Sponsored By Oxley Developments
www.oxleygroup.com
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08 Mar 23. Oxley Launches New ERP System to Drive Business Improvements. As part of our commitment to continuous improvement, Oxley Group is implementing a new ERP system. After extensive preparation and testing, the new system will go live on Monday 27th March.
A detailed transition plan has been developed to minimise disruption during the move to the new system. We are confident that most customers will not be affected by this process but there is a requirement to limit some data inputted and changes made in the system for a short period from 17th March to 27th March. This could affect new part numbers, new orders and changes to existing orders, if this affects you, your Oxley Account Manager will discuss this with you.
Oxley has embarked on this ambitious £1.5m digital transformation programme to drive efficiency through the full end to end manufacturing process. The new system will support the business in improving productivity and ensuring adherence to lead times and delivery schedules, with enhanced planning capabilities to ensure the business is ready to meet market demands.
The team are committed to ensuring that the implementation process is managed seamlessly, and our number one priority continues to be servicing our customers with the excellent level of support they expect from Oxley. For further information, please contact the sales team: .
09 Mar 23. SitaWare Fire Support launched. SitaWare Fire Support Streamlining the planning and delivery of fires missions from the forward observer through to fire direction centres and joint fires cells Sales flyer Integrated fires support One software suite to plan, co-ordinate, and assign your fires missions, allowing easier collaboration between operational units. ASCA compliant Compliance with the Artillery Systems Cooperation Activities (ASCA) standard allows for the delivery of effects to and from coalition partners. Key standards support Employing parts of NATO’s NABK and NAMK standards to perform ballistic calculations, you can deliver targeting data with confidence. Full deconfliction and Clearance to Fire SitaWare Fire Support module provides visualisation and differentiation of targets, prioritisation, airspace deconfliction, and safe distance zones. Proven communications backbone SitaWare Tactical Communication enables you to efficiently share situational awareness across the battlespace using the radios you already have. Common interface for all users Non-artillery specific information can be shared with other SitaWare suite users through a common interface, easing information exchanges. Provide accurate, timely fires data The SitaWare Fire Support module allows all actors in the fires mission – from forward observers, to fire support elements on all levels, and gun crews – to deliver accurate fires mission data and plans, while maintaining superior situational awareness across your whole formation. Moving to a digital data communications capability reduces errors and improves accuracy when transmitting essential target data. Seamlessly integrate your fires capabilities The SitaWare Fire Support module is an add-on for the market leading SitaWare suite of battle management systems. The SitaWare Fire Support module works on both laptops and mobile devices, with SitaWare Tactical Communication (STC) working to provide a secure networking infrastructure. This integration means that fire support elements are no longer working in a separate silo from planning and operations teams, and greater awareness of fires missions, capabilities, and inventories is delivered to all users. Achieve mission success The exchange of information and mission-critical intelligence across the battlespace is crucial for succesful completion of military operations. Using the STC protocol, the SitaWare Fire Support module enables clear, resilient communication and effortless data transmission in challenging conditions, improving the responsiveness of fires teams. SitaWare Fire Support module – streamlined fires planning The SitaWare Fire Support module is an add-on for the combat-proven SitaWare suite of battle management solutions, providing unrivalled fires planning and direction
Advanced fires delivery capability The SitaWare Fire Support module comes with a wide range of useful fires mission management, planning, and delivery tools, enhancing your operational capabilities.
Key features of the SitaWare Fire Support module include:
- Integration with the SitaWare suite of mission software, allowing the delivery of information to users at all levels of the command chain
- Simplified user experience by utilising existing SitaWare interfaces helps to reduce training costs and integration into existing userbase
- Fires mission generation and digital communications between users to reduce the risk of errors
- Shared fire mission prioritisation and graphical visualisation of targets to help improve planning
- Flexibility to allocate firing units to particular targets and check their status
- Utilises NATO’s SG2 Shareable Software Suite to perform ballistic calculations
- Compliant with ASCA standard to support coalition operations.
