:00:00. > :00:13.to tackle gun violence. Now on BBC News, Click.
:00:14. > :00:43.This week, snow, speed, and coasters.
:00:44. > :00:57.2015 was the year of attempt drone. Here are special compilations
:00:58. > :01:00.brought you from Asia, Africa, Europe and the USA. We start with a
:01:01. > :01:09.range of stories which showed just how many ways we could one day be
:01:10. > :01:17.using drones. If you thought that they were only good for racing,
:01:18. > :01:22.think again. Although... The aerial GP is an opportunity for
:01:23. > :01:28.drawn in to use the as to show off the skill by piloting quad copters
:01:29. > :01:33.across specially arranged circuits. Drones are fitted with cameras with
:01:34. > :01:37.pilots using goggles or monitors to see where they are going. They have
:01:38. > :01:40.to complete several circuits of this course whilst flying through the
:01:41. > :01:52.obstacles spread around it. What could be simpler? Try flying a few
:01:53. > :02:00.feet from the ground at 60 mph. Most people get into RC because they
:02:01. > :02:12.want the pilot. Next thing you know you are playing top gun.
:02:13. > :02:21.The day's racing draws to a close. Drones have been damaged, skills
:02:22. > :02:28.have been honed, and victorious racers receive applause from the
:02:29. > :02:36.piers. The organisers are attempting to take the drawn racers
:02:37. > :02:43.International. -- drawn racers International.
:02:44. > :02:54.We have seen and been used for classy photography, for a gratuitous
:02:55. > :03:00.self these -- for gratuitous selfies, and forgetting packages
:03:01. > :03:08.about the place. Here in the UAE they have started looking at other
:03:09. > :03:15.uses for drones. This is called Drones For Good. This is a serious
:03:16. > :03:20.business. You would not believe the number of issues that can be solved
:03:21. > :03:27.with the drone. At least when there is so much money up for grabs. For
:03:28. > :03:37.example, I did not know that fog is an issue in Dubai. Or at least it
:03:38. > :03:43.was until a group from the University invented a drone four at.
:03:44. > :03:48.We have a lot of accidents and disasters happening because of the
:03:49. > :03:57.fog. Air companies and people are really getting annoyed when the
:03:58. > :04:01.plane is diverted. Using a concept similar to cloud seeding, which
:04:02. > :04:07.causes rain, this can carry a salty solution which it sprays over at the
:04:08. > :04:16.fog, breaking the dew point and dispersing the mist.
:04:17. > :04:24.One thing I did no approach du Barry was its preference for the tall and
:04:25. > :04:28.the fabulous. With all of this high raise glass about you do need
:04:29. > :04:36.something to keep it all clean. Bring on the flying squeegee. It has
:04:37. > :04:43.washer, a squeegee, and we can clean up a maximum of 40 square metres. I
:04:44. > :04:47.am nervous about flying drones close to buildings, but the sponges
:04:48. > :04:56.protect the blades, so it is less likely to clash. Crash protection on
:04:57. > :05:04.something been taken to an entirely new level by this team.
:05:05. > :05:10.This is fascinating. I have never seen a drone like this before. What
:05:11. > :05:20.is the point? If the drone colleague against the obstacles, the inside
:05:21. > :05:23.will just a vertical. This is fantastic, this is what the strap
:05:24. > :05:30.astronaut into to spin them around. Can you give us examples of where
:05:31. > :05:34.you can see this being used? This drone can go anywhere for other
:05:35. > :05:40.drones cannot go. Inside glass buildings, anywhere where there is a
:05:41. > :05:45.lot of crashes and you cannot have perfect control of the robot.
:05:46. > :05:50.Anywhere for you can crash of the walls. That is the point.
:05:51. > :05:54.The pilot is flying the robot inside the house so he does not even see
:05:55. > :06:05.the robot any more. The only uses the video link from the drone.
