Sponsored By Oxley Developments
www.oxleygroup.com
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14 Mar 19. UK MoD to fast-track agile software development. The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) will invest £30m in the development of application software for the armed forces, the MoD announced on 11 March.
The funding will allow the rapid adaption of advanced technology to be used in extreme environments, from natural disasters to the frontline.
The technology will provide the military the ability to combat emerging threats through the development of responsive software that can visualise and automate secure, critical information, tailored to the mission, anywhere in the world.
The new approach, supported by Joint Forces Command, will allow defence specialists to develop and customise applications to meet operational requirements, assure its robustness and security, and deploy it on military networks in a matter of days. As a mission evolves, the application will be able to be adapted and changed to keep pace with the demands of the operation.
The capability, called the Platform for Rapid Exploitation of Digital Applications, is similar to the technology being introduced by the US Air Force (USAF) and US Marine Corps. The USAF has already delivered 18 customised applications to support planning and C2 functions at its air operations centres.
While the approach is initially expected to provide tools to support decision making and C2, the initiative could be rolled out to other disciplines, such as cyber defence, logistics and medical support. The technology is expected to be in use by the end of 2019. (Source: Shephard)
11 Mar 19. DARPA seeks tools for 3D underground mapping and surveying. The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has issued a request for information on advanced technologies and methodologies for 3D mapping and surveying of underground environments. The request is in support of the agency’s Subterranean (SubT) Challenge, which aims to equip troops and first responders with superior capabilities to effectively execute missions underground. It will inform the agency’s pursuit of technologies for collecting and characterising 3D mapping and surveying data, which will allow troops to quickly and accurately conduct combat operations and disaster missions in the subterranean domain.
DARPA Tactical Technology Office (TTO) programme manager Timothy Chung said: “What makes subterranean areas challenging for precision mapping and surveying, such as lack of GPS, constrained passages, dark or dust-filled air, is similar to what inhibits safe and speedy underground operations for our warfighters.
“Building an accurate three-dimensional picture is a key enabler to rapidly and remotely exploring and searching subterranean spaces.”
DARPA’s SubT Challenge seeks to examine ways to quickly map, navigate, search, and exploit underground environments such as human-made tunnel systems, urban underground, and natural cave networks.
Technologies that are designed to provide accurate and high-resolution precise and reproducible survey points with no dependence on substantial infrastructure are of particular interest.
Furthermore, technologies should be able to support easy manipulation, interpreted, and rendered data products into 3D mesh objects. Selected proposals will demonstrate their capabilities for possible use in the SubT Challenge. (Source: army-technology.com)
12 Mar 19. General Atomics demonstrates ALPS power system for underwater ROV. General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) has demonstrated its Aluminum Power System (ALPS) for underwater remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). The demonstration was performed at a GA-EMS test tank facility in San Diego, US. As part of the first end-to-end demo, a submerged ALPS provided hydrogen and oxygen to a Teledyne Energy Systems fuel cell that in turn supplied electrical power to propel an ROV.
GA-EMS president Scott Forney said: “This demonstration marks a major milestone for us, illustrating for the first time that ALPS can be successfully integrated to supply hydrogen and oxygen to fuel cells to generate electrical power and drive an underwater vehicle.”
Forney noted that ALPS is a high energy density system that can deliver up to ten times the energy output of similar battery volume.
He added: “With its unlimited shelf-life, safe handling, and high energy density, ALPS can truly enable underwater ‘refuelling stations’ to support long-term underwater vehicle operations.”
The ALPS power system is designed to serve as an energy-dense, cost-efficient power source for manned and unmanned undersea vehicles.
According to GA-EMS, the system reduces safety concerns and provides a reliable power source to support long endurance missions and underwater operations.
GA-EMS Programs vice-president Rolf Ziesing said: “We view fuel cells as an important component in supporting challenging mission requirements for large UUVs and other undersea platforms.
“Prior to this demonstration, we had successfully tested ALPS using only load banks. Working in cooperation with Teledyne, we were able to integrate an end to end system and test under real-world conditions.
“The results and data gathered during the demonstration will allow us to continue testing and advance ALPS to meet future undersea platform energy requirements.” (Source: naval-technology.com)
04 Feb 19. Save the date: Capability-Driven Defence Research and Innovation Conference. Under the auspices of the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the Romanian Ministry of National Defence, in cooperation with the European Defence Agency (EDA), organises a conference on the theme of “Capability-Driven Defence Research and Innovation”.
