Unmanned Aerial Vehicle The latest drone news
At any given moment, there are approximately a zillion different crowdfunding campaigns happening on the web. Take a stroll through Kickstarter or Indiegogo and you’ll find no shortage of weird, useless, and downright stupid projects out there — alongside some real gems. We’ve cut through the fidget spinners and janky iPhone cases to round up the most unusual, ambitious, and exciting new crowdfunding projects out there this week. Keep in mind that any crowdfunding project — even those with the best intentions — can fail, so do your homework before cutting a check for the “gadget of your dreams.”
November 11
Magnic Microlights — Battery-free contactless bike lights
Back in 2012, a guy by the name of Dirk Strothmann headed to Kickstarter with an awesome invention. Magnic light, as he called it, was an innovative new bike light that seemingly runs on magic. Instead of relying on batteries, or friction-inducing dynamos, Strothmann devised a unique new system that captures electromagnetic eddy currents, which are created as your bike rim spins past a small magnet. These currents spin a small dynamo, which transforms the energy into electricity to power and illuminate an LED.
The device was a massive success on Kickstarter, and now, afteseveral years and a handful of newer iterations, Strothmann is back with yet another Magnic light. This time, the device is smaller than ever before — so small, in fact, that he’s managed to fit the entire apparatus into a standard brake pad. Presumably, this means you’ll have more room on your handlebars to mount other tech — like GPS systems, digital compasses, or laser projectors that keep you safe while riding in the blind spot.
FT Aviator — One-handed drone controller
Dual-joystick controllers have been the go-to control system for drones for as long as the flying machines have been around. Thing is, this isn’t necessarily because two joysticks are the best way to control drones — it’s more because the two-stick layout was popular with the RC aircraft community, and when RC aircraft evolved autonomous capabilities, it made sense to stick with a controller layout that people were already familiar with. The only problem, of course, is that because most drones are equipped with cameras, pilots now have much more than just two joysticks to worry about. In addition to flying, there’s now a slew of buttons, knobs, and other inputs to worry about.
FT Aviator is an attempt to alleviate this issue. Thanks to its clever design, it allows drone pilots to fully control their crafts with just one hand. Whereas dual-stick controllers assign pitch/roll to one stick and yaw/acceleration to the other, FT Aviator assigns pitch/roll to the main joystick, and yaw to the twisting motion of that joystick, while allowing you to control acclereation/deceleration with your thumb. Essentially, this frees up your other hand and allows you to use it exclusively for camera control. In theory, this should make it easier to control panning/tilting/zooming functions while you fly. Pretty neat, right?
Mastersous — 8-in-1 smart cooker
Here’s a quick excerpt from the full article we ran earlier this week: “Sous-vide is a fast-growing trend, but most sous-vide appliances can only do that one thing — they’re uni-taskers. MasterSous bucks that trend with an innovative approach as an all-in-one multicooker. Its unique design allows it to sous-vide, simmer, sear, saute, boil, steam, slow-cook, and deep-fry. The MasterSous is designed with a six-quart, non-stick pot. Using an electronic dial, users can choose the cooking method, time, temperature, and several preprogrammed settings. For instance, MasterSous can heat up oil just below the smoking temperature of eight mainstream oils to perfectly deep fry food.
What separates MasterSous from the competition is its patent-pending, variable-speed stirring mechanism. It secures itself to the pot with a powerful magnet, offering a hands-free experience. Depending on the need, there are interchangeable attachments, as well as the ability to switch between constant stir and other preset intervals. By combining the stirring mechanism with an insertable food rack, this multicooker can easily sous-vide without the need for additional appliances.”
Unobrush — Fully automatic toothbrush
Tired of all the squeezing, scrubbing, spitting, rinsing, gargling, and flossing required to keep your pearly whites clean? For decades now, your only recourse from this mildly laborious task has been the electric toothbrush. But while these automatically oscillating tooth scrubbers are definitely a step in the right direction, they still don’t remove all the tediousness and time consumption from the act of brushing your teeth. What if there was a way to get the same job done, achieve the same level of cleanliness, and do it in a fraction of the time?
Enter the Unobrush, the latest fully automatic toothbrush that (allegedly) does the job in just a few seconds, giving you more time to do … well, anything else. Here’s how it works. The device itself is essentially a big foam mouthpiece. You start by shoving it in your mouth, biting down on the foam, and switching it on — at which point it will blast your pearly whites with ultrasonic pulses that knock plaque loose. The whole process is said to take just a few seconds, and cleans your teeth just as thoroughly as normal brushing.
Rover Speed — Auto-follow suitcase
Believe it or not, artificially intelligent suitcases that automatically follow you around the airport aren’t a new idea. Thanks to crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, they already exist in various forms, and can be purchased online right now. The only problem? Most major airports have issued a blanket ban on “smart” suitcases because they typically contain lithium ion batteries that could potentially explode. So while you could hop on Amazon right now and buy an A.I. suitcase, there’s a good chance you wouldn’t be able to take your luxury luggage with you on the plane.
Rover Speed aims to change that. In addition to a slew of sensors and motors that enable the suitcase to follow you autonomously as you walk, Rover Speed is also equipped with a Transportation Security Administration -approved battery pack. For added convenience, this battery pack is also completely detachable, so you can snap it off and throw it in the bin when you go through security. Hell, it even has proximity alarms that’ll beep and cause a ruckus if somebody tries to steal your suitcase.
