Sponsored By Oxley Developments
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02 May 19. UAV Turbines Introduces Monarch RP Propulsion Systems, Providing Reliability & Performance Unavailable in Today’s Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Industry. UAV Turbines is now ground testing its first-of-its-kind, lightweight, high-performance microturbine propulsion system for small, unmanned aircraft.
UAV Turbines, Inc. (UAVT), a pioneer of microturbine technology, today announced the introduction of its Monarch RP family of microturbine engines, the first engines that will provide defense and commercial partners with reliable, quiet, and powerful propulsion systems. Designed for Group 3 and 4 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), the Monarch engines can run on heavy fuel of varying qualities. The Monarch RP has passed all critical tests in the cell, working through its operating cycle repeatedly, and for extended times. As a result, UAVT is now working with a commercial airframe partner to conduct ground testing. The highly anticipated line of microturbines will enable UAVs to operate more efficiently, safely and reliably than when powered by other available engines.
“After several years of intense effort, our talented team of engineers has developed a complete, turnkey microturbine propulsion system for Group 3 and 4 UAVs that is unique in both utility and function,” said Kirk Warshaw, CEO of UAV Turbines. “Throughout the design process, we focused on creating the world’s first reliable, lightweight, high-performance microturbine engine for small aircraft that runs on heavy fuel. As we have matured the design, we now recognize that a microturbine in this category has limitless possibilities across the propulsion spectrum.”
The unprecedented Monarch RP microturbine was carefully designed to outperform conventional reciprocating engines in several ways:
- Monarch RP will provide more time in the air and less time being serviced on the ground with upwards of a 2,000 hour increase in operation time between overhauls when compared to available Class 3 engines.
- Monarch RP’s variable pitch propeller will enable UAVs to climb faster and reach greater dash speeds, enabling greater performance and efficiency in both commercial and military aircraft.
- The reliability of Monarch RP eliminates the need for extra engines for a single aircraft.
- The flexibility to run efficiently on all types of heavy fuels, such as jet fuel, makes Monarch RP safer and more convenient than engines running on volatile aviation gasoline.
- Monarch RP generates useful on-board electrical power that is 2-3x greater than what is produced by conventional engines.
“The Monarch RP propulsion systems changes the game for unmanned flight, said William T. “Tim” Crosby, MG (R) Chairman of UAVT’s Board of Advisors. “The U.S. Military is in critical need of a reliable heavy fuel engine that ensures our troops consistently have the support of their UAVs when they need them. The successful evolution and testing of the Monarch RP propulsion systems proves that reliability, added safety, and efficiency is possible and will soon be available to the warfighter in a variety of platforms.” (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)
02 May 19. Markforged Unveils Onyx FR, a Flame-Retardant Material for Applications in Aerospace, Defence, and Automotive Sectors. Markforged, one of the leading manufacturers of metal and carbon fibre 3D printers, unveiled their new flame retardant material, the Onyx FR. This new V-0 rated material is designed specifically for the aerospace, automotive, and defence industries.
Onyx FR comprises of chopped carbon fibre filled nylon designed for strong, light weight, flame retardant parts.
It is an established fact that traditional 3D printed plastics burn if they catch fire but Markforged’s new material offering is self-extinguishing, which means it will actually stop itself from burning. Onyx FR features unmatched strength, superior print quality, high-quality surface finish – all while resisting fire.
Speaking about the new material, Jon Reilly, VP of Product at Markforged said, “Manufacturers choose Markforged because our industrial 3D printers deliver strong, lightweight end-use parts at significant cost and time savings. Onyx FR opens up more applications for 3D printing across automotive, aerospace, and defence industries because it meets higher fire safety standards. When these parts are reinforced with strands of continuous carbon fibre, they are as strong as aircraft-grade aluminium at half the weight.”
Onyx FR joins Markforged’s wide portfolio of industrial metal and composite materials. Eiger, Markforged’s cloud-based software platform, makes it easy for clients to design a part, choose their materials, and just click print from across the room or around the world.
Onyx FR will be available to all new and existing Markforged customers with its Industrial Series Printers. These large-format 3D printers, namely the X3, X5 and X7, deliver exceptional accuracy, reliability and repeatability. Markforged has also released the datasheet for the Onyx FR material. (Source: Google/https://manufactur3dmag.com)
25 Apr 19. New ways to detect network attacks sooner. Army researchers may have figured out how to detect bad actors earlier in their attacks, which will help better defend Defense Department networks.
Cyber intrusions are currently detected by analysts who monitor data transmitted from the defended network’s detection sensors to central analysis severs. The process requires so much bandwidth that most systems only send analysts alerts or summaries, which means some intrusions go undetected.
Now, researchers with Army Research Laboratory and Towson University found that compressing the traffic allowed analysts to detect intrusions earlier in the transmission process.
“This strategy should be effective in reducing the amount of network traffic sent from the sensor to central analyst system,” Sidney Smith, an ARL researcher and the study’s lead author, said. “Ultimately, this strategy could be used to increase the reliability and security of Army networks.”
Next on Army researchers’ agenda is to incorporate network classification and additional compression techniques to reduce the amount of traffic transmitted to central analysis systems to under 10% of original volume while losing less than 1% of cybersecurity alerts.
ARL’s research echoes a recurring DOD theme that emphasizes network protection and the need for cybersecurity throughout the entire organization.
For example, DOD hopes to boost funds to cyber forces in the 2020 defense spending bill — a move that’s in lockstep with the overall government budget. And back on the research side, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is looking to solve cyber problems with tactics such as cyber hunting on an enterprise scale, conducting hackathons and building an air-gapped system to protect data at rest. (Source: Defense Systems)
01 May 19. USAF seeks safe space for AI development. US Air Force researchers working with artificial intelligence code may soon have a platform that gives them secure access to educated end-users and outside developers, algorithms, mission data and computational hardware.
