Sponsored By Oxley Developments
www.oxleygroup.com
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31 Aug 18. WiBotic Wireless Power System for Matrice 200 Series. WiBotic, a supplier of wireless charging and power optimization solutions for the robotics industry, has announced a new wireless power system for the DJI Matrice 200 (M200) and DJI Matrice 210 (M210). The easy-to-install WiBotic wireless power system enables fully autonomous recharging of the drones, so they can be on constant standby or fly repeatedly without the need for human or mechanical battery swapping. Ground-based transmitter components as well as onboard charging components are included in the WiBotic wireless power system for the DJI M200 and M210. It is also compatible with the (additional) WiBotic PowerPad for companies that want a completely turnkey solution. The combination of these DJI drones and the WiBotic wireless power system is ideal for all types of applications, including long-term persistent security and defense surveillance; at-the- ready search and rescue missions; methane leak detection at oil well sites, refineries and offshore rigs; tracking progress at major constructions sites; and more.
“Pairing our WiBotic wireless power system with these new DJI models creates a real power couple for corporations,” said Ben Waters, CEO of WiBotic. “Countless commercial and defense drone applications are greatly enhanced by the use of wireless power and we make it really simple to make that happen.”
With WiBotic wireless power solutions, the entire charging process can be remotely monitored and controlled using software, APIs and cloud-based tools to ensure the drones charge as rapidly as possible when needed, or more slowly when the next scheduled flight is hours away. This improves overall battery lifespan and maximizes fleet uptime. The WiBotic PowerPad, a drone landing pad that contains the transmitter components, also protects against moisture, dirt and corrosion that can impact outdoor charging stations over time.
Components in the WiBotic Wireless Power System
In addition to the ground-based transmitter components and the onboard charging components, the WiBotic wireless power system for DJI M200 and M210 also includes mounting equipment to enable quick installation. When used with the WiBotic PowerPad, the entire system can be up and running in 10 minutes. The system charges the standard DJI M200 and M210 batteries in about two hours and built-in fleet support allows one drone to move between multiple wireless power stations, and also enables several drones to share a network of stations at different times. These wireless power stations can even be used with various drone brands and inside drone hangars or garages. Not limited to DJI models, WiBotic wireless power solutions are ideal for nearly any commercial drone platform, enabling more frequent and reliable flight for a variety of applications. By keeping drones fully charged and ready to launch at any time, the system is also perfect for instantaneous drone needs such as police/fire response and defense applications.
About WiBotic
WiBotic provides wireless charging and power optimization solutions for the rapidly growing ecosystem of aerial, mobile and marine robots. Its solutions help companies optimize the uptime of robot fleets and are an integral component of fully autonomous robotic operations. WiBotic is already working with companies in a variety of industries. The company was founded in 2015 and is based in Seattle, WA. (Source: UAS VISION)
31 Aug 18. Raytheon System Lets Artificial intelligence Explain Itself. Under the Defense Research Project Agency’s (DARPA) Explainable Artificial Intelligence program (XAI), Raytheon BBN Technologies is developing a first of its kind neural network that explains itself. The XAI program aims to create a suite of machine learning techniques that produce more explainable models while maintaining a high level of performance. It also aims to help human users understand, appropriately trust and effectively manage the emerging generation of artificially intelligent partners. Raytheon BBN’s Explainable Question Answering System will allow AI programs to ‘show their work,’ increasing the human user’s confidence in the machine’s suggestions. “Our goal is to give the user enough information about how the machine’s answer was derived and show that the system considered relevant information so users feel comfortable acting on the system’s recommendation,” said Bill Ferguson, lead scientist and EQUAS principal investigator at Raytheon BBN.
EQUAS will show users which data mattered most in the AI decision-making process. Using a graphical interface, users can explore the system’s recommendations and see why it chose one answer over another. The technology is still in its early phases of development but could potentially be used for a wide-range of applications.
“A fully developed system like EQUAS could help with decision-making not only in DoD operations, but in a range of other applications like campus security, industrial operations and the medical field,” said Ferguson. “Say a doctor has an x-ray image of a lung and her AI system says that its cancer. She asks why and the system highlights what it thinks are suspicious shadows, which she had previously disregarded as artifacts of the X-ray process. Now the doctor can make the call – to diagnose, investigate further, or, if she still thinks the system is in error, to let it go.”
As the system is enhanced, EQUAS will be able to monitor itself and share factors that limit its ability to make reliable recommendations. This self-monitoring capability will help developers refine AI systems, allowing them to inject additional data or change how data is processed. (Source: UAS VISION)
31 Aug 18. Advance in timekeeping tech enhances JORN capability. Technology using a pure sapphire crystal to accurately measure time has taken out the 2018 Defence Science and Technology (DST) Eureka Prize for Outstanding Science in Safeguarding Australia, and will be used to support upgrades and enhancements to the Jindalee Operational Radar Network (JORN). Minister for Defence Christopher Pyne congratulated Professor Andre Luiten and his team from the University of Adelaide on developing the sapphire clock, a device so accurate it can keep time within one second over tens of millions of years. The sapphire clock has the potential to produce the purest of signals, which, when fed into JORN, could generate high quality surveillance data.
