First Airfoil Profile of In-Flight Bird Inspiring MAV Concepts

AFRL is looking to natural flyers (such as this peregrine falcon, shown with an instrumentation pack) for insight into increased flight agility for future micro air vehicles.

by Shelly Rich
Eglin AFB FL (AFNS) Feb 10, 2010
In an attempt to unlock some of the secrets enabling birds to achieve agile flight, Air Force Research Laboratory is funding the efforts of researchers at the United Kingdom's Oxford University to quantify the flight performance of large birds.

In close partnership with its European Office of Aerospace Research and Development, AFRL is looking to natural flyers for inspiration and insight towards increased flight agility for future micro air vehicle concepts. What began as an interesting foray into mounting cameras on large birds in order to observe various aspects of avian flight has become an active area of research for AFRL.

The advent of micro cameras and remote connection/communications technology has allowed researchers to place wireless camera packs on birds to observe various in-flight features. Initial observations of an eagle's wing showed deployment of the bird's "covert feathers" during certain maneuvers, a natural mechanism similar to that of an aircraft's deployment of leading-edge slats.

Most remarkable about this observed, seemingly innate response is that it happened so quickly and only under certain flight conditions. Also witnessed during the eagle's flight were wing morphing (or bending) for flight control, head movement in coordination with turns, and various other occurrences.

As part of this effort, researchers with Oxford's Animal Behaviour Research Group used high-speed cameras in conjunction with stereo-vision cameras to capture the airfoil shape of a bird in free flight.

The research activity involved training a falcon to fly from its handler and down an instrumented corridor. At some point during this flight, six cameras captured simultaneous images of the upper and lower surfaces of the bird's wing. The researchers then used stereo-vision analysis techniques to derive a three-dimensional mapping of the wing from the images.

This resulted in the first-ever measurement of a live bird's wing airfoil profile while in unrestrained flight. This data will enable engineers to study not only the shape of the bird's wing but also the morphing that occurs during maneuvers.

The primary objective of this work is to gain knowledge of natural flight in order to engineer the MAV concepts of tomorrow. With flight agility being a key enabler for any future MAV system, the need to adequately characterize aerodynamics and flight mechanics is crucial for AFRL strategic goals concerning "ubiquitous swarming sensors and shooters."

EU ministers call for common electric car strategy
by Staff Writers
San Sebastian, Spain (AFP) Feb 9, 2010
EU industry ministers on Tuesday pressed the European Commission to establish a common strategy to develop electric cars.

Ministers and industry representatives discussed the future of electric vehicles, which are seen as both an environmental necessity and an opportunity for economic growth, at an informal meeting in San Sebastian, northern Spain.

Madrid currently holds the rotating EU presidency and the Spanish Industry Minister Miguel Sebastian said he "believed leadership on electric cars must be driven by communal institutions."

Spain wants the electric car to feature in the EU's 2020 strategy, the economic reform project aimed at ensuring prosperity and sustainable growth for Europe.

Plans for electric cars are currently scattered around EU member states and auto manufacturers, and Madrid wants the European Commission to prepare a plan for a common strategy by May.

Fierce competition in the electric car sector is expected to come from the United States and China, and EU ministers urged swift action.

But they did not discuss in detail the awkward question of public funding -- which manufacturers have asked for to kick start the sector.

BAE Systems completes first flight test of persistent surveillance

Published 10 February 2010

The ARGUS-IS offer a new real-time persistent surveillance capability for U.S. combat forces to detect, locate, track, and monitor events on battlefields and in urban areas -- providing significantly greater video coverage over current airborne capabilities

BAE Systems has completed the initial flight test of a new real-time persistent surveillance capability for U.S. combat forces to detect, locate, track, and monitor events on battlefields and in urban areas — providing significantly greater video coverage over current airborne capabilities.

The first flight tests of the Autonomous Real-Time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance Imaging System, or ARGUS-IS, occurred aboard a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter. The tests demonstrated the system’s multiple video windows for persistent area surveillance and tracking capabilities for vehicles and dismounted soldiers.

The airborne processing system can simultaneously and continuously detect and track the presence and motion of thousands of small or large targets over an area covering tens of square miles. BAE Systems designed and produced the system’s sensor and processor.

“ARGUS-IS will significantly advance the Army’s capability to protect its troops through improved search and surveillance capabilities,” said Dr. John Antoniades, ARGUS program manager and director of remote sensing technology for BAE Systems.