Because the Defense Department’s does not allow unvetted software or code on its networks, it’s difficult for developers to experiment with cutting-edge tools. But the Air Force is looking to dismantle some of those barriers with its Air Force Cognitive Engine (ACE) software platform.
“We’re trying to create a software ecosystem to hook up the core infrastructures that are required for successful AI development — that’s people, algorithms, data and computational resources,” said Maj. Michael Seal, director for the Air Force’s Autonomy Capability Team 3, which leads the ACE program.
The traditional DOD way, Seal said during the Defense Department’s April 25 Lab Day, is for people to use the network they’re told to use, use one that houses data from an amalgamation of sources and use whatever tools are approved and available.
“It’s not like I’m at home pecking away at Python script deciding I want the latest version of Pandas [an open-source data analysis tool] and I install it,” Seal said. “It doesn’t work that way.”
That top-down approach, however, doesn’t work very well with artificial intelligence efforts.
“Right now, a lot of the cutting-edge AI tools live on the level of code base, not software. AI researchers and implementers work from code,” Seal explained. “But our networks and our policies around what goes on our networks are built around software, not code.”
To do that, he said, ACE is architecting a space where code-based tools can be packaged to be better accepted by DOD’s systems. The effort also aims to encourage sharing of those tools — both across DOD’s in-house efforts and with private-sector partners.
“If you find your preferred AI business, their team has a toolbox they prefer to work with that can’t get through the door to our network system because most of it hasn’t been approved or cleared for our activities,” Seal said. “What we want to do is make a conduit to meet them on our networks, if not with the absolute most cutting-edge release of a package [then] a recent release so they have tools to work with that are still familiar.”
ACE is in developmental beta phase, which will help shape the program’s architecture going forward. Production version 1.0 is expected to be released summer 2020. Hosting applications are currently proving to be an early challenge, but Seal said the goal is to have ACE be platform agnostic so it can play with cloud, local computing or the edge.
“It’s not as soon as we would like, but the software challenges underlying this are research level,” he said. “There’s a lot of requirements around architectural development.”
For the next six months, Seal said, the program will work with the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center on predictive maintenance problems, while also conducting demonstration and feedback activities with intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance cells. (Source: Defense Systems)
02 May 19. Streamlight® Inc., a leading provider of high-performance lighting tools, introduced the Streamlight® 18650 Battery Bank Charger, designed to help first responders, industrial technicians and other users maintain and charge up to eight Streamlight® 18650 USB rechargeable lithium ion batteries.
The new Bank Charger features an eight-bay design, allowing users to charge up to eight 2600 mAh Streamlight 18650 USB batteries in 5.25 hours. Each bay features an LED display above the battery slot to indicate charge status: red for charging and green for fully charged. The charger securely holds each battery in place, and its low-profile design makes it ideal for mounting in trucks and other service vehicles.
The micro-USB battery provides an economic alternative to disposable CR123 cells for the growing line of Streamlight flashlights that are designed to accept both battery types, including the ProTac® HL-X USB; the ProTac® Rail Mount HL-X Laser; the ProTac® 2L-X USB; the ProTac HL® 5-X USB; the PolyTac® X USB; the Vantage® 180 X USB and the Siege® X USB. The new Battery Bank Charger helps reduce downtime on the job by ensuring that users always have fully recharged 18650 USB batteries at the ready.
“We introduced this Bank Charger to give fire and law enforcement agencies, industrial technicians and other professional users a way to conveniently organize, store and charge the Streamlight 18650 USB battery, which can be used to power some of our most popular new flashlights,” said Streamlight Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Michael F. Dineen. “Now users can charge up to eight of these batteries at a time, and also have a place to store them for later use.”
The Battery Bank Charger is powered by either a 120V AC or International power supply wall adapter or a 12V DC charger. Featuring an impact-resistant engineered polymer housing, it measures 10.45 inches in length and weighs 7.61 ounces without batteries and 20.88 ounces with batteries. It is available with or without eight 18650 USB batteries.
Depending on the configuration, the Streamlight Battery Bank Charger has an MSRP of $75.00 to $90.00 without batteries and $235.00 to $250.00 with batteries. It is available in black. Each product comes with Streamlight’s Limited Lifetime Warranty.
01 May 19. TMD unveils new ultra-high efficiency X band amplifiers. TMD Technologies has unveiled two new ultra-high efficiency X band amplifiers for radar, electronic warfare (EW), and communication systems.
The company showcased its latest PTX 8501 and 8430 Microwave Power Module (MPMs) on 30 April at the International Defence Industry Fair 2019 (IDEF 2019) in Istanbul. The MPMs operate in the X band and feature a newly developed travelling wave tube (TWT), which is expected to offer ultra-high efficiency, providing more than 50% improvement over the previous version of the models. The amplifiers are designed for high power radar applications on land, sea, or air. According to the company, the systems have a power output of 1kW over the frequency range 9-10 GHz – with duty cycles of 5% and 10%, respectively, and 55dB gain. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
02 May 19. For the first time in aviation history, an aircraft has been manoeuvred in flight using supersonically blown air, removing the need for complex movable flight control surfaces. In a series of ground-breaking flight trials that took place in the skies above north-west Wales, the MAGMA unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) demonstrated two innovative flow control technologies which could revolutionise future aircraft design.
MAGMA, designed and developed by researchers at The University of Manchester in collaboration with engineers from BAE Systems, successfully trialled the two ‘flap-free’ technologies earlier this month at the Llanbedr Airfield.