A unified command-and-control system The SitaWare Fire Support module seamlessly integrates with the other solutions from the SitaWare suite to bring you a holistic command-andcontrol system. The complete suite enables situational awareness on the tactical level with SitaWare Edge to the operational level with SitaWare Headquarters.
09 Mar 23. USAF Drones Can Now Recognize Faces. The U.S. Air Force now has the capability to use facial recognition on drones that could target specific people. Special operations forces can use the drones to gather intelligence and to aid in other missions, according to a contract first spotted by New Scientist. It’s part of a growing movement to develop automated weaponry that raises legal and ethical questions.
The drone software maker, Seattle-based firm RealNetworks, claims the uncrewed craft will use artificial intelligence (AI) to fly itself and discriminate between friend and foe. The company has said that its software can also be used for rescue missions, perimeter protection, and domestic search operations.
The new Air Force drone system isn’t the only drone system to try to use facial recognition. An Israeli company is working on a drone that uses AI to help a drone find the best angles for facial recognition.
In Dubai, police are even using drones equipped with facial recognition to track reckless drivers. But in the U.S., police efforts to use facial recognition systems are meeting resistance from privacy advocates.
In 2021, the Portland City Council adopted one of the nation’s strictest bans on facial recognition technology. The New York Civil Liberties Union noted that drones could be equipped with various surveillance capabilities, including facial recognition, gait recognition, emotion recognition, or behavior detection. The group says that such systems can be inaccurate and lead to false arrests.
Drones are becoming a part of standard military hardware in conflicts. Armed drones became a fixture in the U.S. effort in the war on terror. And Russia recently lost three drones it was using to defend its front line against Ukrainian advances.
Future drones may aid human pilots. The Air Force is studying whether to field a fleet of drone wingmen flying alongside piloted fighter aircraft. The fleet of collaborative combat aircraft, or CCA, as the service calls the concept, could be guided from nearby airplanes and accompany the future Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter, and perhaps also the F-35.
As automated weapons like drones proliferate, they are increasingly the subject of debate. Some military experts say drones reduce casualties by putting fewer soldiers in harm’s way. But other observers argue that drones remove the crucial human element when using lethal force. (Source: UAS VISION/yahoo!; Analytics Insight)
07 Mar 23. New DTS1+ upgrades the DTS1, industry’s first COTS DAR storage solution with two layers of full disk encryption in a single device, with ~2x faster Ethernet data rates (190MB/s write and 220MB/s read) and enhanced encryption. Curtiss-Wright’s Defense Solutions division, a leading developer and supplier of Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) rugged data storage and protection solutions for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), has introduced the next generation of its popular DTS1 Data Transport System. The new DTS1+ single slot network attached storage (NAS) device features enhanced performance and capabilities while retaining the same form/fit/function as the DTS1, industry’s first commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) data-at-rest (DAR) storage solution to support two layers of full disk encryption (FDE) in a single device. The DTS1+ is designed to store and protect large amounts of data on helicopters, fighters, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV), unmanned ground vehicles (UGV), and intelligence surveillance reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft that require the protection of sensitive DAR to international standards.
The original DTS1 data recorder is the embedded industry’s first COTS DAR storage solution designed to support Commercial Solutions for Classified (CSfC) with 2-Layers of encryption in a single device. CSfC is an NSA-approved approach for protecting classified National Security Systems (NSS) information in aerospace and defense applications that uses cost-effective commercial encryption technologies in a layered solution. It is also the only Common Criteria-certified NAS solution approved by the NSA and approved by NATO with two certified encryption layers. Curtiss-Wright has formally commenced the Common Criteria (ISO-15408) certification process for DTS1+, which is currently undergoing certification for CSfC, with completion expected later in 2023.
“The great success of our original DTS1 data recorder, with hundreds fielded today, results from its ability to deliver a turnkey solution for NSA approved CSfC with two layers of full disk encryption in a single device, eliminating the need for system integrators to combine two independent encryption layers,” said Chris Wiltsey, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions division. “Our new DTS1+ takes this further, with faster Ethernet data transfer rates and enhanced hardware encryption all while reducing program risk, schedule risk, and cost.”
