As many IEDs are set off using a wireless signal, these drones will be able to survey areas for the electromagnetic emissions associated with receivers and provide an early warning to soldiers. No matter how silly the codename, this is one important project and I hope that it gets put into use as soon as possible. [Aviation Week via Pop Sci]

The latest Micro Air Vehicle from MIT does an incredible job of balancing itself in-air. Not to mention that the helicopter models its surroundings so well it could probably fly over to the fridge and make you a sandwich.

By using lasers and 3D cameras, the team built a vision engine that can very accurately define the helicopter’s surrounding environment. That’s only part of the trick to getting it to fly so well, the other half is some pretty sweet flight path correction. Think of it like a flying Big Dog. Check out what happens when the guy pokes it with a stick.

Hopefully no one sticks a spinning blade on this thing. Wouldn’t want that flying through my window at night. [MIT Tech TV via Engadget]

Guys. Cool it. I’m sure the glass roof of the new NYC Apple Store will make giving Apple your money even more transcendent, but you can wait a couple months until it’s open. Seriously. [ifoAppleStore via Purns]

Holy crap. Considering the thing will cost about $US100,000 when it goes on sale, that’s pretty extreme — even if you will be recorded as an official test pilot. Adding insult to injury, a lucky New Zealander (the Jetpack’s home country) won a local auction for about US$4130.

More a personal helicopter than a Jetpack (its lift is driven by two ducted fans), it can theoretically reach as high as 2400 metres, and move as fast as 100km/h. The company is even negotiating a “multi-million dollar deal” to supply an as-yet unknown foreign government’s civil emergency services.

You might also remember that our own Mark Wilson actually got the chance to take one for a spin — and ask its makers some important questions. As for me? My budget probably limits me to this $US2500 home made kludge-job. Such is life. [eBay via Martin Jetpack via New Zealand Herald]

With all the panic during rush-hour, only one man actually had the two brain cells it takes to realise that the ‘copter was a wee bit too small. I hope they give that particular officer an award of some kind. Or better yet, a promotion to a department that wouldn’t give me a ticket for racing an RC car. [Post and Courier via Obscure Store]

Photo by Locutis

When it came time to spread pesticides over his rice field, this farmer faced a choice: lug around a heavy poison-filled backpack in the sweltering heat, or spray the chemicals from an RC helicopter. He made the right decision.

According to the source, crops in Japan are tiny and scattered throughout residential areas. Dusting the crops by plane, therefore, is impossible. Farmers normally tend the crops with pump activated backpack sprayers, but where’s the fun in that? Kudos to this guy for figuring out a way to both spray the field and fly an awesome toy around all morning.

If the farmer ever finds himself with any bigger pests to deal with, he should talk to this guy about how to add a little more firepower to the rig.

Like the X6, the X4 is a 680-gram (with battery) carbon fiber-bodied UAV with four carbon fibre rotating blades. It’s capable of using a still/video camera (in this case, a Panasonic Lumix point-and-shoot), an infrared camera and a low-light camera, all of which can be controlled from the ground. The X4 also features three accelerometers, three gyroscopes, three magnetometers and a barometric pressure sensor, and the controller is based on an OLED touchscreen. The X4 only has four motors to the X6’s six, but that comes at a big boon to the pricey ‘copter: The X6 checked in at about $US15,000 and the X4 should be more like $US10,000.

So yeah, this thing is still super expensive. But it’s also just about the best heli-cam we’ve ever seen, capable of flying both indoors and in inclement weather (up to 18mph of wind). Check out these videos at Draganfly’s site to get a real sense of the true badassery of the copter. [Draganfly]

And he did, to an incredibly impressive 2,600 feet before Chinese authorities grounded him for “safety reasons.”

The rig, comprised of metal bars, a motorcycle engine and wooden rotors, cost him a mere $US1,600. He has no formal aviation schooling, and assembled the rickety beast using a recollection of middle school physics and “relevant knowledge [found while] surfing the Internet via my mobile phone.” As a blogger, I can relate. [Ananova via DVICE]