The technologies have been designed to improve the control and performance of aircraft. By replacing moving surfaces with a simpler ‘blown air’ solution, the trials have paved the way for engineers to create better performing aircraft that are lighter, more reliable and cheaper to operate. The technologies could also improve an aircraft’s stealth as they reduce the number of gaps and edges that currently make aircraft more observable on radar.
Developing such technologies helps to ensure the UK has the right technologies and skills in place for the future and could be applied to the development of a Future Combat Air System. It is the latest technological breakthrough to come from a number of BAE Systems collaborations with academia and industry, that will help the UK to deliver more advanced capability, more quickly, and through shared investment.
Julia Sutcliffe, Chief Technologist, BAE Systems Air, said: “MAGMA is a great example of how collaborating with bright minds at British universities can deliver ground-breaking research and innovation. Our partnership with The University of Manchester has identified cutting-edge technology, in this case flap-free flight, and turned what began as a feasibility study into a proven capability in just a number of months. It demonstrates how STEM can be applied in the real-world and I hope the success of these trials inspires the next generation of much-needed engineers and scientists.”
Bill Crowther, senior academic and leader of the MAGMA project at The University of Manchester, added: “We are excited to have been part of a long-standing effort to change the way in which aircraft can be controlled, going all the way back to the invention of wing warping by the Wright brothers. It’s been a great project for students to be part of, highlighting that real innovation in engineering is more about finding practical solutions to many hundreds of small technical challenges than having single moments of inspiration.
“The partnership with BAE Systems has allowed us the freedom as a university to focus on research adventure, with BAE Systems providing the pathway to industrial application. We made our first fluidic thrust vectoring nozzle from glued together bits of plastic and tested it on a hair drier fan nearly 20 years ago. Today BAE Systems is 3D printing our components out of titanium and we are flight testing them on the back of a jet engine in an aircraft designed and built by the project team. It doesn’t get much better than that.”
The technologies demonstrated in the trials were:
- Wing Circulation Control: Taking air from the aircraft engine and blowing it supersonically through narrow slots around a specially shaped wing tailing edge in order to control the aircraft.
- Fluidic Thrust Vectoring: Controlling the aircraft by blowing air jets inside the nozzle to deflect the exhaust jet and generate a control force.
The trials form part of a long-term collaboration between BAE Systems, academia and the UK government to explore and develop flap-free flight technologies, and the data will be used to inform future research programmes. Other technologies to improve aircraft performance are being explored in collaboration with NATO Science and Technology Organisation.
01 May 19. DARPA Tests Advanced Chemical Sensors. Next-generation sensors for detecting chemical threats put through their paces in SIGMA+ program. DARPA’s SIGMA program, which began in 2014, has demonstrated a city-scale capability for detecting radiological and nuclear threats that is now being operationally deployed. DARPA is building off this work with the SIGMA+ initiative that is focused on providing city- to region-scale detection capabilities across the full chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive threat space.
DARPA initiated a SIGMA+ pilot study last year known as ChemSIGMA to provide initial data and insights into how new chemical sensors using the existing SIGMA network would function. The chemical sensor package incorporates a chemical sensor, wind sensor and communications board into a weatherproof housing. Sensors report wind readings and real-time chemical information to a central cloud-hosted suite of fusion algorithms.
“The algorithms were developed using a custom simulation engine that fuses multiple detector inputs,” said Anne Fischer, program manager in DARPA’s Defense Sciences Office. “We built the algorithms based on simulant releases in a large metropolitan area – so we took existing data to build the algorithms for this network framework. With this network, we’re able to use just the chemical sensor outputs and wind measurements to look at chemical threat dynamics in real time, how those chemical threats evolve over time, and threat concentration as it might move throughout an area.”
In the pilot study, DARPA researchers from MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Physical Sciences Inc., and Two Six Labs, built a small network of chemical sensor packages. In partnership with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and the Marion County Health Department, DARPA’s performer teams deployed the network on-site at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in late April 2018.
Sensors/network tested at the Indianapolis 500, May 2018
The chemical sensor network and the data collected during events such as the 2018 Indianapolis 500 were critical to the DARPA effort, allowing the team to assess the performance of the sensors and network algorithms. These tests were conducted in an urban environment to ensure that the system could handle complex and stochastic signals from species that are ever present in a city’s chemical background. Significantly, the network-level algorithm successfully improved system performance by correctly suppressing false detection events at the individual detector level. The group of DARPA researchers was also able to collect a large relevant data set and valuable user feedback that will guide ongoing system development efforts.
Further testing with safe simulant/concert smoke at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, August 2018
During additional tests in August 2018, a non-hazardous chemical simulant was released in the empty Indianapolis Motor Speedway at a realistic threat rate. Concert fog was also released to serve as a visible tracer. The propagation of the visible tracer was observed in aerial photography, and ChemSIGMA sensors and algorithms determined the release location with unprecedented accuracy. The web-based ChemSIGMA interface allows the user to view alerts in real time across a variety of devices. Multiple trials were conducted over the course of several days assessing performance over a variety of meteorological conditions. Releases occurred during daytime and nighttime with a full range of wind directions and speeds. The ChemSIGMA prototype system detected all of the simulant releases and generated zero false alarms over the course of testing.
Department of Defense simulant testing at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, October 2018
“We’re looking at how we might make this network more robust and more mature,” Fischer said. “For example, we implemented a network at Dugway Proving Ground as part of a DoD test for simulant releases, and have shown that the network can respond to a number of chemical simulant threats different than those used in Indianapolis, as well as built-in capabilities for mobile releases. Over the past few months, the team has used these data sets to further refine the algorithms, and plans to integrate and test them with the ChemSIGMA system in test events scheduled later this year.”
