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24 Jun 20. The F-35 Lightning II can’t fly in lightning once again. The most widely used variant of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is currently unable to fly in thunderstorms after the discovery of damage to one of the systems it uses to protect itself from lightning, its prime contractor Lockheed Martin said Wednesday.
To safely fly in conditions where lightning is present, the F-35 relies on its Onboard Inert Gas Generation System, or OBIGGS, which pumps nitrogen-enriched air into the fuel tanks to inert them. Without this system, a jet could explode if struck by lightning.
However, damage to one of the tubes that distributes inert gas into the fuel tank was discovered during routine depot maintenance of an F-35A at Hill Air Force Base’s Ogden Logistics Complex in Utah, Lockheed said in a statement.
Lockheed temporarily paused F-35 deliveries June 2-23 as the company validated whether it was properly installing OBIGGS systems. However, “it appears this anomaly is occurring in the field after aircraft delivery,” Lockheed said in a statement.
Lockheed has since delivered two F-35s, company spokesman Brett Ashworth said.
Because it cannot be confirmed that the OBIGGS system would function properly if the jet was hit by lightning, the F-35 Joint Program Office has opted to institute flight restrictions.
“As a safety precaution, the JPO recommended to unit commanders that they implement a lightning flight restriction for the F-35A, which restricts flying within 25 miles of lightning or thunderstorms,” Lockheed said. “We are working with the F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) on a root cause corrective action investigation to determine next steps.”
The issue only seems to affect the F-35A conventional-takeoff-and-landing variant, which is used by the U.S. Air Force and the majority of international customers. The OBIGGS design is slightly different on the F-35B short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing variant due to the aircraft’s lift fan, and the problem has not been observed on F-35C carrier-takeoff-and-landing aircraft, Ashworth said.
Bloomberg, which obtained a JPO memo dated June 5, reported that flawed tubes were found in 14 of the 24 “A” models inspected.
The JPO did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
For a plane nicknamed “Lightning II,” the F-35?s lightning protection systems have, ironically, become an embarrassing problem issue for the jet at times throughout its development.
The F-35 was prohibited from flying within 25 miles of lightning in the early 2010s after the Pentagon’s weapons tester discovered deficiencies with the original OBIGGs system in getting enough inert gas into the fuel tanks. Those restrictions were rescinded after the OBIGGS was redesigned in 2014. (Source: Defense News)
24 Jun 20. Mercury Systems, Inc., a leader in trusted, secure mission-critical technologies for aerospace and defense, today announced volume production of its newest, high-density (HD) secure memory device, with the most capacity in the smallest form factor available. Mercury takes data-intensive processing applications to the edge by embedding 4GB of double data rate third-generation (DDR3) synchronous dynamic random-access memory (SDRAM) in a compact, ruggedized package for optimal data center-grade performance in harsh environments.
“Our new 4GB HD DDR3 module is an innovative offering for our customers’ volatile memory requirements, with the largest capacity available in the smallest form factor, making it ideal for use in modern commercial avionics, missile guidance subsystems, and radar applications,” said Chris Opoczynski, Vice President and General Manager of Mercury’s Microelectronics Secure Solutions group. “Our industry-leading HD memory modules are another proof point of our commitment to making trusted, secure, mission-critical solutions profoundly more accessible and affordable to aerospace and defense.”
Avionics, mission computing, and sensor processing subsystems are tasked with analyzing multiple streams of data simultaneously, requiring increasing amounts of system memory. Storing large volumes of memory often requires a circuit board consisting of several smaller memory blocks which are difficult to fit into size-constrained applications. With Mercury’s space-saving DDR3 device, multiple blocks of memory are consolidated into a single device smaller than a quarter, providing a 59% space savings compared to traditional 4GB DDR3 memory. By using this smaller form factor device, system architects can take full advantage of the latest edge-processing modules, bringing AI-level functionality to the harshest environments.
Mercury’s memory products are designed and manufactured in U.S.-based Defense Microelectronics Activity (DMEA) trusted facilities, using only materials and components from highly scrutinized, trusted vendors. The Company’s secure and trusted supply chain is essential for ensuring the intended operation of customers’ mission-critical processing systems. (Source: ASD Network)
24 Jun 20. US Navy Doubles ‘Tech Bridges’ to Boost Collaboration. The Navy is establishing six new “Tech Bridges” to increase collaboration and information sharing between industry, academia, Naval labs and other military services.
