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Welcome toward the future on today show China artificial sun will reportedly be finished by the end of this year.
A blind robot learns to go upstairs.
And lastly, we take a look at drones that can fly indefinitely thanks to wireless in-flight charging.
Let's get into it.
According to a spokesperson from the China National Nuclear Corporation, China's artificial sun could be completed by the end if this year.
This year.
Artificial sun is the nickname for China's HL-2M Tokamak device, designed to mimic the nuclear fusion reactions occurring within stars.
The biggest challenge for the HL-2M right now is getting its plasma hot, like really flipping hot.
In November of last year, another one of China's fusion reactors reached an ion temperature of 50 million degrees Celsius.
The HL-2M will eventually need to get it ION temperature up to 100 million degrees celsius, which is about seven times hotter than the centre of the sun.
Once the HL-2M is up and running, it could provide valuable insight into some of the other fusion projects being developed across the globe One such project is being built right now in the South of France.
It's called ITER, which stands for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor.
ITER's website claims it will be the first fusion device to generate more power than is required to heat the plasma, and the first to be capable of running for long periods of time.
This drone footage of the either the construction site is from last month and shows the immense scale of the project.
If China has own HL2M reactors finish later this year as is expected, that would give the international community years to apply the essence of learn from China's artificial sun to the either reactor before it fires up its first plasma.
Which is currently scheduled for 2025.
[SOUND] Cassey is a robotic pair of legs that doesn't have any outward looking sensors.
And yet, it is able to traverse uneven terrain with ease.
Cassey marches along assuming the world is flat and treat uneven terrain as the disturbance and it's gait.
Because of how it walks it is able to recover from a variety of disturbances.
In this video Cassie traverses an obstacle forward backward and sideways, all under the assumption that the ground is walking on will be flat.
In this video Cassie walks for nearly an hour over uneven terrain without falling.
This is awesome to watch, but Cassie does have its limits, one of which is stairs.
To conquer stairs, Cassie had to learn how to plan its footsteps.
Instead of marching in place like Cassie used to do, it can now take planned footsteps.
These planned steps help Cassie conquer the stairs in some cases But what happens when the planned steps are made in error?
In this clip, Cassie is told to go up two steps when there is only one.
Cassie amazingly keeps its balance despite having improper information.
If its planned step isn't properly aimed, Cassie could still take a tumble.
Developers say that Cassie will eventually need a pair of outward looking sensors.
To know how and when to plan its footsteps.
For many two legged robots, balance seems to be harder than navigation.
Cassie's balance is very impressive.
I guess at once Cassie has a pair of eyes to see what's coming.
It'll be running circles around the other bipedal robots.
Drones might stay in the air forever thanks to new wireless in-flight charging.
This technology was developed by GET which standards for Global Energy Transmission.
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The charging station is made up of a circle of wires which creates an electromagnetic field when turned on.
The drone flies through this electromagnetic field or power cloud, as it's developer's call it, and special antennas aboard the drone turn that electromagnetic energy into batter power.
Eight minutes of charging time translates to about 30 minutes of flight time.
The current cost for one wireless power station and two drones is $120,000.
If this technology catches on we could be heading towards a future where drones fly indefinitely, autonomously returning to their power clouds when it's time to recharge.
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Thanks for watching What The Future, I'm your host Jesse Oral, see ya next time.
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