The successful pilot and simulant test of the ChemSIGMA system at the Indy500 and Dugway Proving Ground provided valuable, relevant, and realistic data sets for validation and verification of the source localization and plume propagation algorithms.
DARPA is currently extending the capabilities for networked chemical detection by advancing additional sensor modalities, including short-range point sensors based on techniques, such as mass spectrometry, and long-range spectroscopic systems. As these systems are further developed and matured, they will be integrated into the SIGMA+ continuous, real-time, and scalable network architecture to increase the system’s capabilities for city-scale monitoring of chemical and explosive threats and threat precursors. (Source: ASD Network/DARPA)
01 May 19. New F-21 Fighter Could Be Amazing (Take an F-16 and Add F-22 and F-35 Tech). The three F-35 “variants” share very few design elements outside of their cockpits. Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, then the head of the F-35 program office, in 2016 told a seminar audience that the F-35 models are only 20- to 25-percent common. Lockheed Martin in mid-February 2019 offered to sell India a new fighter the company calls the “F-21.” Only it doesn’t look like a new fighter at all. The F-21 looks like an F-16. In fact, the F-21 is an F-16 that Lockheed has upgraded with new cockpit displays, conformal fuel tanks, a larger airframe spine that can accommodate additional electronics, fittings for towed radar decoys, a new infrared sensor and a refueling probe that’s compatible with India’s Russian-made aerial tankers.
“The F-21 addresses the Indian air force’s unique requirements,” Lockheed stated.
The rebranding raises an important question. At what point do upgrades transform an old fighter into a new fighter? It isn’t a purely academic question. The number of different fighter types that a country simultaneously can produce is a useful marker of that country’s war-making capacity.
India for years has been struggling to replace a large fleet of old, Russian-made warplanes. In 2018 the Indian air force operated 244 1960s-vintage MiG-21s and 84 MiG-27s that are only slightly younger.
The MiG-21s, in particular, are accident-prone. Since the first of 874 MiG-21s entered Indian service in 1963, around 490 have crashed, killing around 200 pilots. New Delhi wants to spend around $18bn building 115 new fighters to replace the old MiGs. The new planes would fly alongside European-designed Jaguars, French Mirage 2000s and Rafales, Russian MiG-29s and Su-30s, and India’s own indigenous Tejas fighter in what Lockheed described as “the world’s largest fighter aircraft ecosystem.”
Competitors for the 115-plane purchase include the F-21, Boeing’s F/A-18E/F, the Rafale, the European Typhoon, the Swedish Gripen E and the Russian MiG-35 and Su-35. Indian companies would assemble the new jets on license.
Lockheed initially implied India could follow an acquisition of F-21s with a separate purchase of the company’s F-35 stealth fighters.
“The F-21 has common components and learning from Lockheed Martin’s fifth-generation F-22 and F-35 and will share a common supply chain on a variety of components,” Lockheed stated on its website on the morning of Feb. 20, 2019.
A few hours later, that claim disappeared from the site. For the purposes of Lockheed’s marketing campaign, the F-21 is a new fighter, although it shares many of its major features with the F-16V the company has sold to Bahrain, Greece, Slovakia, South Korea and Taiwan. Lockheed can build new F-16Vs or upgrade older F-16s to the V-standard.
Still, renaming the F-16V isn’t only semantic. An F-16V or F-21 is a radically different warplane compared to the F-16A that first flew in 1978. The F-16A is a nimble, eight-ton fighter with an unsophisticated radar and short-range weapons. The F-16V weighs 10 tons, boasts a cutting-edge radar and other sensors and carries a wide array of long-range weaponry, all at the cost of maneuverability.
The only thing an F-16A and an F-16V have in common to any meaningful degree is their basic shape. So why not call the F-16V something different?
U.S. officials at one time deliberately stuck with an old designation for a new plane, all in an effort to make a program seem less risky than it actually was.
After canceling several fighter programs on cost grounds in the early 1990s, the U.S. Navy tapped Boeing to develop a new fighter with the same basic shape as the existing F/A-18, but with a larger fuselage and wing and more powerful engines and sensors.
The Navy called the new plane the “F/A-18E/F.” But in every way that mattered, it was a new fighter with different capabilities than the original F/A-18 possessed.
Likewise, the Pentagon acquired three separate stealth fighters with the F-35 designation — the land-based F-35A, the vertically-landing F-35B and the carrier-based F-35C.
The three F-35 “variants” share very few design elements outside of their cockpits. Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, then the head of the F-35 program office, in 2016 told a seminar audience that the F-35 models are only 20- to 25-percent common.
The danger in not giving a new fighter a new designation is in the impression it creates. In early 2019 China manufactured several fighter types with the basic airframe of the Russian Su-27. Each type has a unique designation. J-11. J-15. J-16.
Add in other fighter types that China was developing at the same time and it would be accurate to say that the country simultaneously made a dozen different fighters for domestic and foreign markets.
By contrast, the United States appeared to make fewer fighter types. After all, as of early 2019 only the F-15, F-16, F/A-18 and F-35 were in production at American factories. And three of the types first appeared in the 1970s or 1980s.
The American tendency to cling to old designations created that false impression. In reality, U.S. companies in early 2019 produced at least six modern fighters types.
They include an advanced F-15 variant that Boeing offered to the U.S. Air Force as the “F-15X” and a new F/A-18E/F model that has almost nothing in common with Boeing’s 1980s-vintage F/A-18A/B.
Lockheed meanwhile made three kinds of F-35 plus the F-16V. Or “F-21,” if you will.
