Robotics

Four years ago, Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn set an aggressive goal by saying the company would produce self-driving cars by 2020. In retrospect, Ghosn might have been underselling Nissan's technological chops, as it just announced public trials of robo-taxis to commence next year.

The self-driving taxi service is called Easy Ride, and the trials will be conducted in Yokohama, Japan.

Nissan said on Dec. 5 that it would begin field tests for driverless “robot taxis” early next year as its rivals around the world step up self-driving technologies.

General Motors aims to launch a public ride-sharing service across several cities that uses fully self-driving cars by 2019, potentially becoming the first traditional carmaker to deploy autonomous technology at scale in the real world.

A Myanmar court jailed two journalists on assignment for Turkey’s state broadcaster, along with their interpreter and driver, for two months on Nov. 10 for violating an aircraft law by filming with a drone.

UAVs are a contemporary technological advancement. But the precursor to the aerial military machine can be dated back to ancient Greece. The first known robotic flying machine was created around 400-350 BC by the mathematician Archytas and was an artificial bird.

The United Nations' aviation agency is backing the creation of a single global drone registry, as part of broader efforts to come up with common rules for flying and tracking unmanned aircraft.

A drone carrying just a single grenade infiltrated an ammunition dump in Ukraine, setting off an explosion that caused an astounding billion dollars worth of damage! The incident points to the growing use of drones in wartime, particularly off the shelf civilian products harnessed to conduct sabotage and other attacks.

At the CES Asia show in Shanghai last week, NEVS, the Chinese successor to Saab, unveiled its InMotion autonomous people-moving pod that embodies its vision for urban transport of the future. Looking very much like a horizontal self-service elevator, InMotion offers users a high degree of customization to make their journey as connected and pleasant as possible.

A Turkish defense company is set to introduce a series of new drones with high-tech capabilities to be used in anti-terror and security operations, Hurriyet reported on May 7.

A Turkish defense company is set to introduce a series of new drones with high-tech capabilities to be used in anti-terror and security operations, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on May 7.