Photo credit: Lets Go Digital
There are foldable smartphones, laptops, and in the near future, possibly tablets as well. Guandong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications filed a patent earlier this year with the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Office) for a ‘Mobile terminal,’ and it was approved on October 31, 2019. The sketches appear to show a tablet-like device with a large flexible display and a smartphone dock of sorts.
Alaina Gassler, a 14-year-old from West Grove, Pennsylvania, took home $25,000 in this year’s Broadcom MASTERS STEM competition for her simple, yet clever, solution for removing blind spots in vehicles. It’s officially called “Alaina’s blind-spot annihilator,” and it consists of a webcam mounted outside the passenger side of the car, which is used to record the areas that drivers can’t see in their mirrors. A projector then shows the live video on an A-pillar on the passenger side.
Photo credit: Jason Dorfman | MIT CSAIL
MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have created M-Block 2.0, or self-assembling modular robots with flywheels inside them that can spin at up to 20,000 rpm. They use the angular momentum generated when braking to propel themselves in a specific direction, enabling them to spin, flip and even stack themselves together.
Volocopter is known for their air taxis, but their latest project, Volodrone, won’t be carrying people a round, but rather heavy cargo, thanks to a special attachment system located underneath its body. This all-electric drone boasts 18 rotors and its air frame is built around a body to house the removable lithium-battery as well as other electronics, with a rail attachment system for various payloads to be connected up to its underbody in between the landing gear.
The X One electric bike is far ahead of its time, and not just because of its looks. Created by Spain-based startup Rayvolt, this bike features an Android touchscreen computer built directly into its top tube that enables users to perform various functions, like setting the pedal assistance level, checking current speed, monitoring the battery’s charge level, etc.