:06:06. > :06:07.Collision resistant drone. They have $1 million to invest into the bright
:06:08. > :06:19.idea. Congratulations.
:06:20. > :06:24.We have thermal imaging cameras, the Santa Barbara Fire Department and
:06:25. > :06:36.our very own fire. What else to be need to throw into the mix of the
:06:37. > :06:40.story? How about a drone? Emergency services across the globe
:06:41. > :06:45.are already conducting trials and pilot projects with drones. With
:06:46. > :06:51.them all imaging cameras as small as these, the drone can be introduced
:06:52. > :06:54.to a host of different situations. One of the things that we need to
:06:55. > :06:58.check constantly for is, is it moving ahead, is the winter driving
:06:59. > :07:03.the head? With a drone, we will be able to do that out ahead of the
:07:04. > :07:18.fire. To have that kind of capacity will be invaluable.
:07:19. > :07:22.Here at the Urban Robotics Lab, we're looking at drones that can
:07:23. > :07:28.work in unusual places. We have never seen a drone that can claim
:07:29. > :07:36.the walls. It is so loud! And powerful. The drone sticks to the
:07:37. > :07:45.wall with the thrust generated. It then claims in the wall using its
:07:46. > :07:53.wheels. It has a camera which can be used to reach difficult places, like
:07:54. > :07:56.wind turbines, and it requires no expensive infrastructure to work.
:07:57. > :08:03.The team says that if it falls off it can easily fly itself back on to
:08:04. > :08:06.Wear it needs to be. -- to Weyrich needs to be. I'm going to go and
:08:07. > :08:13.brush my here. It has been the year of the drone.
:08:14. > :08:19.Especially for this guy. He decided to use 54 of them as order of
:08:20. > :08:27.transport. Seriously, if he flips it upside down he could more than one
:08:28. > :08:31.in ten seconds. We decided to go to Boston in
:08:32. > :08:41.February and somehow Dan Simmons got a much easier red than me, not that
:08:42. > :08:45.I'm bitter. People are looking for an alternative to the car, we need
:08:46. > :08:50.another means of transport. This is something which could really help to
:08:51. > :08:56.replace the car. It may not look like much, but the big red M on
:08:57. > :09:02.the back wheel is more than just a mortar. You can think of it more
:09:03. > :09:05.like a robot. It responds to your pedal behaviour and weaves itself
:09:06. > :09:11.seamlessly with your motion. You do not feel like you are on an electric
:09:12. > :09:16.vehicle, you just feel that the city has shrunk underneath you. We
:09:17. > :09:22.measure the amount of rotational force. Also speed and position. We
:09:23. > :09:28.had temperature sensors, sensors which measure the current of the
:09:29. > :09:34.mortar drive and the battery. The idea is that you buy the whole
:09:35. > :09:38.wheel, complete with tyre, so that it can fit most ordinary pushbikes.
:09:39. > :09:43.Inside that red disc, and now, you do not get a choice of colour, and
:09:44. > :09:48.we're close sensors and computers set. Alongside electric motor that
:09:49. > :09:53.gives you the push. It is quite a substantial push. Just
:09:54. > :09:58.touch the pedal and the world goes flying. The battery inside is good
:09:59. > :10:02.for about 30 miles and it takes about four hours to charge up. If
:10:03. > :10:07.you need extra juice while you are pedalling around then you can
:10:08. > :10:14.backpedal and that energy from braking and go straight back into
:10:15. > :10:18.retard battery. -- recharge the battery.
:10:19. > :10:24.An app allows you to track your journey, share data with other users
:10:25. > :10:26.and, importantly, change the wheel's response
:10:27. > :10:29.from turbo to detecting if you're going uphill,
:10:30. > :10:32.for example, before it gives you that extra shove.
:10:33. > :10:36.Immediately, it is really bouncy, but it is like there is hardly any
:10:37. > :10:40.It is almost like I am just on the flat.
