Sort:  

Getting ready for 2030
According to the MOD, this testing took place over six weeks and involved real-time data analysis to refine design aspects and boost propulsive performance. The trials included exploring several design variations to ensure the propulsion system’s readiness for future system design updates.

“The engine is poised to power a cutting-edge hypersonic cruise missile concept and successfully demonstrated the performance of the high-speed air-breathing engine – enabling greater ranges than a conventional rocket – advancing the UK’s hypersonic weapon capabilities,” the MOD explained.

According to the press release, the tests covered the “full flight Mach number range” from supersonic to hypersonic speeds. They also validated the robustness of the engine design and paved the way for future upgrades.

“Our model is trained on a dataset of human-robot interactions, where an expert operator is asked to vary the interactions and mood of the robot, while the operator commands as well as the pose of the human and robot are recorded,” Disney Research explains.

“Our approach learns to predict continuous operator commands through a diffusion process and discrete commands through a classifier, all unified within a single transformer architecture,” the researchers continue.

From concept to reality
Once all the interactions were documented, the researchers handed them over to an AI system, which processed each and every one of them, while picking up on the operator’s movements and reactions. Over time, it learned to replicate the operator’s instinctive ability to make the robot move, respond, and behave in ways that felt remarkably lifelike.