New Delhi could select its new fighter in 2019. If it picks the F-21 and opts to keep Lockheed’s designation for the type, it rightfully could claim to be the first operator of a brand-new fighter.
Even if that fighter appears to the casual observer to be just another old F-16.
David Axe serves as Defense Editor of the National Interest. He is the author of the graphic novels War Fix, War Is Boring and Machete Squad. (Source: News Now/https://nationalinterest.org/blog)
01 May 19. A system based on Le Mans motor-sport technologies has been developed by GKN & Dstl to demonstrate an energy storage option for the Royal Navy’s most advanced ships. The project has demonstrated the capability to manage the energy demands of novel future capabilities such as the Dragonfire Laser Directed Energy Weapon (LDEW) currently being developed by Dstl & industry.
The Flywheel Energy Storage System (FESS) uses innovative high-speed & lightweight flywheels to provide high-power electrical pulses that these future systems require, reducing the impact of these systems to the rest of the ship, while avoiding the widely reported safety concern around battery-based systems.
Fundamental to the success of the project has been the collaborative testing of the FESS at both UK and US facilities. This was undertaken under the Advanced Electric Power and Propulsion Project Arrangement (AEP3), an arrangement between Dstl and DE&S in the UK, and NAVSEA’s Electric Ship Office and the Office of Naval Research (ONR) in the USA. USA testing was also supported by US Coalition Warfare Program (CWP) funding. Both nations utilised a Power Hardware-In-the-Loop (PHIL) approach, where a ‘real’ FESS was integrated into a virtual ship power system emulating a RN ship operating in real-time. This approach offers a cost effective way to develop the hardware and de-risk its integration into a real ship, as well as to develop control and operating approaches. After testing the FESS at the Florida State University’s (FSU) CAPs facility, the FESS was brought back to the UK and tested at the Power Networks Demonstration Centre (PNDC) in Scotland. This has allowed the UK to develop its PHIL capabilities and allowed both nations to validate their facilities and models against each other. This work forms part of a planned wider de-risking activity to enable the RN to successfully integrate future energy intensive loads.
Andrew Tate from Dstl, said: “This technology was originally developed by the Williams F1 team and was brought to us for potential use in Defence. We saw an attractive option to bolster defence capability through the provision of more robust and futureproof power systems for naval ships. The development of FESS and the close working we have achieved with DE&S, GKN, PNDC and our US partners has now provided a significant addition benefit in the development of real-time modelling capability and PHIL testing facilities at PNDC”
Kyle Jennett, the PNDC MOD programme Technical Lead said: “This project gave us a great opportunity to showcase the Power Hardware in the Loop (PHIL) test-bed that we’ve developed at PNDC. This test bed lets us connect real-world hardware, like the FESS, to simulated naval platforms to evaluate the impact on the ship during different operational scenarios. This testing can accelerate equipment development, de-risk integration challenges, and limit the need for costly shore demonstrators. In the case of the flywheel the 2-stage testing at PNDC, and coordinated product development with the supplier, has resulted in a significant improvement in the responsiveness and stability of the FESS system.”
30 Apr 19. ParaMatters Upgrades Its Generative, Autonomous Design and Lightweighting Software. CogniCAD 2.1 autonomous topology optimizer for lightweighting offers enhanced variety of loading conditions, optimization of build orientation.
- Offers intuitive, simple user interface that works autonomously and instantly.
- Enhanced variety of loading conditions including forces/moment w/o remote points, pressure, acceleration (g-forces) and thermal loads.
- Enables design of additive manufacturing and investment casting including stress, stiffness and deformation constraints.
- Optimization of build orientation to find optimal model orientation for AM, highlight areas for support.
ParaMatters, a leading generative design provider of autonomous topology optimization, parts consolidation and lightweighting software solutions, today announced the release of CogniCAD 2.1, an upgrade of its platform that automatically generates ready-to-3D print, high-performance, lightweighted structures for aerospace, automotive and other mission critical applications.
“The most powerful agnostic CAD-to-CAD generative design and lightweighting software offering available on the market just got that much better for the automotive, aerospace, medical, industrial and material industries”
CogniCAD is ParaMatters’ holistic and agnostic generative design solution that employs a cloud-based, cognitive design and high-performance computational platform. Images available to view here.
CogniCAD 2.1 offers an enhanced variety of loading conditions including thermal loads as a beta release and force/moments via remote points, in addition to existing acceleration (g-forces) and pressure. The software also allows design for additive manufacturing and investment casting as a beta release. CogniCAD 2.1’s functional design capabilities include stress, compliance (stiffness) and deformation constraints. The platform enables taking an optimal design and finding its ideal model orientation for additive manufacturing, by minimization of unsupported areas or supports volume, while highlighting areas which require reinforcement. CogniCAD 2.1 introduces 2x calculation speedup and allows users to select the desired combination between resolution and speed of calculations. Finally, there is an enhanced design cabinet view and any minimal glitches in the system have been smoothed out. The designs generated as a 1-click solution are smooth and watertight STL models ready for AM and STEP models compliant with any CAD system.
“The most powerful agnostic CAD-to-CAD generative design and lightweighting software offering available on the market just got that much better for the automotive, aerospace, medical, industrial and material industries,” said ParaMatters Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Dr. Michael Bogomolny. “With CogniCAD 2.1, users have more options and greater flexibility to create lightweighted objects that meet their design and manufacturing needs for challenging real-life applications.”
“With CogniCAD 2.1, users have an enhanced tool that merges advanced topology optimization techniques, computational geometry, infinite computing power in the cloud, and artificial intelligence. The result is a powerful and affordable way to unleash the full potential of design for additive manufacturing,” added Avi Reichental, ParaMatters Co-founder and board member.
