UAV / UCAV / LAR (robotit) Uutiset ja jutut

[ctg]

A new drone designed by Russian researchers is the hulk of the quadcopter world - and can carry a 400-pound (181-kg) payload and fly for up to eight hours.

The multi-rotor, autonomous drone, called SKYF, was designed with logistics and agribusinesses companies in mind to create a air freight platform to help business carry out tasks.

The vertical take-off and landing drone has applications in areas such as the aerial application of pesticides and fertilizers, seed planting for forest restoration and emergency situations for food and medicine delivery.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5115609/Russia-unveils-SKYF-heavy-lift-drones.html

Researchers at Harvard’s Wyss Institute and MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) announced today (Nov. 27) that they’ve created robotic “muscles” that can lift up to 1,000 times their own weight. The simple objects are constructed out of metal or plastic “skeletons” that are covered in either a liquid or air, and then sealed in plastic or fabric “skins.” The muscle pulls taught when a vacuum is created inside the skin, and goes slack when the vacuum is released. By folding the skeletons in different ways, the vacuum can pull the muscle in different directions.

https://qz.com/1139028/mit-and-harv...es-that-can-lift-1000-times-their-own-weight/

 

[ctg]

A US $5,000 fee may sound like a steep price to pay for most ordinary deliveries. But it’s a price the U.S. Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory would gladly pay for a disposable glider drone that could deliver 320 kilograms (700 pounds) of supplies to ground troops at remote outposts or in the middle of a warzone. Earlier this month, the Marines awarded a contract to kickstart the second phase of flight testing for such battlefield delivery drones.

The recent contract given to the Yates Electrospace Corporation aims for flight tests to refine the design and construction of the company’s “Silent Arrow” glider drones that resemble sleek missiles with extendable wings.

The ultimate goal of the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory’s TACtical Air Delivery (TACAD) program is to develop a disposable glider drone that can deliver the 320-kilogram payload to within 45 meters of any given target site on Earth—and for a price that could make military resupply costs at least 10 times cheaper.

“In some cases, Silent Arrow may be replacing resupply by ground vehicle convoy, and in some cases by parachute drop,” says Chip Yates, founder and CEO of the Yates Electrospace Corporation. “We have seen a number of drone delivery concepts and ideas that use quad-rotors limited to less than 10 pounds [4.5 kilograms] of payload, but have not encountered any other legitimate, funded air delivery capability that achieves this level of performance for the price point of Silent Arrow.”

https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk...-test-flights-for-battlefield-delivery-drones

 

[ctg]

Some people look forward to the day when robots have taken over all our jobs and given us an economy where we can while our days away on leisure activities. But if your idea of play is drone racing, you may be out of luck if this AI pilot for high-speed racing drones has anything to say about it.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab has been working for the past two years to develop the algorithms needed to let high-performance UAVs navigate typical drone racing obstacles, and from the look of the tests in the video below, they’ve made a lot of progress. The system is vision based, with the AI drones equipped with wide-field cameras looking both forward and down. The indoor test course has seemingly random floor tiles scattered around, which we guess provide some kind of waypoints for the drones. A previous video details a little about the architecture, and it seems the drones are doing the computer vision on-board, which we find pretty impressive.

Despite the program being bankrolled by Google, we’re sure no evil will come of this, and that we’ll be in no danger of being chased down by swarms of high-speed flying killbots anytime soon. For now we can take solace in the fact that JPL’s algorithms still can’t beat an elite human pilot like [Ken Loo], who bested the bots overall. But alarmingly, the human did no better than the bots on his first lap, which suggests that once the AI gets a little creativity and intuition like that needed to best a Go champion, [Ken] might need to find another line of work.

https://hackaday.com/2017/11/29/high-speed-drones-use-ai-to-spoil-the-fun/

 

[ctg]

Spoiler: Tulevaisuus - lol

Spoiler

This talk presents our experimental results related to human-robot trust involving more than 2000 paid subjects exploring topics such as how and why people trust a robot too much and how broken trust in a robot might be repaired. From our perspective, a person trusts a robot when they rely on and accept the risks associated with a robot’s actions or data.

Our research has focused on the development of a formal conceptualization of human-robot trust that is not tied to a particular problem or situation. This has allowed us to create algorithms for recognizing which situations demand trust, provided insight into how to repair broken trust, and affords a means for bootstrapping one’s evaluation of trust in a new person or new robot.

