This week we will see how the “Unreal Engine” is now being used in games and movies to provide even more realistic backgrounds and characters. We also look at the movement in the Earth’s Magnetic Poles and a plan to grow drones in a vat of chemicals. Finally we look at a new flying robot fruit picker.
The Unreal Engine
In 1998 Epic games released their game Unreal. It was a first person shooter game that used Epic’s “Unreal Engine” to create the scenery, render characters and other features that are required for games such as collision detection. The original Unreal Engine was almost entirely (over 90%) written by Epic Founder, Tim Sweeney.
There have been several updates since 1998, the most recent being in 2014. Initially the use of the engine was restricted to game developers however in recent years the movie industry has adopted it for use in creating background scenery in real time.
The recent Star Wars spinoff, The Madalorian used a 20 foot high, 270 degree semicircular LED video wall to display background for filming of the series.
The Unreal Engine can be used in real time to change scenery, e.g. move a mountain for a better shot or change from night to day. The setup allows the cast to shoot in multiple locations for 10 hours a day without changing studios. The projection integrates seamlessly into shots particularly for moving vehicles. The latest Thor movie, currently being filmed in Sydney, is also using the Unreal Engine for all their background scenery.
Currently the system is free to use however once your game hits a certain level of revenue Epic receives a percentage of overall revenue. Movie studios negotiate a fixed fee.
Epic is about to release another major update to the system. It will allow realistic 3D rendering of human characters. In the increasingly hi fidelity world of gaming and entertainment making realistic looking people (especially faces) is very difficult and time consuming. Epic’s new character creation tool will also allow a near infinite variety of photorealistic digital people to be created. The system is hosted in the cloud as it requires a much higher amount of computing power and storage than most creators will have in their studio.
The next time you go to the movies and see a cast of thousands in an epic background you will know that almost nothing that you are watching is real. You will truly have to suspend disbelief when going to the movies.
Growing Drones
3D printing is sure to cut the time it takes to manufacture products in the future however it still requires months of work to go from concept to end product. 3D printing parts does not accelerate the assembly phase, especially in complex products like airplanes or drones.
UK defense contractor BAE Systems has proposed an alternative for the future. They believe that sometime this century they will be capable of “growing” Unmanned Air Vehicles. Using advanced chemistry and large chemical baths the drones would be “grown” to order in a few weeks. The process would use a “Chemputer” that would grow the customized aircraft and some of their electronic systems from the molecular level. The drones would take their shape by introducing raw materials into the chemical baths and applying centrifugal force.
Whilst this is very much still at the concept phase, BAE is currently exploring the use of chemicals to assemble raw materials into specific, complex end use products. BAE are focused on the potential military and aerospace applications. Others could use the same process to revolutionize civilian industry and technology. Anything from cars to personal electronics to furnishings might be “grown” in the future.
The Magnetic North Pole is moving
We have known for quite some time that the magnetic poles on the earth are moving and that they have moved for many many millions of years. Now we know why.
The magnetic north pole, the northern point at which the earth’s magnetic field points vertically downwards, was first documented in the 1830’s. Since that time it has wandered 2,250 kilometers across the upper stretches of the Northern Hemisphere from Canada towards Siberia. Between 1990 and 2005 the rate of movement accelerated from 15 kilometers per year to around 50 to 60 kilometers per year.
A study published in Nature Geoscience explains the movement by analyzing the to-ing and fro-ing between two magnetic blobs of molten material in the earth’s interior. This movement caused the shift in the magnetic field. Between 1970 and 1999 a blip in the pattern of flow in the earth’s interior caused the Canadian blob to become elongated, thus losing it’s influence on the magnetosphere causing the pole to move towards Siberia. Historically the Canadian blob had been winning the war, hence the pole being centered over Canada.
This conclusion was determined using a trio of satellites orbiting the earth by measuring the magnetic signals that stem from our planet’s core, mantle, crust and oceans, as well as the ionosphere and magnetosphere. Hopefully it will also allow predictions about future movement. Understanding this movement is important to many navigation systems and to estimating the potential for the poles to reverse i.e. North becomes South and South becomes North.
A new study proposes that approximately 42,000 years ago the magnetic poles reversed for a short period. When this reversal happened it is believed that it lead to an environmental crisis known as the Laschamps excursion which was a mass extinction event. The authors propose that the reversal caused substantial changes in the atmospheric ozone concentration and lead to a rise in hydrogen and nitrogen oxides production. These molecules consumed ozone, thwarting the stratospheric ozone from shielding the Earth from ultraviolet radiation. The change also disrupted sunlight from being absorbed at different layers of the atmosphere which the scientists believe lead to a large scale cooling of the planet (BTW life on earth would not be possible as we know it without the magnetic field protecting us from excess ultra violet radiation).
It is certain that there will be another future reversal in the poles. We believe, from studying the Geological records, that there has been 183 major reversals in the past 83 million years (one on average every 780,000 thousand years however they appear to have reversed at random intervals and are in no way regular). Geological studies suggest that the most recent major reversal was 700,000 years ago. Each reversal is estimated to take between 1,000 and 10,000 years from start to finish.
This model shows what NASA thinks might happen during a reversal. Such a change will be a nightmare for the many systems (GPS, navigation, power etc) that we have come to rely on. Hopefully with some warning, we will have a little time to plan.
Flying Fruit Picking Robot
We have seen quite a few automated fruit picking robots over the past few years. Now Israeli startup, Tevel Aerobotics Technologies has developed a flying autonomous robot (FAR) which used AI to identify and pick fruit. The robot can work 24 hours per day and only picks ripe fruit.
Each drone is able to keep out of the way of it’s peers via an autonomous brain built into the ground based unit that accompanies the fleets of drones. Whilst there is a massive global shortage of people willing to pick fruit for a living, the drones are likely to compliment rather than replace human harvesters. Roughly 10% of fruit globally is unpicked due to labor shortages.
Tevel is planning pilot programs on apple orchards in Spain, Italy and the USA in 2021.
Paying it Forward
If you have a start-up or know of a start-up that has a product ready for market please let me know. I would be happy to have a look and feature the startup in this newsletter. Also if any startups need introductions please get in touch and I will help where I can.
If you have any questions or comments please email me via my website craigcarlyon.com or comment below.
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Till next week.