CogniCAD 2.1 works by first importing CAD files into the platform, and then defining loading and design criteria. Within minutes, users can obtain generative designs verified by built-in Finite-Element Analysis, ready for 3D printing in both STL and STEP formats. All ParaMatters-generated designs can be directly produced using additive manufacturing.
The CogniCAD 2.1 update can be accessed at www.paramatters.com as a pay-per-design, cloud-based service. The company is offering several subscription and enterprise-based models, and actively engages in several complementary strategic partnerships.
ParaMatters continues to develop advanced algorithms designed to enhance the overall digital thread and additive manufacturing capabilities. This includes a new cloud-based, generative design platform that automatically compiles lightweight and metamaterial lattice structures on-demand, based on size, weight, strength, style, materials and cost as specified by designers or engineers. Unique meso structural capabilities, which are offered as a design service, deliver biomimicry design for optimal structural infills that are mission critical for certain additive manufacturing processes. (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)
29 Apr 19. China claims development of new heat-resistant material for hypersonic aircraft. Chinese scientists have developed a new heat-resistant material for hypersonic aircraft that can endure more than 3,000°C from heating caused by its passage through the atmosphere at speeds between Mach 5 and Mach 20, state-owned newspaper Global Times reported on 28 April.
Fan Jinglian, the lead scientist in the project, was quoted by the paper as saying that the new material “outperforms all similar foreign-made ones with its high melting point, low density, and high malleability”.
The material, which is reportedly a composite of ceramics and refractory metals, “enables a hypersonic aircraft to fly at Mach 5–20 within the atmosphere for several hours, as the high heat resulting from the friction between the aircraft and the air reaches between 2,000°C to 3,000°C: a temperature normal metal would not be able to endure”, stated the report.
“The combination of ceramics and refractory metals makes the material far more efficient than foreign-made ones, and this technology is world-leading,” Fan, who is a professor at the Central South University in Changsha, Hunan Province, was quoted as saying.
The scientist likened her composite to concrete cobble. “Think of the ceramics as the cobblestones, or the pellets, and the refractory metals are like the concrete. In high temperatures, the ceramics will act as pellets that pin the refractory metals so they will not soften and deform,” she was quoted as saying.
The Global Times report comes after China flight-tested the Jiageng-I reusable hypersonic test vehicle on 23 April.
Jointly developed by the School of Aerospace Engineering at Xiamen University and Beijing-based company Space Transportation, the vehicle was launched from an undisclosed desert location in northwestern China, flew at a maximum altitude of 26.2km, and was recovered at a designated landing site after gliding down using a parachute, according to Xiamen University. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
30 Apr 19. The research consortium, known as Research in Applications for Learning Machines (REALM), was established to foster collaboration between leading universities with strong machine learning and artificial intelligence programs.
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) launched a new research consortium with universities to advance machine learning and artificial intelligence programs. The REALM consortium is an industry-academia partnership to advance research, foster collaboration and address technological challenges due to advances in machine learning, cognition and artificial intelligence.
As part of the consortium, Northrop Grumman has selected three research teams to collaborate on applied research that addresses key customer applications including multiple sensor track classification, identification and correlation; situational knowledge on demand; and quantitative dynamic adaptive planning.
Each team is comprised of multiple universities. All three teams, including researchers from Carnegie Mellon University; Johns Hopkins University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Purdue University; Stanford University; University of Illinois at Chicago; University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of Maryland, College Park received a total of $1.2m research funding from Northrop Grumman.
“In today’s environment, machine learning, cognition and artificial intelligence are dramatically reshaping the way machines support customers in their mission,” said Eric Reinke, vice president and chief scientist, mission systems, Northrop Grumman. “The highly complex and dynamic nature of the mission demands an integrated set of technologies and we are excited to partner with academia to enhance our customers mission.”
29 Apr 19. Ballard Launches Turnkey Fuel Cell Solutions to Power Commercial UAVs. Ballard Unmanned Systems, Inc. – a subsidiary of Ballard Power Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: BLDP; TSX: BLDP) – today announced the launch of the FCair™ fuel cell product line, a complete long duration fuel cell power solution for commercial Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), at the AUVSI Xponential Annual Conference and Expo 2019 being held in Chicago.
FCair™ includes an industry-leading hydrogen fuel cell power system, hydrogen storage vessels, pressure regulators, refueling solutions and hydrogen gas supply. The product line supports commercial UAV manufacturers and operators in the delivery of fuel cell-powered UAV benefits, including: 3x the flight duration of batteries; 5x the reliability and a fraction of the noise of small internal combustion engines; and significantly reduced operational expenses.
Phil Robinson, Vice President & General Manager, Ballard Unmanned Systems said, “We have worked to focus UAV propulsion systems on high value commercial applications. This year’s AUVSI Xponential Conference marks a milestone, with our display of the first fully integrated commercial multi-rotor drone or UAV utilizing Ballard’s FCair™ solution, including the support components and systems that make this integration possible. We see significant long-term market opportunities for zero-emission commercial drones and, eventually, vertical takeoff and landing vehicles and autonomous flying cars.”
The Ballard product line includes FCair™-600 and FCair™-1200 liquid-cooled fuel cell power systems, with built-in hybrid battery control and charging, and delivering 600 and 1200 watts of power, respectively. These systems are currently in ongoing field trials, having previously been proven in harsh environments and at high altitudes. The FCair™ family also includes lightweight Carbon Overwrapped Pressure Vessels (COPVs), which are hydrogen fuel tanks based on recent advancements in the automotive and aerospace industries. Lightweight pressure regulators, which reduce the 6,000 psi hydrogen storage pressure to 20 psi pressure needed for a fuel cell, and which include features to assure safe and predictable operation, are also being introduced.