The conference will take place on 26 March 2019 in Bucharest at the Palace of the Parliament venue.
High-level representatives from Ministries of Defence, defence research centres, industry and the European institutions will discuss the present and future opportunities as well as challenges of the Capability Driven Defence Research. The event will showcase the new prioritisation instruments for defence research, technology and innovation, highlight the fusion that can be achieved on research priorities at National and European level and provide an update on the latest developments on the European Defence Fund. Moreover, the conference will provide to participants insights and lessons learned from some of the most successful R&T collaborative research projects which have been implemented under the framework of EDA. A formal invitation, including the full programme will be available in the coming weeks. Inquiries regarding the event should be directed to: (Source: EDA)
11 Mar 19. PADR Info & Brokerage Day on 11 April. In view of the upcoming publication of the 2019 calls for proposals for the Preparatory Action on Defence Research (PADR), EDA and the European Commission will jointly organise an Information and Brokerage Day in Brussels on 11 April 2019. The event is open to representatives from all types of companies (large, medium or small), industry associations, research organisations and universities from the EU and Norway. During the event, which will run from 08:30 to 17:00, EDA will provide participants with detailed information on the topics of the 2019 PADR calls, which are set to be published in the coming weeks. Participation modalities and access to the Funding & Tender Opportunities Portal will also be explained. Furthermore, as it was already the case in the previous two years, a brokerage session will be organized to help attendants in finding partners for potential consortia. The Info & Brokerage Day will thus again be a unique opportunity for participants to improve their knowledge about the context, the objectives and the participation modalities of the PADR and to network with potential partners. (Source: EDA)
05 Mar 19. EDA’s 3D-Printing project for Energetic Materials launched. The Additive Manufacturing Techniques for Energetic Materials (AMTEM) project, for which the programme arrangement was signed last December by six participating EDA Member States (Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden) as well as Norway, was officially launched at a kick-off meeting on 12/13 February. The event, which took place at the French-German Research Institute of Saint-Louis (ISL), brought together 15 European organisations working in the field of Energetic Materials, namely: ISL, Ariane Group, EURENCO, NEXTER Group, Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology (ICT), The Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI), NAMMO, Chemring Nobel, Polish Military Institute of Armament Technology (MIAT), Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI), Finish Defence Research Agency (FDRA), Oy Forcit AB, Raikka OY and Aalto University.
Additive manufacturing (AM) – or 3D-Printing – technologies have been identified as a major enabling technology to improve Europe’s industrial competitiveness. The defence sector is also exploring the potential offered by AM technologies to further develop military capabilities. Within EDA’s CapTech Ammunition Technologies, a group of Member States agreed to join forces and develop a multinational research project on the use of Additive Manufacturing for the production of Energetic Materials to be used both as propellants as well as warheads. It was this initiative that led to the AMTEM project. Over the next four years, the AMTEM project team will investigate and assess appropriate materials and related Additive Manufacturing production techniques, in particular with a view to producing new types of warheads and propellants with enhanced performance and ensuring faster and cheaper production processes for short series as well as rapid prototyping. The research project is also expected to help develop new munitions and missiles systems concepts with increased operational performance and further strengthen the European industrial competitiveness. (Source: EDA)
11 Mar 19. Red Cat Releases Beta Version of Blockchain-Based ‘Black Box’ Flight Recorder for UAS. Red Cat, a provider of distributed data storage, analytics and services for the drone industry, has announced the beta release of its blockchain-based black box storage, analytics and services platform to make drones trackable and accountable. Red Cat’s platform release includes several integrated systems that enable industry regulators to track and review drone flight data, insurance companies to insure drones with reliable third-party data, and pilots to ensure compliance with regulators. Red Cat’s black box flight recorder is the first distributed system with secure and encrypted third-party data that regulators and insurance companies can trust.
Red Cat’s proprietary platform was designed to address the growing need in this rapidly evolving ecosystem for a simple and secure data storage and analytics solution for regulators, insurance companies, pilots/enterprisers with drone fleets, and drone service companies. Additionally, with new and evolving regulations and new technologies, Red Cat provides services backed by expertise in drones, blockchain, data analytics, AI/ML and the regulatory environment at the center of the drone ecosystem.
“The next phase of the aerospace industry will include commercial aircraft, helicopters and many different kinds of drones in all shapes and sizes,” said Jeff Thompson, CEO of Red Cat.
