Sponsored By Oxley Developments
www.oxleygroup.com
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04 Jan 23. AVL, a technology mobility pioneer since 1948, is now rising from the ground to technologies in air and space, as demonstrated at a press conference today at the Consumer Electronics Show. Partners Northrop Grumman and Eviation highlighted some of their latest air and space technologies developed jointly with AVL.
AVL, a technology mobility pioneer since 1948, is now rising from the ground to technologies in air and space, as demonstrated at a press conference today at the Consumer Electronics Show. Partners Northrop Grumman and Eviation highlighted some of their latest air and space technologies developed jointly with AVL.
Eviation Aircraft demonstrated the future of aviation in September 2022 with the first flight of Alice, an all-electric commuter eCTOL (electric conventional take-off and landing) aircraft. Alice is a catalyst to restoring short-haul flights, which have historically contributed more carbon emissions than long-haul flights.
The LTV, part of NASA’s Artemeis program to return astronauts to the moon, will be an essential vehicle to transport astronauts and experiments on the lunar surface. AVL is supporting electric vehicle design and autonomy systems for Northrup Grumman’s LTV concept.
“For years AVL has been leading the charge in automotive and ground mobility,” said Stephan Tarnutzer, President of AVL Mobility Technologies, Inc. “What we are learning with our projects in air and space is pushing the envelope even further. Imagine the energy needed to power an aircraft during takeoff or the thermal management needed to optimize a battery system in the extreme climate of outer space. AVL is able to take these extreme use cases and apply the lessons learned to other mobility sectors, which in turn leads to new applications and more efficient solutions.”
At the press conference, former astronaut Rick Mastracchio, director of business development at Northrop Grumman, highlighted Northrop Grumman’s Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) concept. The LTV, part of NASA’s Artemeis program to return astronauts to the moon, will be an essential vehicle to transport astronauts and experiments on the lunar surface. AVL is supporting electric vehicle design and autonomy systems for Northrup Grumman’s LTV concept, which is on display in Booth #7401.
“Our vehicle design will offer sustainable, flexible, and affordable logistics support for enhanced human and robotic exploration of the lunar surface and, ultimately, Mars,” said Mastracchio. “Our partnership with AVL will help deliver lunar mobility for future generations.”
Eviation Aircraft demonstrated the future of aviation in September 2022 with the first flight of Alice, an all-electric commuter eCTOL (electric conventional take-off and landing) aircraft. Alice is a catalyst to restoring short-haul flights, which have historically contributed more carbon emissions than long-haul flights. Alice is positioned to enable regional air travel that is carbon-free and economically viable.
“Electric conventional take-off and landing aircraft, like Eviation’s Alice, represent the most promising sector of advanced air mobility. The Alice, designed from scratch around the requirements of electric propulsion, is leading the shift towards carbon-free, cost-effective, and convenient air travel,” said Gregory Davis, President and CEO of Eviation. We value AVL’s contributions to the energy storage systems for the first flight of Alice as we lead the industry into the electric age of aviation and usher in a new era of environmental sustainability.”
ABOUT AVL
With more than 10,700 employees, AVL is one of the world’s leading mobility technology companies for development, simulation and testing in the automotive industry, and beyond. Drawing on its pioneering spirit, the company provides concepts, solutions and methodologies for a greener, safer and better world of mobility.
From ideation phase to serial production, the company covers vehicle architectures and platform solutions including the impact of new propulsion systems and energy carriers. As a global technology provider, AVL’s offerings range from simulation, virtualization and test automation for product development to ADAS/AD and vehicle software. The company combines state-of-the-art and highly scalable IT, software and technology solutions with its application know-how, thereby offering customers extensive tools in areas such as Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity or Embedded Systems.
AVL’s passion is innovation. Together with an international network of experts at more than 90 locations and with 45 Tech and Engineering Centers worldwide, AVL is supporting customers in their mobility ambitions. AVL Michigan Holding Corporation is headquartered in Plymouth, MI, and has additional locations in Plymouth, Ann Arbor, MI, and Lake Forest, CA. (Source: PR Newswire)
05 Jan 23. BT Group Backs Altitude Angel in £5m Deal. Etc., the incubation team in BT Group’s Digital unit boosting the businesses of the future, today announces that it has entered into a £5m deal with Altitude Angel, a global UTM (Unified Traffic Management) technology provider, as the two businesses scale the UK drone industry and support the development of the UK’s drone superhighway, set to be the largest and longest network of its kind in the world.
UTM is the software platform and infrastructure needed to allow drones to fly safely, without a pilot, over large distances. The £5 m deal will accelerate Altitude Angel’s roll-out of its transformative ARROW technology, which detects and identifies drones, while also enabling drones to share the airspace with crewed aviation safely and securely.