With nearly double the Ethernet data rates (190MB/s write and 220MB/s read) of its predecessor, the DTS1+ also integrates the latest generation hardware encryption device, which supports FIPS 140-2 Level encryption via 128-bit AES-XTS. The compact, single-slot CSfC Certifiable DTS1+ also supports the same external cables and Removable Memory Cartridges (RMC) used with the DTS1, for storage up to 8 TB per RMC.
The very small DTS1+ NAS device weighs only 3.77 lb. (1.71 kg) and measures only 1.5 x 5.0 x 6.5” (38.1 x 127 x 165.1 mm). The DTS1+ supports PXE protocol so that network clients on a vehicle or aircraft can quickly boot from the encrypted files on the DTS1+’s RMC storage unit. This approach both facilitates software updates for network clients and significantly reduces SWaP by eliminating the need for individual hard disks in each network client. Curtiss-Wright offers two mounting options, the VS-DTS1+SL-FD, which is designed for cockpit use with DZUS mounting panel, and the VS-DTS1+SL-F, which uses L-brackets to support very flexible mounting within space-constrained platforms.
The DTS1+ enables any network-enabled device to retrieve stored data or save newly captured data. It supports networked devices using heterogeneous operating systems (Linux®, VxWorks®, Windows®, etc.) that support industry-standard NAS protocols (i.e., NFS, CIFS, FTP, or HTTP). The DTS1+ also supports iSCSI protocol for block data storage and PCAP protocol for Ethernet packet capture.
07 Mar 23. Getac’s Next Generation B360 Laptops set new standard for Fully Rugged computing performance.
News in brief:
- The next generation B360 and B360 Pro feature powerful Intel Core 12th generation i5/i7 processors, along with optional NVIDIA GeForce graphics controller, providing a benchmark performance up to 2.8x faster than the previous generation.1
- Both devices offer Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, and optional 4G LTE and 5G sub-6 for convenient connectivity for remote workers.
- The new B360 is designed for challenging field-based industries such as public safety, utility field services and manufacturing, while the new B360 Pro is ideally suited to defence professionals.
Getac has today announced the launch of its next generation B360 and B360 Pro fully rugged laptops, delivering exceptional connectivity, reliability, and computing performance to professionals working in challenging environments every day.
Enhanced specification for superior real-world performance
The next generation B360 and B360 pro laptops feature a wide range of upgrades and refinements to make difficult computing tasks simple, even in demanding conditions. Key features include an upgraded Intel Core 12th generation i5/i7 processor with integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics, for remarkable performance, responsiveness, and rich visuals. A 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD as standard (with option of up to 4TB) offers ample storage, while the 13.3″ FHD LumiBond® display with Getac Sunlight Readable Technology (1,400 nits) and capacitive touchscreen helps maintain productivity around the clock.
The B360 Pro takes this even further, with optional NVIDIA GeForce GTX1650 4GB discrete graphics controller, plus an optional media bay that can accommodate a third SATA SSD (for up to 6TB storage capacity), third battery, or a DVD drive as required.
In real-world terms, this makes complex tasks like performance monitoring and quality control in the manufacturing industry quicker, easier, and more reliable to perform. For public safety and defence professionals, the B360 and B360 Pro’s rapid analysis capabilities can be used to boost situational awareness and data sharing both up and down the chain of command.
True mobile connectivity
Both the new B360 and B360 Pro also offer extensive connectivity options, keeping users connected in even remote or isolated environments. These include Wi-Fi 6E AX211, 802.11ax, and Bluetooth 5.3 as standard, as well as optional 4G LTE or 5G Sub-6 with integrated GPS.
This high level of connectivity is playing an increasingly critical role in day-to-day activity for many field-based professionals. For example, gas engineers attending call outs must reliably connect to base directly from customers’ homes, wherever they are, in order to deliver the high levels of services expected. Similarly, maintenance workers performing preventive maintenance often need to obtain schematics, generate POs, check inventory, and even coordinate with colleagues via live video chat to quickly resolve on-site problems.