The service began the effort last year under the Naval Information Warfare Center to develop and promote partnerships. The Navy began with five offices in September 2019 and added a sixth shortly after. The first six locations are based in: Charleston, South Carolina; Newport, Rhode Island; Keyport, Washington; San Diego; Orlando, Florida; and Crane, Indiana.
“What we’ve seen in those first months [and] in the last nine months is $45m obligated through programs that were identified through the tech bridges, through existing programs,” Cmdr. Sam Gray, director of the Tech Bridge effort, said during a call with reporters when the expansion of the initiative was announced.
The program added six new offices in Southern California and the East Coast including: Monterey, California; Ventura, California; Corona, California; Patuxent River, Maryland; Norfolk, Virginia; and Alexandria, Virginia.
Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition James “Hondo” Geurts said the focus of the effort continues to be on supporting sailors and Marines, increasing speed and learning from one another.
“We wanted to make sure we had an easy way to connect everybody up so we could accelerate our learning, connect … folks with ideas to solutions, and then folks with solutions onto the folks that could put those into use,” Geurts told reporters.
The tech bridges help the service solve problems by bringing in new ideas from companies, servicemembers and researchers, Geurts said. For example, there could be a new way of making a specific shipyard repair job easier or more efficient.
In the past, connecting a shipyard worker to a small business innovation research program at the Office of Naval Research has been a challenge, he said. “Just culturally, I wouldn’t expect those two communities to know how to communicate effectively to each other,” he added.
The tech bridges, however, offer a collaborative environment in a commercial business space, rather than on a military base, according to the service. The locations are in more easily accessible offices to foster collaboration.
The tech bridges could also improve situational awareness for the Navy. The service otherwise “may not know that an exoskeleton company somewhere in Utah … could solve a shipyard problem in Portsmouth,” Virginia, Geurts said. “This is really about exposing and leveraging opportunity.” (Source: glstrade.com/NDIA)
23 Jun 20. What is Low-Code and Could It Turbocharge Your Business? In the competitive world of application development, being first to market can be the difference between success and failure.
But with a global shortage of IT software developers, organisations often don’t have enough staff to meet their needs. Could low-code be the answer?
What is low-code?
A low-code development platform allows people to build applications using pre-made blocks of code, as opposed to writing all the code from scratch. This is in the form of a graphic interface that effectively lets users drag and drop these blocks. Taking this principle one step further is no-code, which, as the name suggests, requires no coding at all. While there are different variants along this spectrum, low-code tends to be tailored to professional developers so that they can work faster, while no-code is more suited for those with little to no development knowledge.
“So what low-code says is ‘stop solving the same kind of mundane problem that every other person has’ – we’ve solved all that for you,” says Steve Wood, chief product officer at low-code provider Boomi, which was acquired by Dell in 2010.
“The only problems you need to worry about are the ones that’re really unique or niche that are really specifically technically innovative.”
The concept of low-code isn’t new, with declarative visual tools first appearing around 25 years ago. But now they are a lot smarter, more intuitive and more widespread. Swathes of vendors, such as Mendex, OutSystems, as well as the likes of IBM, now offer varying low-code development platforms. Each is trying to secure a slice of a lucrative pie that is expected to be worth $53bn by 2024.
But is the hype justified, and is low-code right for your business? Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.
What are the pros of low-code?
The main appeal of low-code is the shorter development life cycles it offers. Where a traditional, or ‘high-code’, approach can often take more than a year to create an application, the same project could be done in months using low-code. “Where we see most customers land is in the sort of one to three to sometimes six-month time period to get stuff done, to kind of operationalise around this new change,” says Wood.Building apps from scratch is “often a lot heavier on the engineering”, he adds, which means less attention is put on the organisational change.
“This is usually a mess, which is why a lot of software projects fail because everybody’s too busy building and coding and developing that they forget [to ask] ‘does that represent how the business works?’”
Paul Maguire, SVP EMEA & APAC at low-code provider Appian, agrees, pointing out that when an application is developed using traditional coding methods, the result isn’t always what the business is expecting.