“For drones to have equitable access to airspace, the industry will require reliable and immutable data to ensure accountability and trackability. We developed Red Cat’s black box analytics and storage to enable compliance for the drone industry and ensure safer skies for everyone.”
“As someone on the front line of the First Person View (FPV) freestyle drone community, I see a robust opportunity and market need for Red Cat’s innovative black box analytics platform to secure airspace and contribute to the continued growth of the entire emerging global drone industry,”
said Chad Kapper, CEO of Rotor Riot, a company that develops and distributes high performance multirotor components and delivers educational and entertainment video content in order to grow the worldwide FPV community.
Key Red Cat Platform Products and Services
Red Cat’s current product and service offerings include:
- Blockchain Black Box: Drone analytics and storage allow flight replay with customizable reports that can determine fault or performance issues. Features include encrypted flight logs and AI-powered drone self diagnosis.
- Blockchain-Based Distributed Storage: Red Cat synchronizes separate silos of data in one easy product. The stored data (GPS maps and logs; video and photos; telemetry logs; inspections and assessments; and accelerometer, GYRO and PID) is all secured and encrypted allowing compliant operations. The open source architecture integrates into any application.
- RISC V Flight Controller: Flight controller with open source RISC V processor. This System On a Chip (SOC) provides flight controllers with 10x the performance of existing flight controllers.
- Thrust Engine with AI: Red Cat’s flight log track is powered by AI to automatically track drone and pilot events including lift off, flips, rolls, power loops, crashes, landings, etc.
- Token Ecosystem: Red Cat’s token can help secure the future of the drone community by creating a token ecosystem that can enable ownership for customers, employees and shareholders. The Red Cat wallet will enable pilots to earn RCAT tokens for achievements and sharing their flight data.
The new beta testing program has been developed based on feedback from top drone pilots and influencers and contains the most up-to-date technology in AI and blockchain in order to optimize drone performance. (Source: UAS VISION)
11 Mar 19. Thales and Vodafone Join UK BVLoS Experimentation Corridor. Thales and Vodafone have joined the National Beyond visual line of sight Experimentation Corridor (NBEC) partnership alongside founding partners Cranfield University and Blue Bear Research Systems. The addition of these two global industry leaders is a significant boost in the capabilities of NBEC, as the corridor continues to be developed. The project is closely aligned to the Aerospace Sector Deal, a government initiative to drive industry collaboration to support the future of mobility in the British economy. It will examine the real-world impact of digital transformation to jointly develop and exploit innovations within and between digitised airline operations, aircraft, airspace management and airports that are already in play.
Building on the existing partnership between Thales and the Digital Aviation Research and Technology Centre (DARTeC), based at Cranfield University, Thales is wholly commited to unlocking the potential of digital aviation in the UK and globally. The NBEC partnership brings to life Thales’ efforts to safely and securely integrate unmanned systems into UK airspace by integrating the airspace situation into the software solution devised for NBEC.
The NBEC flight corridor will be used to demonstrate how 4G and 5G mobile technology can be used to identify and track the location of a drone in real time, vital to ensure that autonomous ‘beyond line of sight’ flights are safe. This will complement existing satellite-based [location systems, which provide accurate location estimates but can be open to jamming and compromise. Mobile connectivity on a drone will provide a secondary feed of location-based information, enabling a more robust and trusted picture of the drone’s location. Such capabilities will be key to the air traffic management systems required to allow the routine and safe flying of commercial drones in the future.
Blue Bear and Cranfield recently completed the first test flights to establish the principles for the National Beyond visual line of sight Experimentation Corridor (NBEC) at Cranfield Airport. The ultimate aim is to see the corridor eventually stretch across Bedfordshire from Blue Bear’s headquarters in Oakley to Cranfield University’s airport.
Steve Murray, VP Strategy & Marketing, Thales UK, said: “Our solutions will help to build the foundations for an entirely new air transport system, based on clean, electric and hybrid air vehicles. For example, this will enable the routine, safe and secure use of drones for infrastructure surveillance and inspection, logistics delivery services and a future in which urban air mobility is a reality. Digital Trust is at the core of all we do and our role in the project will contribute significantly in the areas of cyber security and the concept of centralised management for drone operations and UAV traffic management to ensure the safety and security of the airspace.”
