF remote, or by the on-board (black) NXT using the Hitechnic IRLink ...more

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has been widely used by the military for surveillance and reconnaissance missions—even armed combat. But there are other beneficial applications of an unmanned aircraft, such as search and rescue operations, scientific exploration, lo ...more

It's an ambitious How-To project to say the least, or more specifically, an over-the-top political art installation by San Francisco artist Brian Goggin. You may have previously heard of Goggin for his "Defenestration" project—an installation of "frozen" furniture, being tosse ...more

Ever wonder what your brain looks like on video games? Below, Matt Richtel of the New York Times lies in a $3 million M.R.I. scanning tube while playing a simple driving game, as researchers sit by and observe the real-time images inside Richtel's brain. Why? To measure and m ...more

It took him a year to build and about $30,000 in parts, but Steve Hassenplug has created a truly magnificent robotic chess set, inspired by the magical chessboard in the first Harry Potter movie. Quite a task, but Hassenplug did an incredible job! Via PopSci: "Hassenplug and ...more

What Is Ferrofluid? Ferrofluid is a black, solvent-based liquid, that, in the presence of a magnetic field, becomes strongly magnetized. The fluid is made up of nanomagnetic particles coated with an "anti-stick" or surfactant compound, suspended in a "carrier", commonly an or ...more

A couple months ago, the world was supposed to end. It didn't. But that didn't stop the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from warning citizens of one global possibility besides complete destruction—ZOMBIES. They used the farcical flesh-eating living dead as an ...more

If you're like me, you were always jealous of the kids with rich parents who got to ride around in their own Power Wheels cars. Now that I am tall enough to sell my body and time, I find myself attaining childhood dreams like buying my own Power Wheels car. I would not have ch ...more

Valentine's Day is almost here, and if you're like me, you're scurrying to do something special for your mate. The standard chocolates and flowers just isn't cutting it anymore, and you can only make so many homemade cards before it becomes banal and meaningless. So, what can ...more

This prank uses Steve-O and Pontius to attach a rope and duct taped to their taint while the rope gets pulled by a golf cart or truck driven by Johnny Knoxville. The Spitting Urinal: Johnny will set up a small water squirter and a suction motor in a urinal and while Kosick o ...more

Japan is in the process of curbing its aging population and mature workforce. According to The Diplomat, the country's population has been declining at a steady rate. To meet future productivity demands in commercial and industrial sectors, local officials are turning to self- ...more

Hyundai Motor Company says it will launch its driverless tech ahead of schedule, but the Korean carmaker will remain behind mainstream rivals, including General Motors (GM), Nissan, and Honda. Speaking to the Korean IT news outlet the Electronic Times, Hyundai said it was lau ...more

Alphabet's moonshot factory, X (formerly "Google X"), is a secretive place, but it seems that when they are close to graduating a project, then they need to staff it up quickly. Watching for these job ads is one easy way to know they're close to budding off a baby. The X divi ...more

On Tuesday, at the Geneva International Motor Show, Volkswagen gave the world an early peek at a futuristic autonomous concept car that includes a virtual AI host embodied in an augmented reality interface. For its I.D. Vizzion concept car, Volkswagen has endeavored to create ...more

Cruise Automation, General Motors' (GM) driverless car arm, has hired two hackers who were once seen by many as a safety threat to help find vulnerabilities in its self-drive car network. Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt confirmed the hires of security consultants Charlie Miller and Chri ...more

The Chinese government's tight restrictions on gathering data by foreign firms for 3D mapping, the lifeblood of machine-taught driverless systems, could at least slow down access to the market by Waymo, Tesla, General Motors (GM), Ford, and other players hoping to make inroads ...more

Waymo and Lyft have remained highly secretive about their driverless car programs, but may be forced to reveal a lot about their plans after a judge in a US federal court granted Uber's request to review documents about Waymo and Lyft's partnership. Waymo and Lyft haven't rel ...more

