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The Dawn of AI in Aerial Sports: How a Quadcopter Outflew Human Champions

  Introduction The landscape of competitive sports, a domain historically dominated by human skill and intuition, is being irrevocably altered. A recent milestone exemplifies this transformation: a small AI-powered drone in Switzerland has outmaneuvered human pilots in a drone race. The moment captures not just the progression of artificial intelligence, but the merging of virtual capabilities into tangible, real-world applications. This article will delve deeply into this landmark achievement, discussing everything from the algorithms propelling the drone to its historical and future implications. As we venture into a world where AI is not confined to zeros and ones on a server but interacts dynamically with our physical realm, the significance of this event cannot be overstated. AI's Historical Triumphs Over Human Intelligence The rivalry between artificial intelligence and human intelligence has a long history and it's primarily been a one-sided affair—tilting in favor of hu...

Revolutionizing Robotics: How AI Enables Whole-Body Manipulation

  Introduction In today's rapidly evolving technological landscape, robots are no longer confined to the realms of science fiction; they are an integral part of our daily lives and industrial ecosystems. From manufacturing floors to the depths of the ocean, robots are everywhere, but they still have limitations. One such limitation is their ability to manipulate objects using their entire bodies—a skill that humans perform effortlessly. Imagine a robot trying to carry a heavy box up a flight of stairs or picking up a fragile object; the task becomes exponentially complex due to the myriad of "contact events" the robot has to consider. However, a groundbreaking study by MIT researchers promises to revolutionize this aspect of robotics. By employing a novel AI technique known as "smoothing," they have managed to simplify the complex decision-making process that robots undergo when manipulating objects. This breakthrough has far-reaching implications, from making f...