“This innovation delivers a step-change in radar frequency, purity and overall performance over conventional devices giving Defence a significant capability edge,” Minister Pyne said.
JORN is a network of three remote over the horizon radar (OTHR) radars located in the Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia. The state-of-the-art defence system provides wide area surveillance at ranges of 1,000 to 3,000 kilometres, and plays a vital role in supporting the Australian Defence Force’s air and maritime operations, border protection, disaster relief, and search and rescue operations. The JORN technology had its beginnings in early research into the ionosphere conducted at the Weapons Research Establishment from the 1950s. Subsequently, the Jindalee high frequency OTHR became a core research project from 1970 and was developed to provide surveillance across Australia’s northern sea and air approaches.
Minister Pyne expanded on the importance of this capability development, saying, “This is an example of world-leading research with a positive impact on Australia’s defence and national security. It is a fantastic result which will be a game-changer for Defence capability.”
The JORN network is Australia’s first comprehensive land and air early warning system. It not only provides a 24-hour military surveillance of the northern and western approaches to Australia, but also serves a civilian purpose in assisting in detecting illegal entry, smuggling and unlicensed fishing. The DST Eureka Prize for Outstanding Science in Safeguarding Australia is awarded annually for outstanding science or technology that has developed, or has potential to develop, innovative solutions for Australia’s defence or national security. (Source: Defence Connect)
31 Aug 18. Agreement leads to infinite possibilities. State-of-the-art multi-spectral simulation software, developed by the Defence Science and Technology (DST) Group, has been licensed to Adelaide-based SME Consilium Technology to be marketed globally as Infinite Studio. Infinite Studio builds on DST’s multi-spectral visualisation system, VIRSuite, which represents over a decade of research and development. Consilium Technology has added significant new capability, performance and fidelity to take the technology to a wider range of markets and application domains.
Minister for Defence Christopher Pyne announced the signing of the licensing agreement for the technology, which will support virtual and constructive simulation activities for Defence and civilian applications.
“When ground-breaking research by Defence is matched with industry know-how, we get great innovative outcomes and Infinite Studio is an example of this,” Minister Pyne said. “This is a great outcome for Australian innovation, Defence and industry collaboration and jobs growth.”
Infinite Studio was demonstrated during SCINDICATE 2018, Defence’s science and technology open day for industry at the DST laboratories in Melbourne. The theme for SCINDICATE 2018 is Future Science and Innovation for Game Changing Capabilities. (Source: Defence Connect)
28 Aug 18. Under the US Defense Research Project Agency’s (DARPA) Explainable Artificial Intelligence program (XAI), Raytheon (NYSE: RTN) BBN Technologies is developing a first of its kind neural network that explains itself. The XAI program aims to create a suite of machine learning techniques that produce more explainable models while maintaining a high level of performance. It also aims to help human users understand, appropriately trust and effectively manage the emerging generation of artificially intelligent partners. Raytheon BBN’s Explainable Question Answering System will allow AI programs to ‘show their work,’ increasing the human user’s confidence in the machine’s suggestions. “Our goal is to give the user enough information about how the machine’s answer was derived and show that the system considered relevant information so users feel comfortable acting on the system’s recommendation,” said Bill Ferguson, lead scientist and EQUAS principal investigator at Raytheon BBN. EQUAS will show users which data mattered most in the AI decision-making process. Using a graphical interface, users can explore the system’s recommendations and see why it chose one answer over another. The technology is still in its early phases of development but could potentially be used for a wide-range of applications.
“A fully developed system like EQUAS could help with decision-making not only in DoD operations, but in a range of other applications like campus security, industrial operations and the medical field,” said Ferguson. “Say a doctor has an x-ray image of a lung and her AI system says that its cancer. She asks why and the system highlights what it thinks are suspicious shadows, which she had previously disregarded as artifacts of the X-ray process. Now the doctor can make the call – to diagnose, investigate further, or, if she still thinks the system is in error, to let it go.”
As the system is enhanced, EQUAS will be able to monitor itself and share factors that limit its ability to make reliable recommendations. This self-monitoring capability will help developers refine AI systems, allowing them to inject additional data or change how data is processed.