Anne Sheehan, Director, Vodafone Business UK, said: “Drones offer exciting opportunities for the future and will ultimately bring benefits to society and the economy. However, we need to make sure they are used safely and responsibly. We are delighted to bring our mobile connectivity expertise to the NBEC consortium so that drone technology can be further tested and developed.”
Professor Iain Gray, Director of Aerospace at Cranfield University, said: “With the addition of two global industry leaders, Thales and Vodafone, this is a significant boost to our capabilities as we develop NBEC. Upon its completion, NBEC will be a national asset that will help unlock the potential of a modernised UK airspace.”
Ian Williams-Wynn, MD of Blue Bear, said: “The creation of NBEC allows new technologies to be integrated and tested together to accelerate leading edge research and create a blueprint for UK drone activities. Expanding the consortium with these key industry leading technology providers will increase NBEC capability, and accelerate the expansion of NBEC to become the place to test drones in the UK”.
About NBEC
The NBEC partners believe the key to future drone operations is not segregation, but unification ensuring fair and equitable use of airspace for all. NBEC will provide a safe, managed environment for drone and unmanned aircraft experimentation which will work towards their integration into controlled and uncontrolled airspace. The aim is to see the corridor eventually stretch across Bedfordshire from Blue Bear’s headquarters in Oakley to Cranfield University’s airport. (Source: UAS VISION)
11 Mar 19. Australian Defence calls for proposals for wearable assistive technologies. Universities have the opportunity to receive up to $600,000 in funding from Defence Science and Technology (DST) for helping Defence “better understand the capacity of wearable assistive technologies for enhancing the physical performance of the soldier”.
Wearable assistive devices can range from full body exoskeletons to joint support and augmentation, which enhances the body’s natural physical ability.
Defence said these technologies “are rapidly maturing”, and with 70 unique occupations in the Australian Army alone, the opportunities for the use of these technologies is “endless”.
Lockheed Martin showcased its FORTIS exoskeleton technology at Avalon Airshow, alongside Deakin University’s Institute for Intelligent Systems Research and Innovation (IISRI).
James Heading, business development senior manager at Lockheed Martin missiles and fire control, echoed Defence’s statement on the “maturing” nature of these technologies.
“The innovative work done by the Deakin University team extends the technological foundation for the FORTIS exoskeleton and helps open up a broader range of applications across defence, automotive and mining industries, and we look forward to continuing our engagements together,” Heading said.
Deakin researchers have designed and 3D-printed new attachments to expand the functionality of the FORTIS, allowing the exoskeleton to accommodate external loads usually mounted on the back of the human body.
Defence envisions that assistive devices will have a “transformational impact on the tasks and roles performed by the workforce”, using examples such as combat engineer squadrons having the ability to build a bridge, or health support companies setting up field hospitals on humanitarian missions.
DST’s Land Division is seeking to “build a larger capability in wearable assistive technology research through a partnership with an Australian university”, with proposals needing to be submitted by 8 May 2019. (Source: Defence Connect)
08 Mar 19. US Army-funded research into mako shark skin to build faster aircraft. The US Army has funded research to study the skin of the shortfin mako shark as part of efforts to construct faster aircraft and helicopters. Also known as the ‘cheetahs of the ocean’, mako sharks can achieve speeds of up to 70mph or 80mph. The investigation is expected to provide insights into how the mako shark is able to achieve high speeds. Results could help engineers in understanding how the pressure drag on aircraft can be reduced and make them more agile and responsive. The research is being carried out by aeronautical engineer Amy Lang of the University of Alabama. Lang, along with colleagues, has studied how the nearly 0.2mm-sized scales can flex at angles more than 40° from the shark’s body.
These flexible scales are located in particular areas of the shark’s body and help the animal control flow separation to reduce pressure drag. Lang said: “It impedes the flow from reversing near the skin, which would otherwise lead to what we call flow separation.
“This is the drag you experience if you stick your hand out your car window vertical to the airflow.”
The research team conducted water tunnel experiments using real mako shark skin samples. The skin samples were taken from the shark’s flank region.
Lang explained: “We set up an experiment in the tunnel with a measured amount of flow separation induced on a smooth surface. Then we replaced the smooth surface with shark skin and re-quantified the flow separation.
“In all cases with the flank skin, we saw the size of the separated flow region reduced significantly by the presence of the skin.”
“The potential for a man-made surface to utilise this entirely passive mechanism even in the air is very exciting.”
The research work was also funded by Boeing. (Source: army-technology.com)
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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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