Highvale’s Scott Nicholson and Albany Creek’s Jaynesh Vanmali are part of a Queensland University of Technology team taking the Maritime RobotX Challenge.

The competition is designed to increase the autonomy of robotic boats so they could perform real-world tasks in real-world environments, including searching for debris or oil slicks or finding overboard mariners in rough seas.

Running from 20-26 October, the Maritime RobotX Challenge involves 14 teams from universities in Australia, Singapore, Japan, USA and South Korea.

“Teams are judged on how competent their boat is at completing tasks,” Mr Vanmali said. “There are five tasks in total and each of them assess the boat’s ability in docking, navigation, obstacle avoidance and search and rescue.”

Check out more information at the westerner.com

Meet the sidewinder rattlesnake robot! This motorized serpent can actually move across sandy surfaces, both flat and inclined, an exploit that has escaped engineers so far.

Recently, the team of Georgia tech researchers has portrayed for the first time how sidewinder rattlesnakes also known as Crotalus Cerastes, move across a challenging sandy mound. The study is published in the ‘Science’ journal.

“We observed snakes on an artificial mound, finding that the snakes often flatten themselves on the steeper slopes to increase their contact with the sand,” researchers stated. Dr. Daniel Goldman, senior author, who runs a biomechanics lab at the Georgia Institute of Technology, told BBC, “The most striking thing for us was how nice these animals are as subjects, they lean to just sidewind on command.”

Check out more information at capitalwired.com

Scientists recently demonstrated that a soft robot could crawl like a starfish through fire, over snow, and even after being run over by a car, all without the constraints of a tether. To control the bot, scientists used air pumps that force bursts of air in and out of a series of pneumatic channels running through its limbs.

Air compressors are rather slow, taking on the order of seconds to work. So, rather than rely on compressed air, scientists have investigated the idea of using explosions to propel rubbery bots. Roboticist Michael Tolley at Harvard University and his colleagues now have revealed an untethered soft robot that uses internal combustion to jump. “I think this type of system might be useful for navigating rough terrain or unknown environments for things like search-and-rescue, or even space exploration,” Tolley says.

The three-legged silicone robot stands about 3 inches tall, 12 inches wide, and weighs a little more than a pound. It has an air pump that bends its legs to control the direction of its jumps and an explosion-driven piston in its center that propels it upward. Its round center holds the 9-volt battery for the air pump, liquid butane fuel for the piston, and electronics to provide the sparks for the explosions.

Tolley’s bot can jump nearly 2 feet horizontally or vertically. That leaping ability could allow it to cross uneven, expanding its range across uneven terrain and making the bot more useful for search-and-rescue operations. The device’s squishiness makes it easier for it to land. And the use of butane fuel delivers power and flexibility.

Check out more information at popularmechanics.com

Starting October 10, the 2014 China Robot Contest and RoboCup Open will be taking place in Hefei, capital of East China’s Anhui province, the local government said at a press conference on Monday.

As of September 29, 2,920 competitors from 185 colleges including Tsinghua University and Peking University have registered for the contest, according to the municipal bureau of science and technology.

The annual event is seen as the most recognized and authoritative competition for robots in China. In its 15th year, it is slated to be held in Anhui International Exhibition Center from October 10 to October 12.

For more information, check out english.anhuinews.com

Each time your heart beats, your entire body moves — even if you’re unconscious and pinned under a pile of rubble. The vibrations are small, invisible to the human eye, and might just save your life after a major disaster.

Researchers at NASA have developed a device that picks up these subtle movements through up to 40 feet of debris. Called FINDER (Finding Individuals for Disaster and Emergency Response), the tool was developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to help rescue crews find survivors quickly in a major disaster.

After a disaster, there’s a limited window of time to find trapped survivors. FINDER makes the process more efficient. It uses a low power radio signal to detect motion. Each movement caused by a heartbeat is like a “twinkle” reflecting back to the radar. What makes the system especially smart is software that can cut through all other movements and pinpoint which vibrations are signs of life. The system looks just for the signals that match human heartbeats, filtering out slower movements like tree branches in the wind, and faster ones like the heartbeat of a rat.

It takes about five minutes to learn how to use FINDER and just a few minutes to set up. The device fits into a case small enough to carry on a plane. Hit the “Search” button and 30 seconds later a Web page appears on the FINDER laptop, which shows how many heartbeats it’s found in a 100 foot radius.

Check out more information at cnn.com

A new robot built at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab is rubbery and wriggly, and built to squirm around tight corners.

The creation is meant to be an arm for what are known as soft robots — machines that use compressed air to move their soft body parts, making them safe to be around humans and capable of feats with which hard robots might struggle. It’s inspired by octopus tentacles and moves by puffing up different segments of its body.

Unlike many other soft robots, the tentacle really is made of 100 percent soft material — silicone rubber.

Check out more information at gigaom.com

Engineers have created a shape-changing “soft” robot that can tread over a variety of adverse environmental conditions including snow, puddles of water, flames, making them useful in search and rescue operations.

Check out more information at zee news.india.com

Check out this website unmannedmagazine.com

Published bi monthly, UNMANNED magazine has a reach to more than 20 countries with more than 15000 readership both in print and digital media across the world. UNMANNED magazine delivers essential, in-depth and up-to-date coverage of unmanned technology developments, events, gadgets, profiles, interviews with top management and senior officers, unmannedpreneurs, news and civil/commercial market opportunities.

On Saturday at 4:30 p.m., two adults and their 17-month-old child entered the woods off the Highway 107 extension. The Dartmouth family got lost and called police around 8:30 p.m. Sgt. Linda Gray with Halifax District RCMP tells Global News that police tried using sirens to pinpoint where the family was but did not have any luck.

A drone was deployed, and the family was found in a heavily wooded area northeast of Topsail Lake. Police located the family and walked them out of the woods around 2 a.m. on Sunday. There were no injuries.

Check out more information at globalnews.ca

Last night, BART LAB Rescue Robotics Team performed in a real search and rescue situation in the northern part of Bangkok where an under construction 6-story building has collapsed in the late afternoon.