The deal is a critical stepping stone in enabling Altitude Angel to scale its technology to allow long distance drone flights, supporting the potential for faster delivery of essential and non-essential items and unlocking an industry estimated to be worth £45bn by 2030*. The deal is crucial to drone innovation, supporting commercial and retail use cases, but also enabling drones to transform how essential services function – from supporting the emergency services with real-time search and rescue, fast transportation of medical supplies, farming analysis, and architectural planning.
Following the earlier success of Project Xcelerate, a consortium led by BT Group and Altitude Angel, the relationship has continued to grow under Project Skyway, the largest and longest network of drone superhighways in the world, which is backed by the UK government’s Future Flight programme. ARROW, developed by Altitude Angel, is the foundation technology on which Project Skyway is being built, creating a 165-mile drone corridor spanning airspace above Reading, Oxford, Milton Keynes, Cambridge, Coventry, and Rugby.
Under the deal, BT Group will provide connectivity, network infrastructure and its scalability experience to deploy and maintain Altitude Angel’s ARROW tower network. Furthermore, BT Group will be the key reseller of Altitude Angel’s software in addition to providing commercial support for drone deliveries in retail and automated, smart drone inspections of critical infrastructure. This leading technology will facilitate smart city development plus provide enhanced capabilities for emergency services and the Defence community.
The financial backing will allow Altitude Angel to accelerate its plans for the Skyway corridor beyond the planned 165-miles, to thousands of miles of Skyway infrastructure connecting towns and cities as well as transport and package delivery hubs, across the country, which in-turn will allow the UK to unlock the multi-£bn drone economy. Richard Parker, CEO and founder, Altitude Angel comments,
“With BT Group, Altitude Angel has a partner which shares its ambition to make automated commercial drone operations at scale in the UK a day-to-day reality. Combining our ARROW technology, which allows crewed and uncrewed aircraft to share the same skies, safely and securely, with BT Group’s significant communications infrastructure, we can quickly bring ARROW to the masses. This will provide the UK with the first nationwide drone superhighways, unlocking the potential of this new and innovative technology and revolutionising business operations in countless industries.” Tom Guy, Managing Director, Etc. – BT Group said,
“At Etc., we support businesses like Altitude Angel, who have game changing ideas that benefit from BT Group’s scale and our agile approach to growth. This partnership is a natural extension to BT Group’s work building the leading network in the UK, supporting the UTM industry that sits adjacent to our core business.”
BT Group will take a seat on Altitude Angel’s board, which will be held by Dave Pankhurst, BT Group’s Director of Drones, to drive the partnership forward and deliver against its goals.
Guy concludes: “This deal also brings with it a stake in Altitude Angel, arguably the UK’s leading voice in the development of the drone and air-mobility airspace industry. Together we bring unparalleled drone solutions to market, underpinned by digital innovation and our network strength, as we open the skies to solve genuine consumer and business needs.”
* Skies Without Limits v2.0 (pwc.co.uk) (Source: UAS VISION)
04 Jan 23. Learn about NATO’s DIANA initiative at three upcoming events.
An opportunity to find out more about NATO’s DIANA initiative and meet the UK team at three different UK events in February 2023
The Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) is hosting three industry events to discuss the new and exciting NATO initiative, the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA).
The events will give attendees the opportunity to meet the UK DIANA team and learn about the DIANA vision through high-level briefing sessions on:
- the DIANA Accelerator
- the Defence BattleLab
- the Future DIANA elements
Each session will provide a briefing on the DIANA initiative and seek feedback from industry, in particular SMEs, as the initiative develops.
When and where will the events take place?
Three events are scheduled at different locations throughout the UK:
- 2 February 2023 – The Defence Battlelab, Dorset
- 8 February 2023 – techUK, London
- 14 February 2023 – The Calalyst, Newcastle upon Tyne
How to Register
The events are free to attend and places are limited to 50 attendees. Early registration is advised to avoid disappointment. You can learn more about the events and complete the online registration form here: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/the-nato-diana-industry-events-1475039
(Source: https://www.gov.uk/)
04 Jan 23. Rheinmetall wins contract to replace RNoAF’s old MSP500 system. The company will replace MSP500 and associated simulators with a new MSP600 digital sensor system. The Norwegian Defence Material Agency (NDMA) has awarded a contract to Rheinmetall to upgrade the Royal Norwegian Air Force’s (RNoAF) Multi-Sensor Platform (MSP) 500.
The estimated contract value is in the range of low double-digit-m-Euro.