:10:41. > :10:46.It is the ride that can be tweaked with your app or directly improved
:10:47. > :10:50.through firmware updates, just like your phone is.
:10:51. > :10:55.Step outside anywhere in the city and you can see quite how many bikes
:10:56. > :11:05.there are, so of course, keeping them safe is important.
:11:06. > :11:08.Here we are looking at a prototype of a hi-tech docking system.
:11:09. > :11:12.The finished device is going to be usable via any NFC connected phone.
:11:13. > :11:15.First of all you will use your phone's GPS to find the nearest
:11:16. > :11:18.docking station and book your spot, and then, by touching
:11:19. > :11:20.here with your smart phone you will be able to lock
:11:21. > :11:26.This steel bar is meant to be ten times stronger than your average
:11:27. > :11:29.bike lock, and if anyone tries to tamper with your bike once
:11:30. > :11:32.it is locked, you're going to get an alert on your phone,
:11:33. > :11:35.plus the person who's tampering with it will be filmed by an HD
:11:36. > :11:48.camera built in, so there's no escape for those bike thieves.
:11:49. > :11:53.More transport tech later, but first, to these.
:11:54. > :11:56.The cameras on our smart phones have become so good of late that we found
:11:57. > :11:58.ourselves wondering if we could make an entire episode
:11:59. > :12:11.It is Mark on camera one and two, Simon on three and four,
:12:12. > :12:14.Jen on five, Nima on six and seven, Ben on eight, and this
:12:15. > :12:26.We are using a real mix of smart phones, all of which can of course
:12:27. > :12:28.shoot high-definition video, but that is just the most basic
:12:29. > :12:33.We need these things to behave like pro cameras.
:12:34. > :12:36.Actually, most phones will let us take them out of full auto mode,
:12:37. > :12:39.so we can decide what part of the picture is in focus
:12:40. > :12:46.and decide for ourselves on the exposure.
:12:47. > :12:49.Now for those who are not fans of shaky mobile wobble vision,
:12:50. > :12:51.this mini dolly and this battery-powered self-steadying
:12:52. > :12:54.gimbal should keep things nice and smooth.
:12:55. > :12:57.But for things to look pro, they also need to sound pro,
:12:58. > :13:02.and this is where the phones really fault short.
:13:03. > :13:07.The onboard microphones are fine for capturing the sounds
:13:08. > :13:11.of the environment, but to make sure we are heaard over the background
:13:12. > :13:14.we need clip-on mics that we can get closer to our mouths.
:13:15. > :13:16.We are just testing out all the different phones
:13:17. > :13:22.Unfortunately none of the mics we tried, including the market-
:13:23. > :13:24.leading Rode Mic, which plugs straight into the phone,
:13:25. > :13:26.sounds good enough us, so we are using a concoction
:13:27. > :13:29.of cables and splitters to connect our pro radio mics
:13:30. > :13:34.Even then, most phones will only let you listen to the audio before
:13:35. > :13:38.and after the recording, only the iPhone lets you monitor
:13:39. > :13:41.the sound during the filming so it will be interesting to hear
:13:42. > :13:44.the results when you have to guess at setting the recording volume.
:13:45. > :13:56.But the biggest pain by far was editing this monster.
:13:57. > :13:58.It was hugely - some would say stupidly -
:13:59. > :14:03.to film and edit the whole programme using video from so many different
:14:04. > :14:06.sources with all of this new tech in just five days.
:14:07. > :14:11.Pinnacle on the iPad was intuitive and simple, but as soon as we tried
:14:12. > :14:14.using footage not shot on an Apple product, surprise, surprise,
:14:15. > :14:17.Our main editing machines, the Microsoft Surfaces really
:14:18. > :14:21.struggled under the weight of all that footage,
:14:22. > :14:25.and to be honest, currently it seriously looks like we will not
:14:26. > :14:30.If that is in fact the case, I hope you have enjoyed
:14:31. > :14:43.Now, we do like to get about on this programme, as you know,
:14:44. > :14:45.and in Kenya earlier this year we discovered something
:14:46. > :14:50.which the residents of one village were getting rather excited about.