“Most organisations have a requirement for unique business applications that typically can’t be met by traditional IT development techniques,” says Maguire.
“There’s too many applications and it will take too long to develop them using traditional coding approaches, syntax approaches, whether that’s java or C, or any other language.”
Low-code is also seen as a solution – of sorts – to a global shortage of programmers and developers.
“Whereas a low-code environment allows you to build business applications directly and collaboratively with the business professionals,” says Maguire.
Extending the development process beyond IT can democratise workflows and give those on the operational side of the business more of an insight into the software development process.
“If you can give them the ability to create solutions, then what you end up with is something that’s far more powerful because it’s something that they really truly understand and also means that they now can be unleashed to create more innovation,” says Wood.
“It comes within the realms of a business that doesn’t have these elite SWAT team of professional developers on hand to code it. You have the people that are your employees, they show up for work every day.”
What are the cons of low-code?
For all the advantages of low-code, no solution is perfect for everyone’s requirements. One drawback is that users looking for a more bespoke application could be limited by the parameters of the low-code solution being used.In other words, low-code is well-suited to ‘solved problems’, in which the technical decision has already been made. However, Maguire disagrees that low-code can be limiting.
“We’re supporting customers in a wide array of functional and non-functional requirements, and I’m not aware of a situation where we’ve been working with customers where our capability can’t extend to support their needs,” he says.
Low-code has also faced criticisms over vendor lock-in, although some platforms are agnostic to this. With low-code platforms usually offered on a subscription basis, a business will also have to assess whether this represents a saving compared to hiring more developers.
Is low-code a security risk?
Creating applications at such speed has raised some fears around security. With multiple organisations using the same blocks of code to underpin their apps, would a vulnerability then threaten all of the organisations using it?In theory, yes. But as Wood points out, it’s “much more likely” that a developer writing code from scratch will accidentally create a security flaw.“And you won’t really know because the code platforms don’t really understand what you’re building,” he says.
Low-code also effectively outsources much of the security testing and compliance to the vendor, says Maguire, where it will be put under more stress tests than a business out on its own.
“You’ve got that security standards and reliability, robustness and scalability all inherent within the Appian platform,” he says.
And if a vulnerability pops up in a piece of code underpinning low-code, all customers benefit from a fix being rolled out, resulting in what Wood describes as “community based security”. “I think that makes it far more powerful because we can improve the performance of security, the scalability, the elasticity of your applications without you even touching them,” he says. “That’s just not the case with code. If a security vulnerability shows up for you, and you’ve coded your thing and then you now have to patch that security vulnerability, you have to understand how it impacts the app.”
Who is it right for?
Low-code has been adopted across different verticals, from financial services to insurance.“It is relevant to almost any industry, but that’s servicing both business to business but also business to consumer as well,” says Maguire.“And again, has that need to quickly build applications to support the unique ways their business runs.”
While smaller firms can benefit from low-code, it tends to be better suited to larger organisations. That’s in part because of its price, but also that larger organisations are more likely to require fast, agile development at scale. (Source: naval-technology.com)
23 Jun 20. RAF ‘exceeding expectations’ with swarming drone development. Progress on the UK Royal Air Force’s (RAF) projects to develop swarming drones are ‘exceeding expectations’, according to correspondence from Minister of State for Defence Baroness Goldie.
Responding to a written question on the progress of Project Mosquito, the Many Drones Make Light Work programme and other work to develop swarming UAV capabilities, Goldie said Project Mosquito had entered Phase 2 and that Many Drones Make Light Work had undertaken successful trials in March of this year.
The project to develop and deliver swarming drone capabilities for the UK is being headed by the RAF’s Rapid Capabilities Office. Commenting on the progress of the development effort, Goldie said: “The Royal Air Force’s swarming drones project continues to be developed by the Rapid Capabilities Office with progress during recent trials exceeding expectations in several areas.
“Following the successful first trials, 216 Squadron was reformed at RAF Waddington on 1 April 2020. They will take on the operating role for the RAF’s fleet of network-enabled drones.”
The MOD reformed 216 Squadron to little fanfare earlier this year, as the Ministry of Defence focused efforts on assisting in the response to the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. Amid the pandemic, the squadron was stood up with minimal manning. In April, when the squadron was reformed the RAF said it was assessing how Covid-19 would affect manning and development timelines.