The laws and regulations in place in the US for driverless vehicles are a mess, but Republican congressional members say they can fix it. The congressmen hope to pass a bill scheduled to go before the House of Representatives this week that will allow carmakers to test and se ...more

Many wonder how driverless cars will ever be able to navigate through any driving condition imaginable — but the point is self-taught machines, in theory, have the innate ability to adapt to chaotic and extreme driving conditions in ways far superior to what humans are capable ...more

Verizon could be getting in on the autonomous vehicle party, judging by its recent investment in driverless software company Renovo Motors. The Wall Street Journal reports that Verizon's (strategic) generosity was part of a $10 million round led by venture capital firm True V ...more

There was one company at the 2015 LA Auto Show that had everyone intrigued. They didn't have a big booth, and they only had one car on display, but they definitely had everyone's attention. It wasn't Tata Motors, a company that gained international recognition when it launche ...more

Here's an educational video about dealing with all types of roundabouts, suitable for those practising with driving in the Nottingham and surrounding area. Standard roundabouts, mini-roundabouts, and the dreaded multi-lane roundabouts are all explained for your satisfaction h ...more

Cruise Automation follows Waymo's and Uber's lead with its debut of a beta version of an app-based driverless ride-hailing service for its employees in San Francisco, ahead of a possible launch of a full-fledged commercial offering within four years. Cruise CEO and founder Ky ...more

Google quickly learned over five years ago electric vehicles (EVs) were the powertrain of choice for its then fledging driverless car program and the industry has since followed its lead. Now, every major carmaker has an EV program of some kind, while all-electric powertrains ...more

Lately, the biggest news in driverless has been the raging lawsuit between two autonomous spearheads, Uber and Google's Waymo. A new bill back by General Motors, however, could take them both out of the race towards driverless. The Massachusetts bill, filed by Senator Eric Le ...more

Stakeholders in the driverless industry are anxiously awaiting changes the US Department of Transportation (DOT) is making to self-driving vehicle guidelines. Under the existing guidelines drafted by the DOT during the President Obama era, a 15-point "safety assessment" detai ...more

When we talk about driverless technology, the go-to companies are usually Waymo, Uber, or Tesla. However, traditional automakers like Ford and GM are also staking claims to the driverless and advanced driver assistance spaces. According to a report by Navigant Research, Ford ...more

Rooting. As an Android user, I'm sure you've heard the word once or twice. According to Kaspersky, 7.6% of all Android users root — but for the 92.4% who don't, we wanted to talk to you. Rooting allows you to remove barriers and open Android to a level of unprecedented contro ...more

For all of its drama, Uber's driverless program has states like Arizona excited for the future of self-driving vehicles. But it's not Arizona alone that supports the driverless craze; the Illinois House of Representatives will hear a bill that would allow driverless cars on th ...more

Not only has there been difficulty finding consensus on a name for driverless, autonomous, self-driving, or automated vehicles, there is also the issue of what we actually mean when we say a vehicle is self-driving, automated, and so on. Do we mean that the vehicle can drive ...more

General Motors acquired Cruise Automation in March 2016 for a reported $1 billion (well, at least $581 million). GM President Dan Ammann made a point of being in the press release photograph with Cruise founders Kyle Vogt and Daniel Kan (see photo below). On January 19, 2017, ...more

Self-driving vehicles may be the apex of safe driving, taking human error out of the equation. Until then, augmented reality can help reduce accidents by improving driver awareness. This week, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation introduced its EMIRAI 4 concept car, which uses aug ...more

Cruise Automation, the driverless car startup General Motors (GM) bought for $1 billion in 2016, is readying a formidable fleet of robo-taxis for rollout in cities throughout the US. But when it comes to details about how the company plans to realize these lofty goals, it's be ...more

Nauto, which develops driver-monitor cameras and algorithms for autonomous vehicles, is among a growing list of driverless startups able to attract tens of millions of dollars in funding after raising $159 million in its latest round of financing. Led by a subsidiary of SoftB ...more