Maximum productivity in the field
The new B360 and B360 Pro deliver even better versatility in the field compared to previous models. New features include an upgraded USB 3.2 port, a ThunderboltTM 4 Type-C port, an upgraded HDMI 2.0 port, as well as the addition of a mini-SIM card slot. Both devices also feature dual hot swappable batteries, while the B360 Pro has the option of a third battery if required.
These features are designed to help large field services teams maintain 24/7 productivity levels by enabling them to connect to a wide range of legacy infrastructure without the need for external adaptors. The inclusion of multiple hot swappable batteries as standard also helps avoid time being wasted while team members wait for devices to recharge mid-shift.
Reliable, portable, secure
Like all Getac devices, the new B360 and B360 Pro are built rugged from the ground up for excellent reliability in the field. Both devices include MIL-STD-810H, MIL-STD-461G, and IP66 certification, as well as drop resistance up to 6ft (1.8m).
Despite this rugged build quality, they weigh in at an impressively light 2.32kg. Their compact form factor also means they can be easily carried on foot in the field or docked/stored in a compartment while travelling in a vehicle.
Additionally, both devices feature numerous advanced data security features. These include a range of multi-factor authentication options (Windows Hello Webcam, HF RFID, smartcard, and fingerprint readers), optional Absolute Persistence software, and user replaceable PCIe NVMe SSD storage, to keep sensitive data protected at all times.
Available as a comprehensive Getac Select rugged solution
The next generation B360 and B360 Pro are available as part of a comprehensive Getac Select® total solution, which includes all the hardware, software, accessories and peripherals needed to resolve a range of industry specific challenges right out of the box. This includes a selection of secure office and vehicle docks, alongside Getac’s proprietary Driving Safety Utility, Device Monitoring System, and VGPS Utility software.
Both devices also come with Getac’s industry leading 3-year Bumper-to-Bumper warranty, featuring accidental damage cover as standard, for additional peace of mind.
“The next generation of our B360 and B360 Pro devices are designed to help customers achieve even greater levels of productivity across their workforces, both in and out of the field,” said Paul Waddilove, Managing Director, UK & Nordics at Getac. “The combination of fully rugged design, powerful specifications, extensive connectivity and compact form factor helps ensure difficult tasks get completed at first time of asking, regardless of the situation, location, or weather conditions.”
Availability
The new B360 and B360 Pro will be available in April. For more information, please visit www.getac.com.
- According to Getac Cinebench R20 performance tests comparing the B360G2 with Intel Core 12th generation i7 processor vs. the B360G1 with Intel Core 10th generation i7 processor
07 Mar 23. Lockheed Martin, Korea Aerospace Industries & Red 6 Aerospace Announce Emerging Technology Partnership. Today Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT], Korea Aerospace Industries and Red 6 Aerospace announced a new partnership that will deliver advanced 21st Century Security capabilities across a spectrum of training and combat aircraft.
The partnership will initially bring Red 6’s revolutionary augmented reality platform, the Airborne Tactical Augmented Reality System (ATARS), into the TF-50 and variants. The system gives pilots and ground operators new capabilities to see and interact with synthetic threats in real-time, high-speed environments.
“Readiness and lethality are critical if our warfighters are to prevail against peer adversaries. Lockheed Martin and Korea Aerospace Industries aircraft are ideal platforms for our Augmented Reality system. Advanced aircraft, together with ATARS technology, will deliver a paradigm shift in the quality, quantity, and cost of training future pilots,” said Daniel Robinson, Founder and CEO of Red 6.
Lockheed Martin recently submitted the TF-50A variant in response to the U.S. Air Force’s February 2023 request for information for a two-seater aircraft to cover three near-term missions including tactical training, adversarial air support and to serve as a tactical fighter surrogate. The TF-50A is configured as a light attack fighter/trainer with additional enhancements to include radar, electronic warfare system, tactical data link, and other capabilities to meet Air Combat Command requirements.