Discussing the progress of the development efforts, Goldie said: “Project Mosquito is a technology demonstration being conducted in two phases. Phase 1 is complete, and the Ministry of Defence is currently evaluating the proposals for Phase 2. As Project Mosquito is a technology demonstrator, it is not anticipated that the project will result in an operational capability.
“The Many Drones Make Light Work project explores the technical feasibility and military use of a swarm of up to twenty small unmanned aircraft vehicles, operating under the control of one individual. The project is in its final phase, Phase 3, delivering a structured flight evaluation programme of this new capability with the successful first trials held in March 2020.”
The swarming drones are designed to support manned fighters such as the Eurofighter Typhoon or F-35, confusing air defences and allowing fighters to penetrate further into adversaries’ air space.
Assessment work on the plans is being carried out at RAF Waddington by 216 Squadron which is set to ‘take on the operating role’ of the fleet of network-enabled swarming drones.
Plans to develop the swarming drones match similar efforts by US Armed Forces and were announced last February by then Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson. Speaking at the
Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) Williamson said: “I have decided to use the Transformation Fund to develop swarm squadrons of network-enabled drones capable of confusing and overwhelming enemy air defences. We expect to see these ready to be deployed by the end of this year.” (Source: airforce-technology.com)
19 Jun 20. DARPA’s Squad X programme adds BAE Systems for AI integration. The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and Lockheed Martin have selected BAE Systems to lead integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous technologies into the agency’s Squad X programme, designed to link unmanned air and ground systems to US armed forces’ small ground units.
Prime contractor Lockheed Martin awarded BAE Systems’ FASTLabs research and development directorate a USD3.5m contract to integrate the company’s Mission Intelligence for Tactical Systems (MITS) programme, providing “advanced sensor fusion, artificial intelligence, and autonomy” technologies for the Squad X initiative, a BAE Systems’ statement said. The MITS system “fuses sensor data, constructs and shares battlefield awareness with its human squad mates, and provides tactical electronic and kinetic support to the squad as it manoeuvres and engages enemy positions,” the statement adds.
Developed under the Squad X Core Technologies portfolio, MITS technologies and other AI-enhanced applications will result in “increasing squads’ situational awareness, while autonomous systems allow squads to increase their battlespace and area of influence”, the statement noted.
“The idea of bringing a system of algorithms and software modules that can do … closed-loop, multiscale sensemaking and autonomy into the tactical sort of purview,” is the overall goal of the MITS programme, Eisenbies told Janes on 9 June.
“What we are really trying to do is help those [tactical] decision makers … to make confident, good decisions,” without being overburdened with the ever-increasing flood of battlefield data via multi-domain manned and unmanned sensor systems. (Source: Jane’s)
18 Jun 20. Vertical Aerospace Develops Its Next Generation Seraph eVTOL Aircraft With Dassault Systemes’ 3DEXPERIENCE Cloud.
- UK-based aviation industry innovator is using the 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud to manage the complex development of its third generation prototype
- “Reinvent the Sky” industry solution experience will improve collaboration across design, engineering, testing and manufacturing teams
- 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud enables Vertical Aerospace to maintain business continuity while teams work remotely
Dassault Systèmes (Paris:DSY) (Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA) today announced that Vertical Aerospace, a UK-based aviation industry innovator aiming to revolutionize how people fly by making air travel personal, on demand and carbon-free, is using the 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud to develop their third all-electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.
Vertical Aerospace will use the “Reinvent the Sky” industry solution experience based on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud to manage the complex development of the eVTOL aircraft prototype by its rapidly growing team of 100 engineers and technical experts, even when working remotely. The 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud unifies design, engineering, testing and manufacturing disciplines across the enterprise in one collaborative digital environment to meet needs ranging from requirements through to end design and quality.
“At Vertical Aerospace we were fortunate to have moved onto the 3DEXPERIENCE platform on cloud before we were remote working,” said Owen Thompson Cheel, Flight Systems IPT Lead, Vertical Aerospace. “The team has all they need to work from home and by using the platform on cloud we have been able to continue working with virtually no difference in performance. It’s an excellent case for working on the cloud, and the 3DEXPERIENCE platform has allowed us to remain agile and secure without loss of capability, effectively maintaining business continuity.”