Dr. Jim Sisco, Ballard Unmanned Systems Technical Lead noted, “Over the past several AUVSI Xponential conferences we have presented on a range of topics, including hydrogen power and hydrogen storage technologies. As the technology and markets matured, we have engaged with hydrogen safety experts from the automotive and aerospace markets to ensure that, as an industry, we are providing systems that are not only high-performance and easy-to-use, but that are also safe from the ground up.” (Source: ASD Network)
30 Apr 19. Raytheon’s (NYSE: RTN) Ground Based Detect and Avoid (GBDAA) system is now operational at Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport and will be used to test the safety and efficiency of small drone operations in the 200 square mile drone test range.
“GBDAA allows drone pilots to make safe decisions about flight maneuvers beyond visual line of sight without using ground observers or chase planes,” said Matt Gilligan, vice president of Raytheon’s Intelligence, Information and Services business. “The data gathered at this test site will go a long way toward ensuring the safe integration of drones throughout the national airspace system.”
Contracted by the U.S. Air Force through the Department of Transportation’s VOLPE center, GBDAA is a key component of SkyVision, the only mobile beyond visual line-of-sight system certified by the Federal Aviation Administration to provide drone operators with real-time aircraft display data, satisfying a key ‘see and avoid’ requirement.
SkyVision operators inside the mobile unit will give drone pilots situational awareness and proximity alerts by syncing their display with the drone pilot’s display, allowing for safe passage through the airspace by showing airborne tracks from multiple sensors.
GBDAA is based on Raytheon’s Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System, or STARS, which is used by air traffic controllers at more than 400 FAA and military locations to provide safe aircraft spacing and sequencing guidance for departing and arriving aircraft.
GBDAA comes in numerous configurations to meet varying mission needs; the U.S. military uses a fixed version to manage larger unmanned systems like the Predator, Reaper, and Global Hawk.
30 Apr 19. Custom filters for British Army’s GEOINT shelters. Fulfilling a follow-on contract from prime contractor Lockheed Martin UK, the Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group (Marshall ADG) has delivered further shelters for the UK Ministry of Defence’s new battlefield Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) system, which is designed to enhance the British Army’s situational awareness during combat. As part of its complex shelter solution, Marshall ADG has once again utilised MPE’s field-proven, ultra-high reliability, EMP protection filters. This follow-on contract provides additional Field Deployable GEOINT (FDG) systems, including a Forward Map Distribution Point (FMDP), further Tactical Map Distribution Points (TMDP) and Tactical Information and Geospatial Intelligence Systems (TIGAS). FDG delivers a datacentric, GEOINT management, discovery, dissemination and exploitation capability that addresses the deployable requirements of the UK’s Joint Force Intelligence Group (JFIG), including the provision of mobile and manoeuvrable working environments at the tactical level. Integral to each shelter solution are customised EMP filters designed and manufactured by MPE in Liverpool.
During the design stage MPE completed an interactive development and testing process alongside Marshall ADG, resulting in four custom filter solutions. The custom variants included 10A and 63A mains power filters for both the TMDP and TIGAS configurations, a seven-line CBRN filter and a fiveline filter for use within the alarm system. These custom filters ensured the integrity of EMP protection for each type of GEOINT shelter. Marshall ADG is responsible for the design, manufacture, fi t-out and integrated logistics for the shelters housing the systems. The TIGAS units are mounted onto MOWAG Duro 6×6 all-terrain tactical military vehicles from General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS), whilst the other units are carried on the back of the MoD’s support vehicle supplied by Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles GmbH (RMMV). MPE has delivered quantities of all four of its custom EMP filter solutions in support of Marshall ADG’s delivery phase, with over 150 filters being manufactured and supplied by MPE to date.
30 Apr 19. Iris Automation Announces Casia Turnkey Collision-Avoidance Solution. Iris Automation, an artificial intelligence and safety avionics company, has announced the launch of Casia – the first commercially available computer vision detect-and-avoid solution to enable Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations for autonomous vehicles.
For the first time, there’s a system that allows an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) to truly understand the aviation environment around it as if a pilot were on board. Casia detects other aircraft, uses machine learning to classify them, makes intelligent decisions about the threat they may pose to the vehicle, and triggers automated maneuvers to avoid collisions.
Casia is a combination of both hardware and software that’s ultra lightweight, low power and small in size. It comprises sophisticated artificial intelligence algorithms and software packaged in a self-contained supercomputer that works with a machine vision camera.
“Casia is the critical piece our industry has been dreaming about for years – finally allowing us to use drones to their full commercial potential,” said Iris Automation CEO Alexander Harmsen. “By unlocking BVLOS flight with Casia, operators all over the world will be able to use their aircraft in every conceivable scenario.”
The Casia technology has been extensively tested, with 7,000+ real-world test flights and mid-air collision scenarios – flying various manned aircraft against UAS – and over 40,000 encounters in simulation. Casia also ran a successful early adopter program with more than 30 participating beta customers from five countries.
Iris Automation is working directly with regulators around the world to make drones safer and more accessible, ensuring Casia achieves the highest levels of safety for national airspace use. With the Casia launch, Iris Automation will also offer customers regulatory support for Part 107 waiver writing and regulatory approval processes to secure the necessary permissions for their unique UAS operations. (Source: UAS VISION)
30 Apr 19. Victorian government commits to supporting national AI centre. The Victorian government has confirmed that it will contribute $1m towards establishing the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence in Melbourne should Labor be elected in May. Melbourne will be home to an international-standard artificial intelligence centre, pending a formal agreement with the next federal government. The Victorian Labor government will contribute $1m towards establishing the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence in Melbourne, and welcomed federal Labor’s promise to establish the centre if elected. The new centre will build on Victoria’s national leadership in technology, with Victorian universities producing about 37 per cent of Australia’s tech graduates – more than any other state.