While the ATARS system is initially targeted for the TF-50 and variants, it could eventually be applied to operational Lockheed Martin platforms such as the F-16, F-22 and F-35.
“Our vision is to help our customers leverage emerging technologies to seamlessly and securely connect all assets in the joint battlespace and enable fast and decisive action,” said OJ Sanchez, Vice President and General Manager, Integrated Fighter Group at Lockheed Martin. “Lockheed Martin has made significant advances across the board in digital engineering and open architectures during the past few years, as well as strategic partnerships. These are enabling us to accelerate development, production, upgrades, responsiveness and sustainment across our platforms.
“One such example is this new partnership with Red 6, and we look forward to building advanced capabilities that support our customers’ needs,” Sanchez continued.
Red 6 is a Lockheed Martin Ventures portfolio company.
About Lockheed Martin
Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin Corporation is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 116,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.
Please follow @LMNews on Twitter for the latest announcements and news across the corporation.
About Red 6
Red 6, founded in 2018, is the creator of Airborne Tactical Augmented Reality System (ATARS), Combined Augmented Reality Battlespace Operational Network (CARBON), and Augmented Reality Command and Analytic Data Environment (ARCADE). Red 6 systems are the first wide field-of-view, full color demonstrably proven outdoor augmented reality solution that operate in dynamic outdoor environments. Together, they bring virtual and constructive assets into the real-world by allowing pilots and ground operators to see synthetic threats in real-time, outdoors, and critically, in high-speed environments.
07 Mar 23. Software-defined architecture, coupled with off-the-shelf hardware components, lets users surpass 500 simulated satellite signals. Orolia, a Safran Electronics & Defense company, announced today that Skydel, its flagship GNSS simulation engine software, can generate more than 500 signals from a single platform. By leveraging its software-defined architecture, Skydel’s potential can be massively scaled upwards when employing a robust set of hardware components. GNSS users, experts, and manufacturers, as well as those looking for an LEO-capable simulation system, can greatly benefit from this unmatched number of signals.
“GNSS chipset, cellular handset, and GNSS receiver manufacturers have been looking for a robust solution that can generate a very high capacity of signals — with all the constellations and multiple frequencies – from a single workstation. Skydel gives them that capability,” explained Pierre-Marie Le Veel, Orolia’s Simulation Product Director. “With the right hardware, Skydel is the first high-capacity GNSS simulator on the market that can also accurately generate advanced multi-path, jamming, spoofing, or the high number of signals and frequencies needed for a true LEO constellation simulation.”
Skydel contains a rich feature set that includes multi-constellation/multi-frequency signal generation, remote control from user-defined scripts, and integrated interference generation. However, one of Skydel’s greatest assets is its open, software-defined architecture. “Skydel’s software-defined GNSS simulation approach is just the tip of the iceberg,” added Le Veel. “With more and more customers simulating multi-path and jamming scenarios, and the need for more signals in more applications –even beyond traditional simulators – the need for high-capacity has never been greater. The Skydel engine opens the possibility for users to escalate to over 1000 signals and not be limited by hardware design.”
In addition to generating a high channel/satellite count, Skydel can also produce navwar signals without any additional hardware. Since 2015, Skydel software has been used to simulate GNSS signals for a wide range of applications and business segments including automotive, aerospace, space, telecommunications, and defense.
For more information, please visit any of the following links:
- Skydel GPU guide
- Bring Your Own Hardware Guides
- GNSS test plans
Safran is an international high-technology group operating in the aviation (propulsion, equipment and interiors), defense and space markets. Its core purpose is to contribute to a safer, more sustainable world, where air transport is more environmentally friendly, comfortable and accessible. Safran has a global presence, with 83,000 employees and sales of 19.0bn euros in 2022, and holds, alone or in partnership, world or regional leadership positions in its core markets. Safran is listed on the Euronext Paris stock exchange and is part of the CAC 40 and Euro Stoxx 50 indices.