In 2019, Vertical Aerospace released flight footage of their latest eVTOL aircraft. The Seraph can carry 250 kilograms – the equivalent of three passengers – and can fly at speeds up to 80 kph (50 mph). The complexity of the third generation eVTOL required advanced functionalities for electrical systems, change management, regulations and compliance, as well as greater collaboration among teams. Following a competitive evaluation, Vertical Aerospace selected the 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud to support its vision of decarbonizing air travel with proven technology in the aviation, energy and automotive industries.
“Disruptive innovators like Vertical Aerospace are using the 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud to advance their compelling vision for sustainable mobility and invent new industries,” said David Ziegler, Vice President, Aerospace & Defense Industry, Dassault Systèmes. “As businesses today must completely rethink the way they work, the 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud offers the largest portfolio of applications for product design and engineering from anywhere, with a high level of performance and secure, efficient access to data.” (Source: ASD Network)
22 Jun 20. Qualcomm Launches World’s First 5G and AI-Enabled Robotics Platform. Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. has announced the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform – the Company’s most advanced, integrated, comprehensive offering designed specifically for robotics. Building on the successful Qualcomm Robotics RB3 platform and its broad adoption in a wide array of robotics and drone products available today, the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform is comprised of an extensive set of hardware, software and development tools.
The Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform is the first of its kind to bring together the Company’s deep expertise in 5G and AI to empower developers and manufacturers to create the next generation of high-compute, low-power robots and drones for the consumer, enterprise, defense, industrial and professional service sectors – and the comprehensive Qualcomm Robotics RB5 Development Kit helps ensure developers have the customization and flexibility they need to make their visions a commercial reality.
To date, Qualcomm Technologies has engaged many leading companies that have endorsed the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform, including 20+ early adopters in the process of evaluating the platform (see endorsement quotes below). Additionally, 30+ ecosystem players are developing necessary hardware and software to enable various robotics applications; these include the following companies: 96Boards, Acontis, ADLINK, AirMap, AirServe, Airtonomy, AlwaysAI, Augmented Pixels, Autocore, Autoware Foundation, Canonical, DeepEdge.ai, DreamVu, Dronecode, Fractal.ai, GlobalEdge, Innominds Software, InOrbit, Intel RealSense, Lantronix, Linaro, LiteOn, Kudan, ModalAI, Nod, Open Robotics, Panasonic, PathPartners, Pilot.AI, Shoreline IoT, SLAMCORE, TDK, Thundercomm, and Tier IV.
The platform’s Qualcomm QRB5165 processor, customized for robotics applications, offers a powerful heterogeneous computing architecture coupled with the leading fifth-generation Qualcomm AI Engine delivering 15 Tera Operations Per Second (TOPS) of AI performance for running complex AI and deep learning workloads. The processor also offers incredible machine learning (ML) inferencing at the edge under restricted power budgets using the new Qualcomm Hexagon Tensor Accelerator (HTA), a powerful image signal processor (ISP) with support for seven concurrent cameras, and a dedicated computer vision engine for enhanced video analytics (EVA). With support for 4G and 5G connectivity speeds via a companion module, the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform helps pave the way for the proliferation of 5G in robotics and intelligent systems.
With the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform and the Qualcomm QRB5165 processor, the Company enables various design offerings including off-the-shelf system-on-module solutions and flexible chip-on-board designs. The solution is available in multiple options, including commercial and industrial-grade temperature ranges and an option for extended lifecycle until 2029.
“Qualcomm Technologies is the world’s leading wireless technology innovator with a strong foundation in AI, mobile computing and connectivity. By applying its deep-rooted mobile systems expertise to the robotics industry, Qualcomm Technologies is helping to enable the creation of more powerful, secure, and intelligent robots than ever before,” said Dev Singh, senior director, business development and head of autonomous robotics, drones and intelligent machines, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “With the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform, Qualcomm Technologies will help accelerate growth in a wide array of robotics segments such as autonomous mobile robots (AMR), delivery, inspection, inventory, industrial, collaborative robots and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), enabling Industry 4.0 robotics use cases, and laying the foundation for the UAV Traffic Management (UTM) space.”
