Lazarus | The Human-Powered Aircraft Without Engines developed by students.

The students, all members of the Southampton University Human Powered Aircraft Society (SUHPA) and led by Engineering student Charles Dhenin, built their aircraft Lazarus which flew for the longest time in the Formula Flight competition, run by the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Human Powered Flight Group. Watch on YouTube

The event challenges teams to design, build and fly their own human powered aircraft. The aircraft has to be a new design, be powered exclusively by the muscle power of the pilot, be heavier than air, fly for more than five seconds and finish in good condition so no crash landings are allowed. 


The Southampton team built their aircraft mostly from XPS foam, carbon fibre and balsa wood. The COVID-19 pandemic slowed them down a bit, but eventually they finished Lazarus and made their maiden flight in June 2021.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Scientists Create a Wearable Sensor for Plant Leaves to Detect Water Loss Early

Image
Plants can't speak up when they are thirsty. And visual signs, such as shriveling or browning leaves, don't start until it's too late. Metal electrodes have previously been used to monitor thirsty plants, but it's difficult attaching these devices to hairy leaves, which reduces their accuracy. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces have created a wearable sensor for leaves that stays put, and makes it easy to remotely manage plants' water stress. Wearable devices for people are so sophisticated that some smart watches monitor the electrical activity of the wearer's heart, using electrodes that sit against the skin, and send the data to websites, which allow physicians to monitor and assess their patients from a distance. Similarly, plant-wearable devices could help farmers and gardeners remotely monitor plant health, including leaf water content – a key marker of metabolism and drought stress. Renato Lima and colleagues wanted to id
Read more

Google DeepMind is Using AI to Teach Robots to Play Soccer

Image
DeepMind, scientists have successfully trained low-cost humanoid robots to play 1v1 soccer. Using advanced techniques like deep reinforcement learning, the team was able to teach these robots agile skills and tactics, bringing us one step closer to having robots perform complex tasks in the real world.                                                                     Watch on YouTube The training process involved two stages, where robots first learned independent skills like getting up from the ground and scoring goals. In the second stage, these skills were combined into a single soccer-playing agent, which improved its tactics through self-play against previous versions of itself. This progress could lead to the development of advanced humanoid robots capable of performing complex tasks across various industries, such as assisting in disaster relief efforts or navigating intricate environments for search and rescue missions. Additionally, the study explores the potential of multi-a
Read more

Disney introduces a charming, roller-skating mechanical rabbit to help guests "emotionally connect"

Image
  Disney debuted a new robot prototype at SXSW Austin, Texas.  Watch on YouTube Designed to look like the bunny rabbit character Judy Hopps from the movie ‘Zootopia,’ the robot was unveiled by climbing out of a box, rollerblading across the stage and doing somersaults. She’s the size of a little girl, but has big droopy ears like a rabbit, and is wearing roller skates.  On shaky legs, she manages to stand up and regain her balance. With her first moves, it’s obvious she’s already formed an emotional connection with the audience. And with this, the little bunny robot does a front flip and bumps her head before recovering and finding her footing again. She’s then picked up and propped onto her creator’s shoulders like a child.
Read more