Safran Electronics & Defense is an international company with 10,000 employees, built on proven expertise in technologies that underpin sovereignty. By combining human and artificial intelligence, the company develops the products and services that empower aerospace and defense players to observe, decide and guide. Safran Electronics & Defense also supports fellow Safran companies by sharing its state-of-the-art electronics skills and expertise.
07 Mar 23. Airspace World 2023: Rohde & Schwarz launches drone based analyzer for efficient ATC air navigation signal inspection.
Rohde & Schwarz will launch its R&S EVSD1000 VHF/UHF nav/drone analyzer at Airspace World 2023 in Geneva from March 8 to 10, 2023. The analyzer provides highly accurate and efficient drone inspection of terrestrial navigation and communications systems along with outstanding accuracy and the measurement repeatability customers need.
Civil aviation requires accurate and reliable navigation systems for optimizing air traffic control (ATC) and ensuring the essential public safety while mitigating aircraft risks, delays and costs. Terrestrial air navigation systems, such as landing systems or en-route navigation systems require unique test and measurement capabilities.
The R&S EVSD1000 VHF/UHF nav/drone analyzer is a signal level and modulation analyzer for medium-sized drones. It is the only instrument that combines measurements of instrument landing systems (ILS), ground-based augmentation systems (GBAS) and VHF omnirange (VOR) ground stations in a single box. The mechanical and electrical design is optimized for drone based, real-time measurements of terrestrial navigation systems with up to 100 measurement data sets per second.
The analyzer provides high-precision signal analysis in the frequency range from 70 MHz to 410 MHz, a critical requirement for drone based terrestrial navigation signal measurement systems. This also includes the needed measurement repeatibility to ensure that results from drone measurements can be compared to flight and to ground inspections in line with ICAO standards.
The analyzer is ideal for drone-based ground station testing in the perimeter of an airport. At 1.5 kg, the instrument’s weight allows usage of a medium-sized drone to perform measurements on ILS/VOR systems in line with the ICAO standards.
Customer benefits include reduced runway blocking times compared to conventional methods (manual measurements, mast measurements), significantly reducing costs while providing the necessary measurement repeatability, measurement precision and GNSS time and location stamps. While streaming measurement data during a drone flight via the data link to a PC on the ground, the analyzer can buffer this data internally to ensure that no results are lost if the data link is lost. This ensures gapless measurements and easy reporting.
06 Mar 23. President Biden Issues Defense Production Act Title III Presidential Determination for Airbreathing Engines, Advanced Avionics Position Navigation and Guidance Systems, and Constituent Materials for Hypersonic Systems. President Joe Biden has signed a presidential determination (PD) authorizing the use of Defense Production Act (DPA) Title III authorities to rebuild and expand the nation’s domestic hypersonics industrial base. The authority specifically targets air-breathing engines, advanced avionics, guidance systems, as well as constituent materials for hypersonic systems. The Department of Defense is leveraging this authority to strategically accelerate the transition of operational prototypes and advanced manufacturing technologies across the spectrum of airbreathing engines and advanced avionics position, navigation, and timing (PNT) systems. Kinetic capabilities, including those for hypersonic systems, were one of the key focus areas in President Biden’s Executive Order 14017, “America’s Supply Chains.” The efforts executed under these authorities will be part of a larger DoD strategy to ensure the United States’ preeminence in these game-changing technologies as well as a partnership with allied nations seeking similar capabilities. The PD allows the Office of Defense Production Act Investments (DPAI), part of the Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Prioritization (MCEIP) office, to leverage DPA Title III purchases and purchase commitments to support the modernization and expansion of the hypersonics industrial base. Applications for funding related to the above authority may be submitted through the DPA Title III Open Funding Opportunity Announcement. (Source: glstrade.com)
06 Mar 23. Aireon, GCAA to explore use of space-based ADS-B to improve safety and efficiency in UAE airspace. Aireon, the world’s leading provider of space-based automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) data, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) of the United Arab Emirates to study the applications of Aireon’s data for real-time surveillance, aviation safety, air navigation capacity and efficiency and aviation security, as well as in the promotion of aviation development, sustainability and innovation.