Sherif Marakby has returned to Ford as the VP of AVs & Electrification after a brief stint with Uber. Marakby's VP title will be effective June 12. The news of Uber departure was announced in April. He worked with Ford Motor Co. for 25 years before leaving to become Uber's Vi ...more

With the British exit from the European Union looming, the UK is looking to the auto industry to help boost their economy and secure jobs through the upcoming years. Today, Business Secretary Greg Clark and Transport Minister John Hayes announced the government investment of $ ...more

While not quite a true self-driving car, Mercedes is gearing to release a vehicle with a plethora of assistive-driving features, some that might have you excited about what autonomous vehicles can do in the future. Mercedes-Benz's updated S-Class vehicles, to be revealed at t ...more

Automotive augmented reality company WayRay has set its destination for a $1 billion valuation with an estimated time of arrival of 2019, and it has just passed a major milestone towards that goal. On Tuesday, the company announced that it has closed an $80 million Series C r ...more

The driverless competition is heating up as Detroit automakers attempt to woo tech talent away from some of Silicon Valley's biggest players. Bloomberg reports that there here are currently 5,000 job openings in software and electronics product development in the Motor City a ...more

Magic Leap One owners, start your virtual engines, as automotive virtual reality developer RelayCars has published an app to Magic Leap World that lets users customize and test drive a 2019 Kia Stinger. The RelayCars app, which is available as a free download, enables Magic L ...more

The status of Uber's driverless program remains a big unknown amid the company's recent woes, but a reported multibillion-dollar shot in the arm by Japanese tech giant Softbank could change all that. Softbank has approached Uber unilaterally about offering to purchase a multi ...more

A Norwegian carrier's launch of a pilotless container ship next year could lead the way to a new era in sea transportation and shipping if successful. Norway-based Yara International ASA, a self-touted "Tesla of the seas," claims the eletric-powered vessel will be the world's ...more

Drive.ai (a startup founded by Stanford University graduates), Waymo, General Motors, and serial entrepreneur and author Vivek Wadhwa are featured in today's top news. Driverless Car Startup Drive.ai Raises $50 Million A group of recent Stanford University grads has secured ...more

The new Leaf with Nissan's ProPilot driverless feature could launch as soon as this year, following a teaser image and video the Japanese carmaker released of its flagship EV yesterday. A company source told Driverless that ProPilot could become available in the new Leaf befo ...more

General Motors (GM) has begun production of 130 Chevrolet Bolt EV driverless test vehicles at its Orion Township, Mich. plant as it expands its fleet to total 180 models deployed in San Francisco; Scottsdale, Arizona; and Detroit. GM said it is the first company to assemble s ...more

A Norwegian shipping company says it will launch an unmanned container ship within four years, as the shipping industry begins to apply driverless technology to commercial sea transportation. Norway-based Yara International ASA claims the vessel will be the world's first auto ...more

The $25 million development alliance Jaguar Land Rover's mobility unit InMotion has formed with US-based ride-share firm Lyft reflects how the British luxury carmaker is leaning towards a fleet service business model for its driverless offerings. The agreement marks the iconi ...more

Global design and technology services company Tata Elxsi says it has licensed its advanced autonomous vehicle middleware platform "AUTONOMAI" to a "leading automotive OEM." A top-five car OEM worldwide will use the platform to speed up its driverless car development and event ...more

Waymo's transfer of its driverless car know-how to commercial trucks will likely pose few challenges for the self-driving unit of Alphabet, which owns Google. That's because the sensor, deep machine learning, mapping, and other technologies underpinning its driverless cars ar ...more

General Motors Co. (GM) is set to expand their fleet of driverless cars in San Francisco, Detroit, and Scottsdale, according to documents filed by the company. IEEE Spectrum reports that the expansion process could commence as early as next month, as evidenced by the document ...more