Worldwide expenditure on AI systems is forecast to reach US$77.6bn a year by 2022. According to a recent AI Group report, artificial intelligence is also changing the skills that employers want, with skills shortages in big data and machine learning.
Victorian Treasurer and Minister for Economic Development Tim Pallas said, “The Andrews labor government is ready to partner with the next federal government because Melbourne is the natural home to a national centre for artificial intelligence.”
The state’s $1m investment to the proposed centre would help identify and establish a location for the new national centre, bringing together a mix of world-leading businesses, start-ups and tertiary institutions.
Already, inner Melbourne is attracting a cluster of digital businesses, including Seek, carsales.com.au, MYOB, Tesla and Uber. According to a recent AI Group report, artificial intelligence is also changing the skills that employers want, with skills shortages in big data and machine learning.
Martin Pakula, Victorian Minister for Innovation reinforced, the Treasurer’s comments, saying, “Artificial intelligence is becoming the defining technology that is changing the way business is done, from autonomous vehicles and healthcare robots to the latest agriculture technology.” (Source: Defence Connect)
29 Apr 19. ATA, LLC Partners with Harris Corporation to Deliver LAANC Services to the UAS Industry. ATA, LLC has partnered with Harris Corporation to provide safety-critical aerospace management solutions for the fast-growing unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) industry. Under the arrangement, ATA and Harris jointly developed LAANC and obtained all FAA-required approvals to offer the service.
Highlights
- Harris approved by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as a UAS Service Supplier (USS) of Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC)
- Available immediately to customers requiring aviation-grade performance from a trusted provider
- Offers advanced features, such as free-form drawing of flight operational areas
LAANC enables drone operators and manned aircraft to share controlled airspace by automating the application and approval process for airspace authorizations. Requests are checked against multiple FAA and National Airspace System (NAS) data sources. If approved, pilots receive their authorization via LAANC in near-real time.
Drone pilots operating under the Small UAS Rule Part 107 who want to fly in controlled airspace around airports are already required to obtain prior FAA authorizations, either through LAANC or by directly contacting the FAA. Beginning in September, all drone operators, including hobbyists, will be required to file using LAANC.
The ATA-Harris LAANC has all the functionalities required by the FAA but also incorporates unique features, such as free-form drawing, which gives pilots the flexibility to define desired operational areas. This creates efficient flight plans that minimize the use of airspace to facilitate FAA approvals.
The LAANC application has been in limited operational testing since Harris became an approved USS in July 2018, but it is now broadly available to new beta customers.
ATA is focused on leveraging advanced data science capabilities in geospatial analysis, semantic integration and automation to address the data-intensive elements of operating drones for commercial and public use. “Combined with our strong background in manned aviation, understanding of complex communications protocols and partnership with Harris, we’ve created the most advanced and easy to use LAANC application,” said Craig Parisot, CEO, ATA, LLC.
George Kirov, vice president and general manager, Commercial UAS Solutions, Harris Electronic Systems, said the LAANC application adds to Harris’ industry leading portfolio of solutions for surveillance, detect-and-avoid (DAA) and command and control (C2), which enable an integrated airspace for manned and unmanned aviation. “By partnering with ATA, we offer a single platform from a credible aviation technology vendor, where UAS pilots can plan and execute complex operations safely and efficiently,” Kirov said. (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)
27 Apr 19. In this league, drone races are won by brainwaves alone. Guided only by the furrowed brow of its stern pilot, the drone hovers forward. The scale is small — an EEG headset, two 30-foot-long tracks in a college gymnasium, and a handful of small, palm-sized quadcopters — but the possibilities are not.
The competition, put on Feb. 4 by the Brain Drone Racing League at the University of South Florida, awarded its winner a trophy and a take-home quadcopter. Despite the modest scale of the event, the Brain Drone Racing League offers insights into the potential and limitations of brain-control interfaces for controlling vehicles.
February’s race was the fourth for the league, which bills the sport as a level playing field across ability distinctions. There’s an esport version, which served as the trial for piloting the drones in physical space. In the virtual and real versions, players wearing an electroencephalogram, or EEG, headset look at the image of a block on a screen. As players concentrate on moving the block, the EEG interprets that electrical activity and translates it into movement, guiding a simulated drone in the virtual competitions or a real one in the live competitions.
Brain Control Interfaces have seen use for decades in various tasks, assisting with everything from prosthetic limbs to communication and mobility. The use of similar interfaces to not just restore ability, but to enable people to operate in new ways, has attracted the interest of DARPA, which in 2015 showed off a brain-control interface used to pilot an F-35 in virtual reality.
The chief advantage of hands-free drone piloting is, well, the hands-free part, but the technology has a way to go before that can turn into a tangible benefit. The concentration of piloting is likely taxing enough, regardless of the control scheme used. If one future role for pilots is commanding drones in addition to piloting aircraft, it’s possible that a hands-free controller could allow simple direction of a craft or even a swarm, with autonomous systems filling in the gaps.
Still, the existence of a Brain Drone Racing League suggests that the possibilities from piloting drones in this way are barely being realized. There are depths to explore. Augmented with autonomy and with EEG-like controllers subtly built into helmets, we might see future robots commanded in battle without words spoken or hands moved. Robots simply flying at the direction of thought. (Source: C4ISR & Networks)
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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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