The MOU establishes a framework for cooperation between GCAA and Aireon to further examine the use of Aireon’s extensive product portfolio, including AireonFLOW air traffic management product, GPS monitoring, Aireon Locate search and rescue tool and AireonINSIGHTS platform, among others. Additionally, the agreement outlines opportunities for Aireon and GCAA to work together to identify requirements for integrating Aireon data into current and future GCAA tools.
“The Aireon data holds a great deal of potential to improve operational efficiency and safety for GCAA, and the Aireon team looks forward to demonstrating the power of space-based ADS-B data to them,” said Don Thoma, Aireon CEO.
“The GCAA is always committed to modernize its aviation infrastructure to ensure the highest levels of safety and service delivery in the UAE’s airspace. The memorandum of understanding signifies our commitment to working collaboratively with Aireon to explore ways to incorporate innovative technology solutions into our operations. We are confident that this partnership will help us identify areas to improve our services and enhance our capabilities,” said Ahmed Al Jallaf, Assistant Director General ANS, GCAA.
About Aireon LLC
Aireon has deployed a space-based air traffic surveillance system for Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) equipped aircraft throughout the entire globe. Aireon is harnessing next-generation aviation surveillance technologies that were formerly ground-based and, for the first time ever, is extending their reach globally to significantly improve efficiency, enhance safety, reduce emissions, and provide cost savings benefits to all stakeholders. Space-based ADS-B surveillance covers oceanic, polar, and remote regions, and augments existing ground-based systems that are limited to terrestrial airspace. In partnership with leading ANSPs from around the world, like NAV CANADA, the Irish Aviation Authority, ENAV, NATS UK and NAVIAIR, as well as Iridium Communications, Aireon is providing a global, real-time, space-based air traffic surveillance system, available to all aviation stakeholders. For more information, please visit www.aireon.com.
(Source: PR Newswire)
03 Mar 23. Microsoft Researchers Use ChatGPT to Control Drones. A team of researchers at the Microsoft Autonomous Systems and Robotics Research Group including Sai Vemprala, Rogerio Bonatti, Arthur Bucker, and Ashish Kapoor has extended the capabilities of ChatGPT to robotics, and controlled multiple platforms such as robot arms, drones, and home assistant robots intuitively with language.
Have you ever wanted to tell a robot what to do using your own words, like you would to a human? Wouldn’t it be amazing to just tell your home assistant robot: “Please warm up my lunch“, and have it find the microwave by itself? Even though language is the most intuitive way for us to express our intentions, we still rely heavily on hand-written code to control robots. Our team has been exploring how we can change this reality and make natural human-robot interactions possible using OpenAI‘s new AI language model, ChatGPT.
ChatGPT is a language model trained on a massive corpus of text and human interactions, allowing it to generate coherent and grammatically correct responses to a wide range of prompts and questions. Our goal with this research is to see if ChatGPT can think beyond text, and reason about the physical world to help with robotics tasks. We want to help people interact with robots more easily, without needing to learn complex programming languages or details about robotic systems. The key challenge here is teaching ChatGPT how to solve problems considering the laws of physics, the context of the operating environment, and how the robot’s physical actions can change the state of the world.
It turns out that ChatGPT can do a lot by itself, but it still needs some help. Our technical paper describes a series of design principles that can be used to guide language models towards solving robotics tasks. These include, and are not limited to, special prompting structures, high-level APIs, and human feedback via text. We believe that our work is just the start of a shift in how we develop robotics systems, and we hope to inspire other researchers to jump into this exciting field. Continue reading for more technical details on our methods and ideas.
Challenges in robotics today, and how ChatGPT can help
Current robotics pipelines begin with an engineer or technical user that needs to translate the task’s requirements into code for the system. The engineer sits in the loop, meaning that they need to write new code and specifications to correct the robot’s behavior. Overall, this process is slow (user needs to write low-level code), expensive (requires highly skilled users with deep knowledge of robotics), and inefficient (requires multiple interactions to get things working properly).
