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Cornell Builds Autonomous UAV

tshak writes "From Microsoft Research, 'Faculty and students at Cornell University have built an unmanned airplane with its own on-board, embedded control system. The large-scale model plane flies by accessing coordinates from an off-the-shelf GPS unit.' Not only does the plane run XP embedded, but the software is written in C# on the .NET Compact Framework. This is all powered by an 800mhz Crusoe processor with 1GB of total system storage."

20 of 400 comments (clear)

  1. Blue Sky of Death? by philbowman · · Score: 4, Funny

    Duck!

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    Phil
  2. Brings new meaning.... by tdemark · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...to the term "crash"

    1. Re:Brings new meaning.... by TopShelf · · Score: 3, Funny

      Not to mention the use of embedded XP - hopefully it won't be embedded in the ground...

      *rimshot*

      --
      Stop by my site where I write about ERP systems & more
  3. Ugh. by suso · · Score: 4, Funny

    I fear the onslaught of 1001 jokes about this plane crashing.

    1. Re:Ugh. by Phisbut · · Score: 2, Funny

      Too late... 4 of the 7 first posts imply crashing :-P

      --
      After 3 days without programming, life becomes meaningless
      - The Tao of Programming
    2. Re:Ugh. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Actually, the better joke is 1GB of storage for an embedded system. Throw in an 800MHz processor to run .NET on a system that doesn't need it and you have a real sitcom happening.

  4. here we go by Sanity · · Score: 2, Funny
  5. Unknown Error by Obiwan+Kenobi · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Hello, this is your pilot software speaking. We've encountered an unknown error as a result from an unknown error.

    Please click OK to crash."

  6. Terrorists hijack plane... via email by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    Teehee.

  7. Cruise missile by panxerox · · Score: 4, Funny

    And the difference between this and a cruise missile is what exactly?

    --
    "It's so convenient to have a system where everyone is a criminal" - A. Hitler
  8. Make way... by selderrr · · Score: 3, Funny

    for the first airborne trojan horse !

    Now all it needs is WiFi, and it can mass infect :-)

  9. 800 mhz? by Valkyre · · Score: 5, Funny

    In my day, when we wanted mobile computing power, we had to do it with a 6 Mhz Z80. I mean really, you DONT need a desktop computer for waypoint flying.

    CPU Usage for UAV
    XP Embedded - 35%
    Waypoint system - 1%
    Flight Control System - 2% (It's written in C# with .net framework)
    Seti@home client - 62%

    --
    What the heck is a 'sig'?
  10. This is not a joke.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    blue sky of death!

  11. M$ is thinking about selling guns by Martin_Flory · · Score: 2, Funny

    First, the desktop with Windows, then the lands (they own a looot), then the consoles with Xbox, then the Tv with the Media Center PC... now.. like Xbox is not beating PS2, they came up with the idea of monopolizing the "a la Terminator" flying killing automated things.

    I'm all forward it... mainly because I'm against war, and all it'd would take to stop an invasion would be to attack one of the millions of security flaws their embedded IE probably has... by the time they released the patch at http://planeupdate.microsoft.com, we would have already cracked the protection of the little things and we would be using them as toys.

  12. Clippy? by barcodez · · Score: 2, Funny

    Clippy: It looks like you are flying a plane, would you like some help?

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  13. You had a 6 Mhz Z80? by wiredog · · Score: 3, Funny
    Lucky bastard. We had to use a PDP 11/780 on a flatbed!

    Uphill! Both ways! In the snow!

  14. Aerial Hunter-Killer by fdiskne1 · · Score: 2, Funny

    For some reason, this story about an unmanned aerial vehicle running on Windows XP makes me think of it being infected with a virus called SkyNet and turning into an Aerial Hunter-Killer. (from the Terminator series)

    --
    But why is the rum gone?
  15. Re:And I'm supposed to be impressed? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    There's a reason why you have a low id but don't have a karma bonus. Your posts are crap.

  16. Re:CUUAV by Ignignot · · Score: 2, Funny

    Well I'm the UAV team captain's second cousin's best friend's girlfriend's half brother. I hear all sorts of stories about how they actually used black magic to make the plane fly and sacrifice goats and midgets to the devil every time it goes up. No wonder they had a fire - the power transfer pentagram got smudged and the imp got loose for awhile before they could kill it with a fire axe.

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    I submitted this story last night, and it didn't get posted.
  17. Re:And I'm supposed to be impressed? by Forbman · · Score: 2, Funny

    You've obviously never talked to anyone loyal to the smallest degree about their choice of pickup truck, then.