This talk presents our results using these techniques as well as our larger computational framework for representing and reasoning about trust. Our framework draws heavily from game theory and social exchange theories. We present results from this work and an ongoing related project examining social norms in terms of social and moral norm learning.

https://www.ri.cmu.edu/ri-seminar-series/

 

[ctg]

BAE Systems and The University of Manchester have developed and tested a unique unmanned aerial vehicle designed to test an innovative flight control technology that could enable future aircraft to maneuver without the use of control surfaces – ailerons, flaps or tails. Instead, supersonic air streams are blown from the jet engine over the trailing edge and nozzle to control the flight.

http://defense-update.com/20171214_magma_test.html

 

[ctg]

Spoiler: Robotti kävelijä (ihmiselle)

http://www.rainbow-robotics.com/

Spoiler: Kävelijä oppii autonomisesti katastrofeista ja korjaa tilanteen, vaikka raaja puuttuisi.

https://arxiv.org/abs/1610.04213

Spoiler: Anymal demoaa kävelijää "pelastus tilanteessa"

https://www.nccr-robotics.ch/

 

[ctg]

https://www.arl.army.mil/www/default.cfm?article=2926

 

[ctg]

Boeing on Tuesday unveiled its entrant into the U.S. Navy’s MQ-25 tanker drone competition, a prototype wing-body-tail aircraft ready to begin tests this month.

So far, Boeing has released one photo of the aircraft facing head-on to the camera, proving that the company has fabricated a prototype and that — as expected — it has moved away from the flying wing design it considered putting forward to the precursor of the MQ-25 program, when the Navy prioritized strike and ISR capabilities for its first carrier-based drone.

“It’s an aircraft with the mission in mind, and we felt confident that the wing-body-tail design was the best for the refueling mission,” said Boeing spokeswoman Didi VanNierop, who added that the company incorporated lessons from its Phantom Ray unmanned demonstrator and other Boeing unmanned aerial systems.

https://www.defensenews.com/air/2017/12/19/boeing-offers-sneak-peek-of-mq-25-tanker-drone

 

[ctg]

On the recent visit of HMS Ocean at the port of Haifa, the flagship of the Royal Navy participated in a mine warfare exercise at the Haifa Bay, where Israeli Seagull Unmanned Surface Vessels (USV) acted as pathfinders for the British amphibious support helicopter carrier, sailing in simulated mine-infested waters. The mission was part of a joint exercise between the Israeli Navy and the British Royal Navy in the Haifa Bay. HMS OCEAN has returned to her base-port in HMNB Devonport after completing her final deployment prior to decommissioning in 2018.

During the exercise, the Seagull performed a Mine Counter Measure (MCM) mission, scanning and charting a secure path for HMS Ocean. Once encountering mine-like-objects, the Seagull alerted HMS Ocean to avoid them, thus securing its safe route. The Seagull performed the mission while being remotely operated from a Mission Control Station onshore. Developed by Elbit Systems, the Seagull is a modular USV that can be configured for a variety of naval missions, including mine countermeasures and anti-submarine warfare. In addition to the Israel Navy, Seagull is undergoing evaluations by a number of foreign navies.

Linkki

 

[kertakenttään]

http://www.defence24.com/717383,polish-armed-forces-take-delivery-of-warmate-loitering-munitions

"PLN 100 million order cost is associated with procurement of 100 packages (1000 units). " 100 miljoonaa zlotya on n. 25M€.

Täytyy sanoa, että hieman kutkuttais idea meillekin tuollaisesti tappajadroonista...

 

[ctg]

On September 21, 2017, just as dusk fell, Vyacheslav Tantashov launched his DJI Phantom 4 drone from a spot near Dyker Beach Park in Brooklyn, just southeast of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. Tantashov wanted to see some spectacular views, he said, and he flew the drone nearly 280 feet up in the air and well out of his line of sight. The drone hovered over the shipping channel near Hoffman Island, some 2.5 miles from the launch site. Tantashov maneuvered the craft a bit, watching the images displayed on his Samsung tablet, and then punched the “return to home” button. The drone, which had a rapidly dying battery, made a beeline back toward the launch site.