As part of the new modernisation effort, the company will replace the RNoAF’s ageing MSP500 system and its associated simulators with a new MSP600 digital sensor system.
The existing MSP500 platform was also developed by Rheinmetall and entered the service with Norwegian forces in 2002.
Installation of the new digital sensor system is expected to commence in mid-2025.
According to Rheinmetall, the MSP500 platform is an integral part of the RNoAF’s air defence system, called the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS).
The multi-sensor platform is equipped with the batteries of this NASAMS.
Rheinmetall’s MSP600 digital system is currently in use with different countries’ naval, land and air forces.
The new MSP600 digital system is being procured to provide improved performance in comparison to the old MSP500.
MSP600 is a lightweight electro-optical platform that can support various land-based coastal or border surveillance and air defence systems, helicopters and naval vessels.
It is a four-axis stabilised system that works to control an electro-optical sensor package comprising a high-precision laser rangefinder, a day/night vision thermal imager and a high-definition colour daylight camera.
The sensor package is controlled by a ‘coarse/fine system’ to provide better stabilisation for the line of sight, ensuring that the system is not influenced by other environmental factors.
The company claimed that this enhanced platform operates in passive mode and is virtually undetectable.
In 2013, Kongsberg selected Rheinmetall to upgrade the RoNAF’s NASAMS II by providing new electronics and software for the system.
(Source: airforce-technology.com)
03 Jan 23. Vrgineers, an established manufacturer of the most advanced Virtual and Mixed Reality headsets for professionals, in cooperation with the company IMRNext brings to life the new wireless XTAL headset. The release of this high-fidelity standalone VR headset is happening at the CES 2023 show, in Las Vegas.
The upward trend in the VR industry is to switch from tethered to standalone headsets to lower overall costs and raise the users’ comfort level. In comparison to the solutions available on the market, the new wireless XTAL targets high-end customers, who are unable to run their demanding applications from mobile cores and need fully performing computers to calculate VR content.
“As a supplier to the defense industry, we believe that the wireless XTAL is the best choice for such use cases as machine and aircraft maintenance, rescue or firefighting operations as well as special forces training. Everywhere, where the total immersion, freedom, and high performance, is a must,” explains Marek Polcak, Vrgineers CEO.
XTAL natively runs 4K resolution per eye, which requires a very substantial bitrate. For a smooth wireless experience, Vrgineers developed a special mode running a compressed resolution of 2560×1440 at 70 Hz per eye, which IMRNext proprietary technology transmits using Wi-Fi 6E. Instead of placing the antenna on the head, Vrgineers decided to create an on-belt module, which includes a powerful battery pack, with adjustable power capacity and wireless antennas. The overall weight of the headset remains the same, while wearing an extra weight on the belt makes wireless usage very convenient. The prototype showed at CES weighs 920 grams, like the size of an SLR camera. The expected final version will weigh under 500 grams and will be a similar size as a mobile phone. The computer connects one USB and Display Port from the GPU into a proprietary IMRNext Wi-Fi Access Point, which converts the signal into Wi-Fi 6E and streams it directly to the on-belt module.
“The high resolution and fidelity of the XTAL demand a high-performance and robust wireless solution which IMRNext is uniquely positioned to provide. Freeing the cable from the XTAL will enable more dynamic use case scenarios and enhance the quality of single-user and multi-user simulation and training exercises,” says Phil Purdy, IMRNext Director of Engineering and Delivery.
Available for pre-order: , expected delivery in Q3 2023. (Source: PR Newswire)
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Oxley Group Ltd
Oxley offer a range of Military Marine NVG friendly LED lighting that includes navigation lights and controls, flight deck landing lights and interior compartment lighting. Our lighting products are used by Navies around the world including our own Royal Navy on UK Aircraft Carriers, Canadian Frigates, Swedish Submarines, Australian Surface vessels and Submarines, on board French Naval Carriers and in Naval Gun Turrets.
https://oxleydevelopments.cmail20.com/t/t-l-cdhkulk-yujhutkljd-r/
The technology is extremely energy efficient and built robustly, with proven long life. The lighting is NVG friendly, dimmable and programmable to allow for operations with aircraft pilots using military night vision goggles. They offer superior design giving high reliability for the most demanding environments with high sealing and the ability to meet the most stringent EMC standards.
https://oxleydevelopments.cmail20.com/t/t-l-cdhkulk-yujhutkljd-y/
Oxley are proud to say that we are working in partnership with SeaKing to enable a control panel to be offered with our LED Navigation Lighting. All of Oxley navigation lights have been specifically developed for vessels over 50 metres.
Contact Marcus Goad on 07850 917 263 for more information or to arrange samples.
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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