28 Aug 18. JHU/APL completes first year of BOLT hypersonic boundary layer research. A research team led by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) has completed the first year of a three-year project intended to explore boundary layer transition mechanisms for hypersonic flight vehicles. Funded by a research grant from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Boundary Layer Transition (BOLT) experimentation effort is conducting computational analyses and wind-tunnel tests to characterise boundary layer transition on a low-curvature concave geometry with swept leading edges. This will culminate with a sounding rocket flight test in the Mach 5-7 range to measure boundary layer transition in hypersonic flight. Accurately predicting the state of the boundary layer – that thin layer of air near the surface of the airframe – is critical to flight at hypersonic speeds (Mach 5+). (Source: IHS Jane’s)
24 Aug 18. AFRL finds brain stimulation technology boosts multi-tasking performance. Halo Neuroscience’s Halo Sport TDCS headset. The US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has disclosed study results on the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS) on special forces operators and machine-facing personnel, finding the technologies can indeed increase performance for certain tasks. The evaluation, which featured Halo Neuroscience’s Halo Sport TDCS headset, was conducted by AFRL on 8 May 2018 with the aim of comparing the effects of TDCS on operators’ multi-tasking capabilities by comparing the input of Electroencephalography (EEG) electrodes with Halo Sport technology as well as a ‘null condition’ control. Results from the evaluation were revealed to Jane’s in August. Initially designed to support the rehabilitation of wounded personnel, TDCS technology is being explored to potentially optimse combat performance, for example, for special forces in close quarter battle. Conducted by AFRL’s 711th Human Performance Wing/Applied Neuroscience Branch, tests were designed to consider the human operator’s ability to actively perform more than one task simultaneously. According to AFRL consortium research fellow Justin Nelson, personnel enduring long working hours monitoring and locating targets can suffer from performance decline due to the monotonous nature of the work. Specifically, Nelson warned of “information overload and cognitive bottlenecking,” while referring to air traffic controllers, cyber defence operators, and remotely piloted aircraft operators.
AFRL’s test evaluated TDCS administered to the brain’s motor cortex during a multi-tasking, with EEG electrodes competing against Halo Sport TDCS solutions and the ‘null condition’ control. Tests were conducted over varying periods of time, ranging up to 20 minutes. Five groups of fifteen personnel were tasked to conduct system monitoring, targeting, resource management, and communications serials during the test phase, with Halo Sport wearers benefiting from a 10% increase in throughput versus ‘null condition’ wearers. Differences between Halo Sport and EEG technology were marginal and AFRL said excitement of the ‘left primary motor cortex’ and ‘inhibition of the right motor cortex’ resulted in superior multi-tasking performance. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
27 Aug 18. DARPA effort seeks alternative to GPS. The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is seeking to develop high-performance position, navigation, and timing (PNT) devices while reducing the size and complexity of those systems. The Atomic-Photonic Integration (A-PhI) programme will develop portable Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs) to replace the optical assembly behind atomic physics devices, such as atomic clocks.
“If you look at those systems and spend time with the people who make them, you will find that there is a lot of optics [involved],” John Burke, the DARPA programme manager for A-PhI, told Jane’s. “Lenses, mirrors, [and] prisms, you will see square-metres of tables filled with them,” Burke added. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
28 Aug 18. TE Connectivity (TE), a world leader in connectivity and sensors, announced certification of its rugged RPS commercial grade sleeves. The sleeve labels meet criteria from UL E35586, CSA Certified (File 31929) and MIL-STD-202 Mthd 215 from the United States Department of Defense for resistance to chemicals and solvents. RPS commericial grade markers are heat shrinkable sleeves for wire and cable identification. When printed with TE recommended printers and ink ribbons, the permanent identification sleeves remain legible, even when exposed to abrasion, aggressive cleaning solvents and industrial fluids. Made from flame retardant, cross-lined polyolefin material, label sleeves can withstand operating temperature from -30°C to 105°C. Supplied in a “ladder format,” the thermal transfer printable sleeves are held horizontally between two polyester strips and offers ease of printing and kitting.
“Meeting the criteria of UL, CSA and MIL SPEC standard 202, RPS labels meet harsh environments, including resistance to chemicals and solvents,” said Stephen Earley, TE global product manager, Identification Systems. “RPS markers are ideal for the wire identification needs of commercial customers, including communications, wire assemblies, electrical panel and oil & gas control systems.”
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Oxley Group Ltd
Oxley specialises in the design and manufacture of advanced electronic and electro-optic components and systems for air, land and sea applications within the military sector. Established in 1942, Oxley has manufacturing facilities in the UK and USA and enjoys representation worldwide. The company’s products include night vision and LED lighting, data capture systems and electronic components. Oxley has pioneered the development of night vision compatible lighting. It offers a total package incorporating optical filters, equipment modification, cockpit and external lighting along with fleet wide upgrade services including engineering, installation, support, maintenance and training. The company’s long experience of manufacturing night vision lighting and LED indicators, coupled with advances in LED technology, has enabled it to develop LED solutions to replace incandescent and fluorescent lighting in existing applications as well as becoming the lighting option of choice in new applications such as portable military hospitals, UAV control stations and communication shelters.
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