As autonomy and artificial intelligence continue to be integrated into systems across society, making sure these systems work properly continues to be of the utmost importance.
“It’s really important to make sure these systems work like they’re supposed to, but it can be really hard,” says Dr. Cara LaPointe, co-director, Institute for Assured Autonomy, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.
The goal is to reach a point of assured autonomy, where people can be confident that the autonomous systems around them are, and will, operate the way they are designed to. Reaching this point requires making sure that these systems are safe, secure, resilient and capable of operating within an ecosystem alongside humans and other technologies.
IHP
IHP
The winners of the 2020 XCELLENCE Humanitarian and Public Safety Awards
The winners of the 2020 XCELLENCE Humanitarian and Public Safety Awards, sponsored by DJI, were announced on Thursday, Oct. 8.
The winners in the Humanitarian Project/Program category are Nepal Flying Labs for its Drones Optimized Therapy Systems, the UMD UAS Test Site for its Human Organ Transplant Delivery UAS program, and WildTrack for its Footprint Identification Technique (FIT).
The winners in the Public Safety Project/Program category are the Chula Vista Police Department for its Drone as a First Responder (DFR) Program, DRONERESPONDERS for its DRONERESPONDERS Public Safety Alliance, and Verity for its efforts to make drones safer with its Failsafe by Verity.
Boston Dynamics leverages cognitive and athletic intelligence to create human-like robots
Known for its advanced robots such as the BigDog, Atlas, Spot and Handle, Boston Dynamics leverages a combination of cognitive and athletic intelligence to enable its robots to handle all types of tasks.
According to Dr. Marc Raibert, the founder and chairman of Boston Dynamics, cognitive intelligence has to do with everything going on inside the head that helps you perform tasks like planning out what you're going do, solving problems, and understanding communications with other people.
Dr. Robert Ballard highlights discoveries of Titanic, unique underwater creatures using ROVs and deep-sea submersibles
Widely considered a pioneer in the development of deep-sea submersibles and remotely operated vehicle (ROVs) systems, Dr. Robert D. Ballard provided an overview of some of his most legendary discoveries and accomplishments during the Tuesday morning keynote at Xponential.
DRONERESPONDERS Global Public Safety UAS Summit to highlight benefits of drones to public safety sector
During Xponential, the DRONERESPONDERS Global Public Safety UAS Summit will highlight the immense benefits that drone technology provides to public safety agencies and first responders across the world.
Skyward granted waiver to conduct drone inspections near Big Hollow wildfire in Washington
Skyward, a Verizon company, has been awarded a temporary waiver from the FAA that allows its pilots to fly the Percepto Sparrow drone from their homes to inspect critical communications infrastructure near the Big Hollow wildfire in Washington.
The waiver permits operations 24 hours a day, with less than three miles of visibility, and no pilot or observer on site.
“At a moment when we are facing dangerous consequences of climate change and coping with a global pandemic, maintaining the Verizon Network has never been more important,” says Rima Qureshi, chief strategy officer, Verizon.
Walmart piloting drone delivery of at-home COVID-19 self-collection kits
Walmart announced this week that it will pilot drone delivery of at-home COVID-19 self-collection kits, which is a new way to provide additional, and contactless, testing options.
Walmart has partnered with an American clinical laboratory called Quest Diagnostics and drone services provider DroneUp to launch trial deliveries of collection kits in North Las Vegas starting this week, and Cheektowaga, New York in early October.
“There’s a lot we can learn from our drone delivery pilots to help determine what roles drones can play in pandemic response, health care delivery and retail,” Walmart says.
MissionGO, Nevada Donor Network use UAS to deliver human organ and tissue
On Sept. 17, UAS solutions provider MissionGO and organ procurement organization (OPO) Nevada Donor Network completed two successful test flights carrying a human organ and tissue via UAS.
During the first flight, research corneas were transported from Southern Hills Hospital and Medical Center to Dignity Health - St. Rose Dominican, San Martín Campus. The flight successfully demonstrated the viability, value, efficiency gains, and delivery speed of UAS when used to deliver lifesaving medical supplies and organs within an urban environment.
Phoenix Motorcars, EasyMile to develop autonomous bus for city of Houston
The city of Houston will receive the first Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and Buy America-compliant mid-size autonomous bus in the US.
Phoenix Motorcars and EasyMile will jointly develop the autonomous bus. Known for developing, deploying and servicing all electric drive systems for Zero Emission Commercial Vehicles, Phoenix Motorcars will equip its range of zero emission vehicle with EasyMile's driverless technology.
Milrem Robotics' Multiscope Rescue UGV showcases capabilities during urban search and rescue exercise
During the first week of September, Milrem Robotics’ Multiscope Rescue UGV was utilized by the Estonian Disaster Relief Team (EDRT) during an urban search and rescue (USAR) exercise in the main training facility of the Estonian Rescue Board in Väike-Maarja, Estonia.
Using the UGV, the rescue equipment of two USAR units was transported to the operation area, allowing members of the unit to save their energy and reach survivors quicker.
