China creates a light-driven bullet-like robot, self-driving cars with level-4 automation hit Hong Kong roads for testing, world's largest 3D-printed neighborhood almost complete

A team of researchers led by Chinese scientists has developed a light-driven launch system for tiny robots. The new development is expected to transform the ballistics and aerospace industry.

The light-driven hydrogel launcher is inspired by squirting cucumber plants.

Claimed to release energy in only 0.3 milliseconds, the launcher can take off from any kind of surface. For more on this development, check out today’s Must-Read.

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> Staff Software Engineer, Machine Learning I
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MUST-READ

🤖 China’s robot with light-driven system can be used like bullet, transform ballistics

Researchers published their findings in the journal Nature. They developed a light-driven hydrogel launcher that harnesses fast liquid vapourization triggered by the photothermal response of an embedded graphene suspension.

“This vapourization leads to appreciable elastic energy storage within the surrounding hydrogel network, followed by rapid elastic energy release within 0.3 ms. These soft hydrogel robots achieve controlled launching at high velocity with a predictable trajectory,” said researchers.

The study claimed that robotic tasks that require robust propulsion abilities, such as jumping, ejecting, or catapulting, require power-amplification strategies where kinetic energy is generated from pre-stored energy. To solve this issue, researchers introduced their game-changing method.

🚙 Self-driving cars with level-4 automation hit Hong Kong roads for testing

Hong Kong is testing eight autonomous vehicles as part of a $16.3 million effort to advance driverless technology. The initiative’s progress is on par with developments in mainland China and abroad.

People are expected to have more chances to experience these vehicles soon, reported South China Morning Post.

The ongoing tests of eight autonomous vehicles in Hong Kong have shown promising results, with the technology reaching level four of “highly automated driving,” according to Secretary for Transport and Logistics Lam Sai-hung.

🖨️ US: World’s largest 3D-printed neighborhood to provide strong insulation from heat

ICON’s Vulcan printer is finalizing the world’s largest 3D-printed neighborhood, completing 100 homes in Georgetown, Texas.

The printer, which is over 45 feet wide and weighs 4.75 tons, is finishing the last of homes, building them layer by layer like a desktop 3D printer but on a much larger scale.

According to ICON senior project manager Conner Jenkins, 3D printing brings significant efficiency to the trade market by replacing the need for multiple crews to build a wall system with just one crew and one robot, Reuters reported.

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IE QUIZ: THE RESULTS

In yesterday’s quiz, we asked, There are 5 squares. The area of the smallest square is 1. Find ‘h’.

The answer is: 4

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