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China puts its terrifying elevated bus through first public test - Roadshow
// Green Tech
The public transport of the future is here: It's cheaper than an underground train system, it glides above traffic and frankly it gives us the heebie-jeebies.
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Watch The Boston Dynamics Robot Take A Surreal Hike In The Woods
// Popular Science

An extremely odd and rare sighting...but maybe not for long?
The maker of cool/creepy robots resembling humans and beasts is at it again.
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U.S. Department Of The Interior Bans Internal Use Of DJI Drones
// Aero-News Network
Concerns Raised About Telemetry Being Uploaded To Chinese Servers It would appear that the U.S. Department of the Interior has banned internal use of DJI sUAS because they upload telemetry data to the cloud, and Chinese servers.
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These omnidirectional wheels let you drive your car sideways
// The Verge

Omnidirectional wheels have been around for decades but that doesn't stop us imagining the day they'll finally become practical to use. The latest video to inspire this omnidirectional dreaming comes from William Liddiard, a Canadian inventor who's come up with his own take on the classic design. You can see the so-called Liddiard Wheels in action above, fitted to what appears to be a Toyota Echo.
these wheels can be bolted onto any car without modifications
Liddiard claims that unlike other omnidirectional wheels, his design doesn't require any extra modifications to the car. They simply bolt on, he says, and they're ready to use. They're also designed to be functional in "all weather and road conditions," and have the "same build characteristics" as regular tires — i.e. a standard rubber composition and functional treads.
The wheels in the video above are only a prototype, but back in March Liddiard said that he was looking to sell the design to a company like Goodyear or Honda. Certainly more refinement is needed before the wheels would ever be ready for commercial use. For example, Liddiard says his current design delivers a frankly unbelievable 24,000 pounds of torque or rotational force to the wheels. That's many times more torque than a tank, and in a comment on the video Liddiard admits that this was a mistake, and that future designs would need a different gearing ratio if they were going to move with any speed. Your parallel parking omnidirectional dreams will have to wait a little longer.
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New Texture Gets the Last Drop Out from Shampoo Bottle
// I4U News

Ever struggled with a shampoo bottle in trying to get the last drop out or the last bit of a hand wash, dish wash or laundry detergent? Worry not as researchers have found a way to create the...
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8 Ways Virtual Reality Is For More Than Just Video Games
// io9

Virtual reality, a dream of science fiction writers for decades, is the closest to a true reality than it's ever been. Multiple headsets are on sale to consumers, and while some aren't exactly affordable to the common person, such as the HTC Vive or the Oculus Rift, and others work better than others,the upcoming years will only bring more innovation to the industry.
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Watch This Freakishly Agile Dog-Bot Do the Dishes
// io9

Boston Dynamics, better known for the hulking robot brute known as ATLAS, has just revealed a considerably smaller creation that looks like a cross between a golden retriever and a baby giraffe. But forget about it just replacing your family pet: SpotMini looks like it can replace your housecleaner too.
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Video Shows How Google Tests Android Auto
// xda-developers
The latest 20% video from Nat and Lo take us behind the scenes and shows us how Google engineers tweak and adjust the Android Auto interface. The company has a full size driving simulator set up and they put people through a number of different tests. Then, they analyze the data and see if a certain change to the Android Auto interface improves reaction time.
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Tiny optical frequency clock measures time accurately to 270 quintillionths of a second
// Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories
Researchers at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have created an optical clock that's just 1 cubic centimeter—small enough to fit on a standard silicon chip—and can track time intervals with precision to 270 quintillionths of second. (One quintillionth is equivalent to 1 times 10 to the negative 18th power, or 0.000000000000000001.)
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Self-driving truck convoy completes its first major journey across Europe
// The Verge
This morning, a fleet of self-driving trucks arrived in the Dutch port of Maasvlakte, completing a cross-continent journey that organizers say demonstrates the future of transport in Europe. The experiment is known as the European Truck Platooning Challenge, and involved trucks from six different manufacturers traveling in miniature convoys. A driver in the lead vehicle of each convoy sets the speed and the route, while the other trucks follow automatically, a Wi-Fi connection keeping their braking and acceleration (but not steering) in sync.
less congestion, fewer accidents, reduced fuel consumption
This isn't a fully-automated system, but it's a clear step toward this goal and has tangible benefits of its own. Platooning, as the method is known, could mean less congestion, fewer accidents, and reduced fuel consumption. A whitepaper from Dutch research firm TNO says that each truck in a platoon — both those following and those leading — uses on average 10 percent less fuel per journey. The same report notes that 90 percent of driving accidents are caused by human error, and although a full analysis of the safety of platooning has yet to be undertaken, the suggestion is that automation would lead to fewer crashes.
In the recently-completed challenge, trucks from firms including Daimler, Volvo, and Scania (a subsidiary of Volkswagen) competed, with each convoy setting off from a different location. The Scania group travelled the longest distance, driving more than 2,000 kilometers through Sweden, Denmark, and Germany to reach its destination in the Netherlands. The trucks did not travel in platoon for the entire journey — only on motorways when traffic conditions were "normal" — and each vehicle, even those following the lead truck, had a human driver on hand.
The technology is here; regulations are next
The Platoon Challenge has successfully demonstrated the potential of its technology, but now EU companies and governments have to tackle the fiddly details of regulation and implementation. Cross-border rules for self-driving trucks need to be established, and so does the protocol for setting up platoons. Can convoys be established in an impromptu manner mid-drive, for example, or will they always have to start and finish in the same location? Will drivers in following trucks be able to take a rest while their vehicle is chained to one in front?
The next step for those involved will be to discuss these matters in an informal meeting of the European transport council on April 14th. Companies and local governments in the US pursuing similar schemes will undoubtedly be watching with interest.
Verge Video: This is what it's like to ride in Daimler's self-driving semi truck
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