ChatGPT unlocks a new robotics paradigm, and allows a (potentially non-technical) user to sit on the loop, providing high-level feedback to the large language model (LLM) while monitoring the robot’s performance. By following our set of design principles, ChatGPT can generate code for robotics scenarios. Without any fine-tuning we leverage the LLM’s knowledge to control different robots form factors for a variety of tasks. In our work we show multiple examples of ChatGPT solving robotics puzzles, along with complex robot deployments in the manipulation, aerial, and navigation domains.
Robotics with ChatGPT: design principles
Prompting LLMs is a highly empirical science. Through trial and error, we built a methodology and a set of design principles for writing prompts for robotics tasks:
- First, we define a set of high-level robot APIs or function library. This library can be specific to a particular robot, and should map to existing low-level implementations from the robot’s control stack or a perception library. It’s very important to use descriptive names for the high-level APIs so ChatGPT can reason about their behaviors;
- Next, we write a text prompt for ChatGPT which describes the task goal while also explicitly stating which functions from the high-level library are available. The prompt can also contain information about task constraints,
or how ChatGPT should form its answers (specific coding language, using auxiliary parsing elements);
- The user stays on the loop to evaluate ChatGPT’s code output, either through direct inspection or using a simulator. If needed, the user uses natural language to provide feedback to ChatGPT on the answer’s quality and safety.
- When the user is happy with the solution, the final code can be deployed onto the robot.
Enough theory… What exactly can ChatGPT do?
Let’s take a look at a few examples…
Zero-shot task planning
We gave ChatGPT access to functions that control a real drone, and it proved to be an extremely intuitive language-based interface between the non-technical user and the robot. ChatGPT asked clarification questions when the user’s instructions were ambiguous, and wrote complex code structures for the drone such as a zig-zag pattern to visually inspect shelves. It even figured out how to take a selfie!
We also used ChatGPT in a simulated industrial inspection scenario with the Microsoft AirSim simulator. The model was able to effectively parse the user’s high-level intent and geometrical cues to control the drone accurately.
PromptCraft, a collaborative open-sourced tool for LLM+Robotics research
Good prompt engineering is crucial for the success of LLMs such as ChatGPT for robotics tasks. Unfortunately, prompting is an empirical science, and there is a lack of comprehensive and accessible resources with good (and bad) examples to help researchers and enthusiasts in the field. To address this gap, we introduce PromptCraft, a collaborative open-source platform where anyone can share examples of prompting strategies for different robotics categories. We release all of the prompts and conversations used in this study. We invite the readers to contribute with more!
Besides prompt design, we hope to also include multiple robotics simulators and interfaces to allow users to test their ChatGPT-generated algorithms. As a start, we also release an AirSim environment with ChatGPT integration that anyone can use to get started with these ideas. We welcome contributions of new simulators and interfaces as well.
Bringing robotics out of labs, and into the world
We are excited to release these technologies with the aim of bringing robotics to the reach of a wider audience. We believe that language-based robotics control will be fundamental to bring robotics out of science labs, and into the hands of everyday users.
That said, we do emphasize that the outputs from ChatGPT are not meant to be deployed directly on robots without careful analysis. We encourage users to harness the power of simulations in order to evaluate these algorithms before potential real life deployments, and to always take the necessary safety precautions. Our work represents only a small fraction of what is possible within the intersection of large language models operating in the robotics space, and we hope to inspire much of the work to come.
Citation
@techreport{vemprala2023chatgpt,
author = {Vemprala, Sai and Bonatti, Rogerio and Bucker, Arthur and Kapoor, Ashish},
title = {ChatGPT for Robotics: Design Principles and Model Abilities},
institution = {Microsoft},
year = {2023},
month = {February},
url = {https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/chatgpt-for-robotics-design-principles-and-model-abilities/},
number = {MSR-TR-2023-8},
Source: (Source: UAS VISION/Microsoft)
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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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