But it never arrived. After waiting 30 minutes, Tantashov assumed there had been a mechanical malfunction and that the drone had fallen into the water. He returned home.

On September 28, Tantashov received a call at work. It was an investigator from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), calling to asking if Tantashov was the owner of a Phantom 4 drone. He was, he said, though he had lost it recently near the Verrazano Bridge.

Would Tantashov be surprised to learn, the investigator asked, that his drone had not crashed into the water? And that it had instead slammed into the main rotor of a US Army-operated Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter that was patrolling for the UN General Assembly in Manhattan? And that it had put a 1.5-inch dent in said rotor and led to the helicopter diverting back to its New Jersey base?

Linkki

 

[ctg]

It was the 1970s, the Cold War was in full swing, and the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency’s Office of Research and Development had developed a miniaturized listening device. But they didn’t have a good way to maneuver the device into place without raising suspicions.

After scrapping the idea of a mechanical bumblebee, CIA engineers prototyped a dragonfly to carry the bug. Dubbed the Insectothopter, the bug-carrying bug was the agency’s first insect-size unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), and it seemed to show potential. Under ideal conditions, it had a range of 200 meters and a flight time of 60 seconds.

Linkki

 

[ctg]

Naval Air Systems Command has awarded Northrop Grumman a contract to acquire an initial production of three MQ-4C Triton unmanned aerial aircraft.

The terms of the deal, announced Thursday by the Department of Defense, come under a $255.3 million a fixed-price-incentive contract, which is a modification to a previously awarded contract.

A fixed-price-incentive contract uses a formula that determines the costs accumulated by Northrop Grumman and the final price the U.S. Navy will pay for the product, which may or may not be higher or lower than the original negotiated contract award.

With the contract in full swing, Northrop Grumman will provide three MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft, which includes trade studies and tooling, in support of the Persistent Maritime Unmanned Aircraft Systems Program Office at Naval Air Station Patuxent in St. Mary's County, Md., where Naval Air Systems Command is headquartered.

The MQ-4C Triton is a derivative of the RQ-4 Global Hawk surveillance unmanned aerial vehicle.

The Triton has a range of over 9,000 miles and can hover for up to 24 hours before needing to refuel.

Triton is designed as a sensor platform for high-altitude, long-endurance surveillance missions over ocean and coastal areas, deploying its maritime radar, electro-optical and infrared cameras, communications relays and electronic support measures systems.

The Navy plans to use the Triton alongside the P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft as the Navy's primary long-range aerial intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platform.

Navy officials have previously said they plan to purchase 68 Tritons as part of the drone fleet.

Work on the contract will be performed in multiple U.S. states, as well as Canada, and is expected to be completed by December 2021.

The total contract amount will be obligated to Northrop Grumman at the time of award contract, and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

In November, Northrop Grumman delivered the first operational MQ-4C Trition aircraft to the U.S. Navy facility at Point Mugu.

Linkki

 

[ctg]

Exclusive A British drone collision study used as evidence for the government’s flagship drone pilot registration law found UAVs pose less of a risk to airliners than government officials and trade unions have claimed.

The study, which the government refused to reveal in full despite being asked by industry and news media alike, is the key piece of supposedly scientific evidence backing its proposed Drone Bill.

That Parliamentary bill is due to be published in spring this year. It will create new criminal offences targeted at fliers of drones that weigh more than 250g who fail to register with the government and pass mandatory safety tests before using their craft. The risks caused by drones to manned aircraft were allegedly quantified by the study. The Register has obtained a redacted copy of the study and compared the public statements from its sponsors with what the research actually states.

A press release summary of the drone collision study, first published when the government revealed its registration plans last year, was used by airline pilots’ trade union BALPA as evidence of a “proven drone collision threat”.

However, as is evident from the full study, the only windscreen that was penetrated was penetrated by “components” in pre-testing. The photo appears to be a still from a series - beginning on p52 of the redacted study – showing a lighter drone impacting, and failing to penetrate, the window.

In reality, the full study – carried out on behalf of the government by defence R&D company Qinetiq and testing firm Natural Impacts – found that for airliners, the risk posed was far less alarming than both the union and the Department for Transport had claimed. Instead of penetrating cockpit windows, rigorous tests of drones launched against Airbus A320 windscreen panes, fitted to a testbed cockpit, found that drone-airliner collisions will crack but not penetrate such windows.

