Future tech

ORO GRANDE, Calif.--After two hours in the race, three teams have fallen out of the DARPA Urban Challenge, leaving eight driverless cars to finish the urban course.

So far, Team Oshkosh, Team Annieway, and Intelligent Vehicle Systems have been eliminated from the challenge for various reasons.

Team Oshkosh, a more than 24,000 pound Oshkost truck, nearly ran into an old shopping center here at the former George Air Force Base after it ran over a parking lot curb. The team of Intelligent Vehicle Systems, a collaboration with Honeywell, Ford, and Delphi, had difficultly negotiating what to do at … Read more

ORO GRANDE, Calif.--This is the experiment of all robot experiments.

In 30 minutes, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) will unleash 11 driverless cars on a 10-plus mile course here at the former George Air Force Base, as part of its $3.5 million robot race, the Urban Grand Challenge. It will be the first time DARPA has tested fully autonomous cars (with "no animals or midgets inside") driving on a course with other robots, as part of a test of the technology's capabilities as well as its safety, according to Norman Whitaker, DARPA Urban … Read more

A robotic truck, Prius, and family sedan will be among the 11 autonomous vehicles trying to pass their driving test this weekend in Victorville, Calif.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) said Thursday that it has selected the finalists for its Urban Grand Challenge, a robotic race at the former George Air Force Base with $3.5 million in total prize money. The 11 teams, whittled down from 35 semifinalists in qualifying rounds this week, will compete Saturday. They must drive a 60-mile urban course with live traffic in less than six hours.

Among those in the race are: … Read more

Ah, computers. They make our lives so easy ... but we should fear them, for they may yet turn on us. We've collected 10 of the most ee-vil computers not only to achieve sentience, but also decide that those pesky, squishy hu-mans just have to go.

Click through the photos to meet the future masters of the world, and remember to turn your computers off at night--who knows what they're plotting when you're not there? These are in no particular order, but if you have a favorite, or if we've missed any particularly Machiavellian machines, let us … Read more

Two scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have found a way to use light beams for picking up, holding, and moving around cellular and microscopic objects on a microchip, MIT announced Tuesday.

Matthew J. Lang, assistant professor of MIT's biological and mechanical engineering departments, and David C. Appleyard, graduate student in the biological engineering department, determined that using infrared light on select silicon wafers is a way to use optical tweezers as a tool for manipulating objects on microchips.

The breakthrough could have applications in both the biology and electronics industry, according to Lang.

While the idea of … Read more

For all the times we saw the likes of KITT and Herbie get themselves around the TV screen under their own steam, there is still something simultaneously unnerving and thrilling about watching a car drive right past you with no one on board--for real. To see a driverless car stop at a busy intersection, wait for a gap in the traffic, and then make a left-hand turn makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end.

We were on site yesterday in Victorville, Calif., where 36 teams are participating in the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge, a contest … Read more

Over the past couple of days Crave had the privilege of visiting Nokia's R&D facility in Oulu, Finland, at an event entitled the "The Way We Live Next." Among a plethora of cool futureware, one of the first things that caught our eye was a quick demo of Nokia's iPhone-alike, running the brand new S60 Touch user interface. These pictures first appeared last week at the Symbian Smartphone Show, but we got a better look at it this time round. Click here to see more.

(Source: Crave UK)

Amid the excitement of the 2007 Tokyo auto show, Honda has confirmed that it will be unveiling a production version of its much-anticipated 2008 FCX hydrogen fuel-cell car next month in Los Angeles. Why the Japanese auto maker chose LA for the unveiling rather than its own back yard may have to do with the fact that a considerable number of the production FCXs will be leased to customers in the United States beginning next year. According to USA Today, Honda has not decided on the final number of models bound for the U.S. market, although it quotes Honda … Read more

GestureTek Mobile has bestowed the powers of movement-based navigation, popularized by the Nintendo Wii, upon cell phones. The one crucial difference: no Wii tennis elbow.

Since the technology in GestureTek Mobile's EyeMobile Engine is purely optic rather than hardware-based--unlike the accelerometer that tells iPhone when to jump into landscape mode--wrist motion is powerful and specific.

Here's an example from the demo: just click the soft key to zoom in on the map, and tilt the phone back and forth to zoom in and out. Do it again holding the scroll button to activate the motion detection, and tilt … Read more