To enable the next generation of robotics solutions and designs, Qualcomm Technologies has entered into a strategic collaboration with TDK to further enhance the capabilities of the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform. TDK has added their latest state of the art sensor technologies for enhanced robotics applications as part of the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform and they have been instrumental in providing world class sensor solutions and motor control hardware.
The Qualcomm Robotics RB5 Development Kit is comprehensive, customizable and easy-to-use. Developers have flexible software capabilities, with the platform offering support for Linux, Ubuntu and Robot Operating System (ROS) 2.0, as well as pre-integrated drivers for various cameras, sensors and 5G connectivity. It also provides support for OpenCL, OpenGLES and OpenCV. Additionally, the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 Development Kit includes support for the Intel RealSense Depth Camera D435i and Panasonic TOF Camera to provide leading depth-sensing capabilities. Our strategic collaboration with TDK has been integral in enabling our Qualcomm RB5 Robotics Development Kit with TDK’s 6-axis, high performance ICM-42688-P IMU, accompanied by a ICP-10111 barometric pressure and a T5818 Digital (PDM) bottom port microphone. TDK also enables the development kit with their ultrasonic Time-Of-Flight CH101 and CH201 solutions, in addition to their embedded motor control (HVC4223F) and high performance IMU with built-in redundancy (IIM-46220). Additional technologies by TDK include Hall effect and temperature sensors and validated and verified software algorithms dedicated to robotic applications. Finally, the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 Development Kit utilizes 96Boards Consumer Edition Specification which helps offer versatility for creating innovative proof-of-concepts and rapid prototyping.
Key Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform technical features include:
- Powerful Heterogeneous Computing Capabilities: For high power computing performance, the Qualcomm QRB5165 processor of Qualcomm RB5 Platform integrates Octa Core Qualcomm Kryo 585 CPU, powerful Qualcomm Adreno 650 GPU, multiple DSPs (compute, audio and sensor) and ISPs. It also contains a dedicated, powerful AI engine, which includes the Hexagon Tensor Accelerator, and dedicated computer vision hardware block (Enhanced Video Analytics engine)
- 5th Generation Qualcomm AI Engine: New dedicated Hexagon Tensor Accelerator is based on the leading fifth-generation Qualcomm Artificial Intelligence Engine, delivering a whopping 15 TOPS of AI performance with high AI and ML inferencing.
- Advanced Imaging Capability: Qualcomm Spectra 480 Image Signal Processor (ISP) captures fast, professional-quality photos and videos, and can process 2 Gigapixels per second. This Gigapixel speed supports superior camera features, including Dolby Vision video capture, 8K video recording (at 30 FPS) and 200-megapixel photos, and simultaneously captures 4K HDR video (at 120 FPS) and 64 MP photos with zero shutter lag. The hardware accelerator utilizes the Engine for Video Analytics (EVA) to handle all Computer Vision (CV) tasks. Additional ISP features include HEIF photo capture, slow motion video capture, and advanced video capture formats (including Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+, HEVC and HLG). Seven concurrent cameras facilitate simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), object detection and classification, autonomous navigation and path planning to efficiently and safely perform tasks in complex indoor and outdoor settings.
- Security Support: The Qualcomm Secure Processing Unit is designed to offer robust security without compromising power. The Qualcomm Secure Processing Unit includes secure boot, cryptographic accelerators, Qualcomm Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) and camera security and is FIPS 140-2 certified. Additional security features include key provisioning security, malware protection, Qualcomm Content Protection, Qualcomm Mobile Security, Qualcomm Processor Security, and secure token to support remote attestation and secure device provisioning. For advanced AI and ML security, the platform supports Biometric Authentication (including fingerprint, iris, voice, and face).
- Connectivity: The Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform supports long-range Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.1, and 4G and 5G, providing the highest level of connectivity available.
Customer and Partner Endorsements for Qualcomm Technologies’ Robotics Solutions:
“We are very excited to support the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform as the latest addition to the 96Boards.AI initiative,” said Dr. Yang Zhang, director, 96Boards. “Qualcomm Robotics RB5 featuring QRB5165 Robotics Processor, is the first 96Boards compliant platform offering 5G, AI, Heterogeneous Computing, Computer Vision Engine, Advanced ISP Multi-Camera Concurrency for a large range of applications. With our partners, we believe this product will revolutionize the robotic and drone market as we know today. We are pleased to see our member Qualcomm Technologies continue to deliver its commitment to the wider developer ecosystem, with a clear path for production.”