:14:51. > :14:55.So what has attracted 3,000 people to the school hall to hear speeches
:14:56. > :15:01.Well, it's the fact that this town will,
:15:02. > :15:04.for the first time, have access to information that a lot
:15:05. > :15:07.of the world has taken for granted for years.
:15:08. > :15:20.These guys have come here today to hear about the outernet.
:15:21. > :15:24.Outernet is an idea conjured up by this man.
:15:25. > :15:28.It is a way of giving people in unconnected communities
:15:29. > :15:32.access to information, without having to put down
:15:33. > :15:38.lots of wires or use expensive data tariffs on mobile phone networks.
:15:39. > :15:44.The first receiver is being installed in the chief's house.
:15:45. > :16:01.When it is blinking it shows you when the signal is weak.
:16:02. > :16:08.The box, or pillar acts as a Wi-Fi hotspot for smart phones and people
:16:09. > :16:11.can come here and download content which they can then read later.
:16:12. > :16:19.It looks like there is stuff going on there.
:16:20. > :16:23.This is not full two-way internet access.
:16:24. > :16:28.Instead, the satellite continually broadcasts small portions of the web
:16:29. > :16:32.over and over, the bits that the team deem the most useful.
:16:33. > :16:35.That data is received and then stored locally on these boxes.
:16:36. > :16:46.No communication with the internet or others,
:16:47. > :16:51.And this puts it at a disadvantage compared to the other
:16:52. > :16:53.projects try to get poorer and remote communities online.
:16:54. > :16:57.Google, for example, is working on a project
:16:58. > :17:01.which is a network of high-altitude helium balloons that will boost
:17:02. > :17:03.internet connections across much wider areas, beyond coverage
:17:04. > :17:09.And both Facebook and Google are looking at increasing access
:17:10. > :17:14.Crucially these projects will give people truly two-way
:17:15. > :17:23.Anything that is related to bidirectional communications,
:17:24. > :17:29.the internet, to be able to provide that to the entire world,
:17:30. > :17:31.those are multibillion-dollar projects, with huge time horizons
:17:32. > :17:37.Our solution that we are offering is instantaneous.
:17:38. > :17:43.It is a matter of spending $1 billion and waiting ten years
:17:44. > :17:47.In fact, he's planning to launch his own satellites,
:17:48. > :17:50.these mini cube sats, as early as next year,
:17:51. > :17:52.which will broadcast to these even smaller receivers which do not even
:17:53. > :17:58.These can be placed in a pocket, this type of receiver,
:17:59. > :18:04.Not only will we be selling, we will publish plans on how you can
:18:05. > :18:09.If you can build on yourself from commonly available parts,
:18:10. > :18:12.what is to prevent anyone anywhere in the world from being able
:18:13. > :18:19.Including in countries that would not want that kind of content?
:18:20. > :18:22.Including countries that have massive firewalls,
:18:23. > :18:31.Including countries that have great firewalls or regularly monitor and
:18:32. > :18:41.That is one way we can bypass those restrictions.
:18:42. > :18:44.Now, I like to have a bit of fun on this show,
:18:45. > :18:46.but without the risk of making myself ill.
:18:47. > :18:50.So, we sent LJ Rich to Germany last summer to get a new take
:18:51. > :18:56.on rollercoasters and to give her the ride of her life.
:18:57. > :19:02.What better place to test new coaster tech than a park filled
:19:03. > :19:07.with people who know their air time from their iversions.