The Airbus A320 series, comprising the A318, A319, A320 and A321 aircraft, is one of the most widely-used airliner families in the world.

When it announced the drone registration scheme (PDF, 65 pages) the government said: “For airliners, the test results are more reassuring - only a much heavier drone of above around 2kg in weight would cause critical damage and only when airliners fly at higher speeds.”

BALPA was explicitly involved with the study “to assure safety by influencing requirements such as minimum design and operational standards for [remotely piloted air systems, i.e. drones].”

A trade union spokeswoman told us: “We stand by the characterisation we made at the time of the report’s publication. Drones pose a huge potential risk to aviation safety if not flown sensibly.”

The Department for Transport had not replied to us by the time of publication. We will update this article with their response when it gets to us.

Linkki

 

[DM]

http://www.defence24.com/717383,polish-armed-forces-take-delivery-of-warmate-loitering-munitions

"PLN 100 million order cost is associated with procurement of 100 packages (1000 units). " 100 miljoonaa zlotya on n. 25M€.

Täytyy sanoa, että hieman kutkuttais idea meillekin tuollaisesti tappajadroonista...

Mukana tuossa heti. Tuo korvaisi menetettyä miinakauhuelementtiä ja ihan eri hinnalla kuin isot asejärjestelmät. Tokihan siitä tulisi drone-hillomisvääntö, mutta sehän tulee joka tapauksessa. Kaikille aseille ja järjestelmille.

 

[ctg]

Tired: multi-rotor copters and fixed-wing drones. Wired: flying robots that move like living animals, are crafted of next-generation materials, and draw their power not from batteries but energy beamed from nearby aircraft.

On Wednesday, the the Defense Enterprise Science Initiative, or DESI, announced a competition for basic science grants to build “new paradigms for autonomous flight, with a focus on highly-maneuverable platforms and algorithms for flight control and decision making.” An accompanying Broad Agency Announcement gets more specific: basically, they’re looking for bat-like drones that can be powered with directed-energy beams.

“The biological study of agile organisms such as bats and flying insects has yielded new insights into complex flight kinematics of systems with a large number of degrees of freedom, and the use of multi-functional flight surface materials,” the announcement reads. The Air Force believes that more and more naturalistic design — coupled with more powerful and smaller sensors to form a better picture of the outside world — should yield “significant improvements in maneuverability, survivability and stealth over traditional quadcopter or fixed wing designs.

Linkki

 

[ctg]

Vau. Voisiko drone parvella tehdä valemaalin?

 

[SJ]

Vau. Voisiko drone parvella tehdä valemaalin?

Itsellä kävi mielessä, että mitenkäs jos tuollaiset ladattaisiin vaikka silpulla ja tarvittaessa omat hävittäjät voisivat vilahtaa noiden tuottaman silppupilven sekaan? Taitaisi mennä turhan monimutkaiseksi ja tuo parvi olisi kuitenkin liian staattinen, pysyäkseen suihkuhävittäjien mukana.

Mikä sitten mahtaisi olla vihollisen rynnäkkökoneiden reaktio, jos tuollainen parvi ilmaantuisi heidän lentoreitilleen, sitä en tiedä.

 

[ctg]

Ajattelin laivaa taikka isompaa kohdetta, joka mahdollisesti tarvitsee valemaali verhon. Jos ei soihtua taikka silppua, niin käyttäjä voi ripustaa parveen myös joukon elso lähettimiä muodostamaan paremman valemaalin.

 

[SJ]

Ajattelin laivaa taikka isompaa kohdetta, joka mahdollisesti tarvitsee valemaali verhon. Jos ei soihtua taikka silppua, niin käyttäjä voi ripustaa parveen myös joukon elso lähettimiä muodostamaan paremman valemaalin.

Laivoilla tuo voisi itseasiassa ollakin ihan kätevä idea. Noissa silppu/soihtu heitteissä on se vika, että ne eivät toimi kovin kauaa ja sittenkin ongelmana on, että saadaanko ne sopivaan paikkaan suhteessa laivaan. Puhumattakaan siitä, että miten saataisiin suojattua esim. saatettavia kauppalaivoja. Drone parvilla homma voisi onnistua.