“EtherCAT is a simple, robust, affordable, ethernet-based industrial protocol with integrated safety that delivers exceptional performance in flexible topologies making it ideal for industrial robotics applications,” said Jon Waters, president and general manager, Acontis. “We are delighted to see Qualcomm Technologies recognize the importance of EtherCAT for robotics applications and making it available as part of the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 Platform. We are excited to collaborate with Qualcomm Technologies to proliferate EtherCAT adoption across various robotics applications.”
“ADLINK is very pleased to support the launch of Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform. As a global leader in edge computing, ADLINK is committed to serving our customers across industries with cutting-edge technologies in AI, machine vision and Industrial IoT,” said Henry Hu, global business development director, ADLINK TECHNOLOGY INC. “We are excited to be one of the early adopters to embark on a series of new developments based on Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform. By harnessing the power of the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform’s Qualcomm AI Engine and 5G connectivity, ADLINK will be able to significantly leverage our deep expertise in heterogeneous computing and industry-grade ruggedness, and ultimately enable a broad range of next-generation applications such as autonomous mobile robots, industrial robots, and unmanned aerial vehicles.”
“Today’s Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform builds on our continued work with Qualcomm Technologies to help developers easily build intelligent robotics functions using AWS cloud services,” said Roger Barga, general manager, robotics and automation services, Amazon Web Services, Inc. “Our collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies is designed to give robotics developers a complete cloud to edge solution, accelerating development, providing intelligence out of the box, and easing robotic lifecycle management.”
“AutoCore.ai is pleased to announce its support of the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform product launch. AutoCore specializes in functional safety real time middleware and heterogeneous computing platform design. We are excited to enable AutoCore’s core offering onto the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform, leveraging the rich feature sets, as well as its flexibility and power efficiency to benefit AutoCore’s target customers from the industrial automation, robotics and AGV market,” says Cheng Chen, chief technology officer, AutoCore.
“Autoware Foundation is also pleased to support Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform launch. Autoware Foundation is a non-profit organization founded to develop, support and promote autonomous system technology. Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform fits very well with the Autoware.io heterogeneous computing platform strategy,” says Shinpei Kato, chairman, Autoware Foundation.
“Today’s global events have brought the value of automation and robotics sharply into focus, so it’s exciting to see Qualcomm Technologies address such a broad array of robotics categories and applications with its enhanced platform, which powers the world’s largest fleet of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) operating in indoor public spaces through its BrainOS software technology. Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform will provide a big innovation boost to the industry at large, while enhancing San Diego’s reputation as a global hub for AI and robotics,” says Dr. Jean Baptiste Passot, vice president, platform and AI, San Diego-based Brain Corp.
“The new Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform is a game changer for drone and autonomous robotics, as its machine learning accelerators will allow adopters to replace manual inputs with AI,” says Lorenz Meier, chief executive officer, Auterion and chairman, Dronecode.
“We believe the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform will offer a critical advantage for our next-generation unmanned systems,” says, Roger Wells, vice president and general manager, unmanned systems and integrated solutions, FLIR.”
“LG is evaluating the Qualcomm Robotics RB3/RB5 Platform, and plans to introduce next-generation robotic products based on the platform next year,” says LG Electronics Inc.
“As the leading e-commerce platform for services, Meituan has invested in logistics and autonomous delivery for years and kept exploring the possibilities of industry applications with the innovations such as drones and driverless delivery vehicles. Meituan is expecting to cooperate with Qualcomm Technologies in the future to explore the cutting-edge use cases in the industry by implementing the capabilities of Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform in the areas including computing, AI, security and connectivity to deliver innovative services to our customers,” says Meituan Dianping.
“The incredible amount of AI processing and 5G capabilities built into the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform will enable new autonomous drone experiences, such as navigating quickly through tight spaces while mapping the environment for objects of interest. We look forward to working with Qualcomm Technologies and integrating the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform to build off of our existing work with the Defense Innovation Unit to expand the capabilities of our sUAS platforms,” says Chad Sweet, chief executive officer, ModalAI.
