Page 23 - Aruba Today
P. 23

Tesla software                                              TECHNOLOGY A23
has self-parking,                                                                                                                                               Friday 15 January 2016

  limiting speed                    Tech Toys:

DEE-ANN DURBIN                      If you think drones are a passing fad, think again 
AP Auto Writer
DETROIT (AP) — Some Tesla           RYAN NAKASHIMA                    into things, and find things   weight football helmet, its    founder James Hong said
Motors vehicles can park            AP Business Writer                on its own,” he says. “That’s  propellers pose less risk to   its engineers still need sev-
themselves without a driver         LAS VEGAS (AP) — If you’re        pretty cool.”                  bystanders.                    eral months to modify the
inside with a software up-          used to thinking of drones        That’s assuming, of course,    “Instead of doing collision    way its drone uses wireless
date beamed to custom-              as a passing fad, last            that you’re not commuting      detection and avoidance,       Bluetooth and Wi-Fi signals.
ers over the weekend.               week’s CES gadget show            to work in one. At CES, Chi-   we just make sure if it col-   The changes should help
The update also puts new            should give you second            nese manufacturer Ehang        lides, it won’t hurt,” says    maintain a reliable con-
speed limits on Tesla’s semi-       thoughts.                         Inc. unveiled a large drone    CEO Laurent Eschenauer.        nection to the user’s smart-
autonomous Autopilot                Tiny, self-piloted copters        that it said can carry a hu-   Toy drone maker Spin           phone, making possible
mode and makes several              promise to buzzily follow         man passenger at speeds        Master Inc. showed off an      the “follow me” function in
enhancements, includ-               you around like something         of up to 60 miles an hour.     augmented-reality game         the absence of GPS, which
ing automatically slowing           out of a Neal Stephenson          The four-armed quadcop-        in which kids use a real-life  the company considers
when the car is approach-           cyberpunk novel. New
ing a curve and keeping             drones that could find lost       A drone hovers at the DJI booth during CES International, Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016, in Las Vegas.
the car in its lane even            wilderness adventurers or                                                                                                                   (AP Photo/John Locher)
when the lane markings              help them see out above
are faded. CEO Elon Musk            treetops; others purport to       ter has been on more than      drone to rescue tiny virtual   too power-hungry for small-
said the parking feature            carry a human passenger           100 flights, mostly in wood-   people, put out fires and      er drones.
is a “baby step” toward             at the touch of a button.         ed areas of Guangzhou,         fight aliens. In essence,      With the potential for mil-
his eventual goal: Letting          None of this, of course, will     according to Chief Market-     they’re interacting with a     lions of new flying objects
drivers summon their self-          be happening overnight.           ing Officer Derrick Xiong.     virtual world overlaid on      buzzing around the country
driving, self-charging cars         Limited battery life means        Some — he didn’t say how       the real world; they can       in coming years, the FAA
from anywhere using their           that many commercial              many — have carried a hu-      see the virtual elements on    is working on new drone-
phones. “I actually think,          models can’t fly for more         man passenger.                 a tablet they’re using to      safety rules. By this spring,
and I might be slightly op-         than about 20 minutes             Federal aviation regulators    control the drone.             the agency plans to unveil
timistic on this, within two        at best. Manufacturers            declined to comment on         Robolink Inc. wants you to     regulations to allow stream-
years you’ll be able to sum-        haven’t yet figured out the       Ehang’s human-carrying         learn how to program us-       lined approval of commer-
mon your car from across            best way to keep many tiny        drone, saying the com-         ing its “CoDrone,” a flying    cial drone uses, instead of
the country,” Musk said on          drones where they ought           pany hasn’t submitted any      electronics kit you can in-    the case-by-case system it
a conference call with re-          to be, given that GPS po-         proposal to authorities. The   struct to jump off a table     uses now. Last month, the
porters. “This is the first little  sitioning sucks too much          Federal Aviation Adminis-      into someone’s hand with       FAA began requiring reg-
step in that direction.”            power for their minuscule         tration advised an Ehang       a simple line of code. CEO     istration for drones weigh-
For now, though, the sys-           batteries. Obstacle avoid-        representative at the show     Hansol Hong describes the      ing between about half a
tem isn’t truly autonomous.         ance systems that would           to contact its unmanned        educational product as         pound and 55 pounds.
“It’s more like remote-con-         let small drones pilot them-      aircraft system office.        “where Khan Academy            Even as they come up
trol parking,” Musk said.           selves are still under devel-     In contrast with the bigger    meets drone.”                  with new rules, regulators
Owners must line up their           opment. And looming over          drones, smaller ones were      But the reach of some          don’t know exactly where
Model S sedan or Model              the entire field are new          also on display. On the        small drones still exceeds     the  technology  is headed,
X SUV within 33 feet of the         government rules intended         small drone front, Kickstart-  their grasp. Companies         FAA Administrator Michael
space they want it to drive         to keep people safe, but          er-funded Fleye envisions      like San Jose-based UNorth     Huerta acknowledged in a
or back into. They must             which may also slow inno-         its camera-bearing flying      Inc., maker of the Mota;       speech to CES attendees.
then stand within 10 feet           vation.                           sphere as a kind of per-       Newark, Delaware-based         “This is not going to be a
and direct the car to park          So far, none of those ob-         sonal videographer that        Onagofly; and South Ko-        finite process, where one
itself using the key fob or         stacles are slowing down          follows you around street      rean ByRobot Co. all said      day we sit back and say
Tesla’s smartphone app.             an industry that appears          corners; you’ll be able to     they’re still tweaking the     OK, we’re done,” Huerta
The car can also exit the           to be in full lift-off. The Con-  switch between settings        system needed to make          said in a speech Wednes-
spot when the driver sum-           sumerTechnology  Asso-            such as “selfie,” ‘’panora-    tiny drones weighing less      day. “Maintaining the high-
mons it. If it’s going into a       ciation estimates that U.S.       ma” and “virtual tripod.”      than half a pound follow       est levels of safety requires
home garage, it can also            consumer drone spend-             And because it’s encased       their owners.                  us to constantly evolve in
open and close the ga-              ing will more than double         in what looks like a light-    For instance, ByRobot co-      our approach.” q
rage door. Tesla says the           to $953 million next year.
system is helpful for tight         ABI Research believes the
parking spots, but cautions         global market for drones
that it should only be used         will hit $8.4 billion in 2018,
on private property since           with users ranging from the
it can’t detect every po-           military and oil companies
tential obstacle. The car           to farmers, journalists, and
could hit bikes hanging             backyard tinkerers.
from a garage ceiling, for          As drone capabilities con-
example. The software up-           tinue to grow, drones may
date also puts new speed            become a mass-market
limits on Tesla’s semi-auton-       product for average con-
omous mode. The car will            sumers in about three
now only drive at or slight-        years, says Patrick Moor-
ly above the speed limit            head, principal analyst of
when the Autopilot mode             research firm Moor Insights
is being used on residential        & Strategy.
roads and on roads with-            “You should be able to get
out a center divider.q              a drone that can effec-
                                    tively follow you, not run
   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28