Cyber Security
Hardware and software security measures for embedded computers
Kontron has announced numerous new security services available on its VPX and VME boards and systems, as well as on its TRACe computer family. Addressing increasing security requirements for safety-critical applications, Kontron Secure Embedded Computing (SEC-Line) consists of four security modules, Kontron APPROTECT, Secure Boot, Trusted Boot and Authentication with TPM, implementing hardware enforced root of trust, as well as software only...
Fingerprint identification padlock unlocks in less than 1s
Fingerprint sensor provider, Midas Touch, has announced what it claims to be the world's smallest fingerprint identification padlock. The padlock does not require a password therefore it is keyless, just using your fingerprint can easily unlock. With regards to security, the fingerprint identification system provides a higher security level than the traditional machine key. Real key-less systems offer less than 1 second unlocking time and it supp...
Worldwide ransomware attack - money or destruction?
Many organisations this week in Europe and the US have been hit by the ransomware attack now known as ‘Petya’. The spiteful software has spread through large firms and PCs with data being locked up and help for a ransom. Kaspersky Labs has reported that as many as 60% of the systems infected by the Petya ransomware were located within Ukraine, far more than anywhere else.
Putting cyber security under the spotlight
At an event taking place at Leeds Beckett University on 6th July, the hot topic of cyber security is to be explored. Speakers will include Dr Z. Cliffe Schreuders, Director of the Cybercrime and Security Innovation (CSI) Centre at Leeds Beckett, Dan Taylor, Head of Cyber Security at NHS Digital, and Stuart Hyde QPM, Regional Ambassador for Cyber Security Information Sharing Partnership (CISP). The Cyber Security Networking event will take pl...
Drone can deliver parcels and save lives
The CargoCopters are unmanned aircrafts that can lift off by themselves, cover fifty-kilometre distances, and reach speeds of up to 150 kilometres per hour. Aeronautical and robotics engineer Bart Theys from the Department of Mechanical Engineering came up with the idea for this new type of drone about five years ago and based it on two existing models. “The most commonly used drones are multicopters,” says Theys.
Course will teach how to fly drones and collect data
This summer, the University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Engineering added a new way for students to navigate the skies: a course on drones. The first of its kind at UW–Madison, the class will teach students how to fly unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), or drones, and the practical applications of the technology, said Chris Johnson, instructor of the new course.
Drones can safely stay in the air for five days
A team of MIT engineers has come up with a much less expensive UAV design that can hover for longer durations to provide wide-ranging communications support. The researchers designed, built, and tested a UAV resembling a thin glider with a 24-foot wingspan. The vehicle can carry 10 to 20 pounds of communications equipment while flying at an altitude of 15,000 feet.
Algorithm quickly processes incoming visual data
There’s a limit to how fast autonomous vehicles can fly while safely avoiding obstacles. That’s because the cameras used on today’s drones can only process images so fast, frame by individual frame. Beyond roughly 30 miles per hour, a drone is likely to crash simply because its cameras can’t keep up. Recently, researchers in Zurich invented a new type of camera, known as the DVS, that continuously visualises a sc...
Safety ‘bubbles’ allow swarming robots to fly in formation
Georgia Institute of Technology researchers have created a team of free-flying robots that obeys the two rules of the air: don’t collide or undercut each other. They’ve also built autonomous blimps that recognise hand gestures and detect faces. Both projects will be presented at the 2017 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) May 29 – June 3 in Singapore.
Autonomous aerial vehicles test dogfighting skills
Aerial dogfighting began more than a century ago in the skies over Europe with propeller-driven fighter aircraft carried aloft on wings of fabric and wood. An event held recently in southern California could mark the beginning of a new chapter in this form of aerial combat.