“The new Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform from Qualcomm Technologies is a dream chipset come true. The platform integrates key capabilities such as high-performance heterogeneous computing, 5G/LTE, the Qualcomm AI Engine for on-device inferencing and computer vision, hi-fidelity sensor processing for perception, odometry for localization, mapping, navigation, strong security, and Wi-Fi connectivity, all required for NXT Robotics’ two autonomous AI driven security patrol and public safety vehicles called Maverick and Scorpion. The Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform allows us to leverage flexible design options for the development and commercialization of our RobotogoAI autonomous platform allowing us to rapidly move from new feature prototype to full commercialization,” says Darin Andersen, chief executive officer, cofounder, NXT Robotics Corp.
“Open Robotics is the hub of a global community, creating and applying open software and hardware platforms for robotics. In our work we aim to lower the barrier to entry into the field for students, researchers, application developers, and entrepreneurs alike. So I’m excited to see the release of the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform, which will help to spur yet more innovation in robotics across a variety of application domains,” says Brian Gerkey, chief executive officer, Open Robotics.
“We have long-standing deep cooperation with Qualcomm Technologies based on Qualcomm Robotics RB3 platform to provide our customers with cutting-edge products. The newly launched Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform will bring the industry with technology offerings including the improved power-efficiency, heterogeneous computing, AI, machine learning and 5G capabilities. OrionStar is looking forward to expanding our collaborations to the new Qualcomm Robotic RB5 platform to deliver the unparalleled robotic products and extreme interactive experiences,” says Bruce Wang, chief strategy officer, OrionStar.
“5G and AI technologies have demonstrated its powerful driving force as industry transitions to a new era. We are glad to become one of the first in the industry to adopt the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform. Siasun works closely with Qualcomm Technologies, with the powerful computing capability of up to 15 TOPS based on the 5th generation Qualcomm AI Engine and other advanced features, Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform will give Siasun Pongbot ping-pong robot system more possibilities including light-weight mobility, remote real-time interaction of multiple devices, real-time AI computing and feedback on cloud,” says Luo Yang, vice president, Siasun.
“We are excited about the promise that the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform holds for the small Unmanned Air Vehicle (sUAV) industry. As the leading U.S. manufacturer of autonomous drones, we leverage breakthrough computer vision and AI to create the world’s most intelligent flying machines. The cutting edge 4G/LTE, 5G, heterogeneous compute, AI, camera, and security technologies integrated into the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform will enable us to create the next generation autonomous drones,” Abe Bachrach, chief technology officer, co-founder, Skydio, Inc.
“SoftBank Robotics has been working in deep cooperation with Qualcomm Technologies. Our R&D will leverage the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform, using its power-efficient and high-end wireless connectivity features to empower our robotics roadmap.” says Xavier Lacherade, chief operating officer, SoftBank Robotics Europe.
“We are proud that we are an integral partner of the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform launch and strategy,” said Scott Deutsch, general manager and vice president, worldwide sales and marketing, InvenSense, a TDK group company. “TDK’s advanced, integrated, and comprehensive robotic sensor offerings are designed specifically for the next generation low-power, high performance sensing robots and are critical to the needs of today’s OEM development teams.”
“Thundercomm is a world-leading IoT product and solution provider. With our years’ experience and expertise in the fields of AI and IoT, we can provide proven end to end solutions to accelerate customers’ development period and business cycle,” says Hiro Cai, chief executive officer, Thundercomm. “Together with Qualcomm Technologies, we have empowered our customers to design and manufacture intelligent robots in different industries. Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform, as an advanced 5G and AI-based robotics platform, meets the high demand of industry transformation, and promotes industrial upgrading. We are excited to cooperate with Qualcomm Technologies to create a wide array of robotics products for next generation.”
“As a leading autonomous driving software developer and system integrator of Autoware, the leading open source AD software, Tier IV is very excited at the prospect of working with Qualcomm Technologies and their customers to ramp up the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform-based solutions targeting the autonomous vehicle market. The high performance, optimized architecture and extensive processing capabilities will enable the next generation of power and cost optimized AV platforms running Autoware and enable broader availability of AD technology to benefit a wide range of applications and services,” says Dr. Kazuya Takeda, representative director, Tier IV, Inc.
Commercial products based on the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform are expected to be available in 2020. (Source: UAS VISION)
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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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