:19:08. > :19:12.I am here because one company thinks it has cracked a very difficult
:19:13. > :19:22.You have to keep very tightly synchronised to the real ride,
:19:23. > :19:40.so you do not approach a virtual curve before
:19:41. > :19:45.What we are doing is, we are measuring the actual position
:19:46. > :19:49.on the track with a special sensor, which is attached to the wheel
:19:50. > :19:52.That flashing light near the front wheel counts the rotations and syncs
:19:53. > :19:57.This means if the speed varies a little with each ride the program
:19:58. > :20:01.In fact, VRcould be the key to rejuvenating old rides,
:20:02. > :20:03.giving this 30-year-old family coaster a new lease of life.
:20:04. > :20:06.I understand my uncle got a similar effect using different
:20:07. > :20:14.Now, we finish our 2015 roundup in Japan, with two different types
:20:15. > :20:26.Japan is in a hurry - to make cars differently.
:20:27. > :20:28.So why are Japanese carmakers assembly-lining up to create
:20:29. > :20:31.what in the past has proven to be inexpensive,
:20:32. > :20:33.impractical, and unloved white elephant?
:20:34. > :20:36.The answer is as much political as it is about technology.
:20:37. > :20:44.Ahead of the 2020 Olympics here, they are thinking big.
:20:45. > :20:46.Traditionally, hydrogen has been produced using fossil fuels,
:20:47. > :20:49.but Japan does not have any of those, so Honda has created
:20:50. > :20:59.Ideally produced from renewable sources, and it has designed
:21:00. > :21:01.stations that do not just store the hydrogen,
:21:02. > :21:06.It may take a while to produce, but the beauty of hydrogen
:21:07. > :21:08.is its only waste product is the pure water emitted
:21:09. > :21:12.Japan has set its sights on being the leading exporter
:21:13. > :21:18.of these superclean cars to the rest of the world.
:21:19. > :21:21.Toyota recently delivered the first of its new fuel-cell cars to owners
:21:22. > :21:25.in Japan, the US, Denmark, Germany, and here in the UK.
:21:26. > :21:28.Toyota say this is the world's first mass-produced hydrogen car,
:21:29. > :21:32.designed from the ground up, which means they have not taken
:21:33. > :21:37.an existing model and put a hydrogen tank in it.
:21:38. > :21:39.They put the tanks in the back and essentially the engine
:21:40. > :21:42.with all the chemical reactions going on between the two front
:21:43. > :21:51.It is a little bit more heavy than a normal car, but its stats
:21:52. > :21:54.rack up - 111 top speed, 0-62 in nine seconds or so.
:21:55. > :21:56.But there is one statistic that may concern you.
:21:57. > :22:26.It's a safe if slow start to Japan's water-powered revolution.
:22:27. > :22:29.Not just any DeLorean, that would be impressive enough,
:22:30. > :22:32.this is a DeLorean from Back To The Future.
:22:33. > :22:40.You have got the drive circuits here, the plutonium chamber
:22:41. > :22:42.measurements over here, this is the time bank with current
:22:43. > :22:50.Speedometer, that has got to get to 88mph,
:22:51. > :22:53.Marty, and back here, the all-important flux capacitor.
:22:54. > :22:56.Right, why are we here today? Two reasons.
:22:57. > :23:06.Firstly, all of this, and secondly, how this baby is powered.
:23:07. > :23:09.TRANSLATION: 30 years ago, I watched Back To The Future
:23:10. > :23:12.and I thought, yes, in 30 years, you should be able
:23:13. > :23:19.but ten years ago I realised I had not seen it happen yet,
:23:20. > :23:21.so I decided to start research in bio ethanol
:23:22. > :23:27.One day, he hopes that, just like in the film,
:23:28. > :23:31.we will be able to put rubbish and even clothes straight into cars.
:23:32. > :23:33.For the moment, his company uses large processing plants to extract
:23:34. > :23:36.sugar from the cotton in used clothes and turn it
:23:37. > :23:40.I thought that was brilliant, brilliant enough to miss my flight
:23:41. > :23:47.Never mind, I think I have found an alternative means