American Dynamics Flight Systems AD-150 VTOL UAV

American Dynamics Flight Systems video animation of its AD-150 vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aircraft. The tilt-duct design uses wingtip ducted fans, shaft-driven from the turboshaft engine in the fuselage, for vertical lft and forward propulsion. ADFS is conducting windtunnel and iron-bird rig tests hoping to interest the US Marine Corps in the AD-150 for its Group 4 expeditionary UAS requirement, formerlhy VUAS. LINK: Youtube

BenQ 27-inch M2700HD Monitor Could Make Big Screens Affordable

BenQ used to be a company that made cheap, decent gear. Now they make cheap stuff and slightly more premium stuff. I'm not sure what their first 27-incher will cost when it hits this month, but it might be cheap.

The M2700HD is a 27-inch, 16x9 monitor running at 1080P. No straight contract ratio is listed, but the dynamic contrast ratio is 50,000:1, for whatever that's worth. Still, with two HDMI inputs and 10W of virtual surround speakers, the M2700HD is ready to fill the PC or TV niche without too much difficulty. And like I've said like five times now, it might be kinda cheap. [BenQ, Via: Softpedia, Via: Gizmodo]

Dynamic facade "Kiefer technic showroom"

This facade changes continuously; each day, each hour shows a new "face" - the facade is turning into a dynamic sculpture. LINK: Youtubev

Boston Dynamics PETMAN predicts the future of man as pet

At this stage of its development, PETMAN is here to assist mankind. However, it's clearly fated to be weaponized as an AT-ST walker in support of Imperial ground forces. For the time being anyway, this biped humanoid is being built by Boston Dynamics to test military suits used to protect soldiers in chemical warfare. As an evolutionary advance from its four-legged BigDog platform, PETMAN does the ol' heel-toe at a healthy 3.2 MPH (5.14 KPH) and packs enough balancing intelligence to remain upright even when given a shove from the side.



LINK, Via: Make, Via: Youtube

Boston Dynamics Big Dog (new video March 2008)

It looks like an actual biological quadruped. Seeing it climb through rubble, snow, jumping over obstacles like a wild goat, and saving a near-fall on iced ground at the last second (fast forward to the middle of the video) defies belief. It feels so "animal" that I almost feel bad when they hit it to demonstrate how it regains balance on its own.

The new version of the robot can now carry 340 pounds, which is almost triple the previous weight. LINK, Via: Youtube