BAE Systems equipment aboard ARGUS-IS consists of a high-resolution, extreme wide-area, real-time video sensor; an on-board processing system; and ground processing for interactive multi-target designation, tracking, and exploitation. “The ARGUS-IS system overcomes the fundamental limitations of current airborne surveillance systems,” said Dr. Steven Wein, director of optical sensor systems at BAE Systems. “Very high-resolution imaging systems required for vehicle and dismount tracking typically have a ‘soda-straw’ view that is too small for persistent coverage. Existing wide-area systems have either inadequate resolution or require multiple passes or revisits to get updates.”

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA )and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory awarded BAE Systems an initial $18.5 million contract to lead the ARGUS-IS effort in late 2007. The system is targeted for use in Department of Defense unmanned and manned surveillance platforms.

BAE Systems has approximately 105,000 employees worldwide, and its sales exceeded $34.4 billion in 2008.

Unique New MAV Operates With High Aerodynamic Efficiency

French researcher, Dr. Jean-Marc Moschetta, funded by the European Office of Aerospace Research and Development, in London, England and the French DoD has designed a rugged micro air vehlcle (MAV) that is attractive to the U.S. Air Force because of its high aerodynamic efficiency, even in adverse conditions. Moschetta's students who contributed to the design and fabrication of the early prototypes of the MAV include: Boris Bataille, Loris Rion, Charles Plachot and all the MAV club from ISAE. (Credit: ISAE)

by Maria Callier
Air Force Office of Scientific Research
Arlington AFB VA (AFNS) Feb 11, 2010
A French researcher, funded by the European Office of Aerospace Research and Development, in London, England and the French DoD has designed a rugged micro air vehicle (MAV) that is attractive to the U.S. Air Force because of its high aerodynamic efficiency, even in adverse conditions.

Dr. Jean-Marc Moschetta, Professor of Aerodynamics at the Institut Superieur de l'Aeronautique et de l'espace in Toulouse, France created what he calls the MAVion, a 30-cm, fixed-wing MAV with two counter-rotating propellers that is able to make a smooth and steady transition between hover and fast forward flight, both of which are very attractive features for military and commercial use.

"The global vision for developing the bimotor MAVion is to provide a fixed-wing aircraft that can be easily upgraded for hover, but also for rolling on the ground or along walls by adding wheels on either side," said Moschetta.

So successful was Moschetta's MAV design, it took top honors at the Fourth Annual International Micro Air Vehicle Flight Competition held in Pensacola, Florida earlier this year. Encouraged by the success of the current craft, Moschetta is now looking at developing a MAVion that will be oriented towards vertical flight and handling quality improvement.

"The ultimate goal of the MAVion concept is to demonstrate a twofold capability using the same vehicle: fast forward flight and hover flight," he said. "The two counter-rotating tandem propellers provide a simple means to enhance yaw control, which is particularly important in vertical flight," he said.

"This innovative, MAVion, with its simplistic design, may have a potential for both military and civil applications in the future," said Dr. Surya Surampudi, EOARD Chief, Aeronautical Sciences, who oversees the project.

Advanced Algorithms to Enhance Mobile Autonomous Robots

Pictured is a control panel screen for mobile autonomous robots, which are among the many capabilities that could benefit from the advanced algorithms being developed through AFRL Small Business Innovation Research.

by Shelly Rich
Eglin AFB FL (AFNS) Feb 11, 2010
Air Force Research Laboratory awarded Imagination Engines, Inc., a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research contract to develop advanced algorithms for mobile autonomous robots. The Air Force needs creative terrain-sensing and multivalued behavior-fusion algorithms for these robots due to the high uncertainty and complexity of battlefield environments.

Mobile autonomous robots must employ not only a variety of locomotion techniques in order to navigate different terrains, but an assortment of creative behaviors to accomplish their objectives.

The foundation of this SBIR technology is a scientific principle at least as important and fundamental as jet propulsion or nuclear energy. Specifically, it hinges on the premise that injecting critical noise levels into a system of brainstorming neural networks produces new ideas and strategies.

This so-called "creativity machine paradigm" vastly outperforms genetic algorithms running on supercomputers, carrying out multidimensional optimization and invention on computational platforms common to most homes and offices.

Described as the artificial intelligence domain's best bet for creating human- to transhuman-level intelligence in machines, this technology could potentially permeate all aspects of AF activities and operations, from materials discovery and autonomous weaponry to logistical planning and sensor integration.

IEI has pioneered the development of neural control systems capable of brilliant adaptation and improvisational creativity that may be used to govern truly autonomous weapons systems.

The technology also enables semiautonomous military systems to perform in the event of communications loss, or to temporarily gain a clear advantage by operating outside an adversary's largely human-based OODA [observe, orient, decide, and act] loop.

The technology further allows vast neural systems to automatically knit themselves into the equivalent of human brain pathways, facilitating unprecedented levels of sensor integration and unmatched machine-vision-based anomaly detection for battle damage assessment and classification (e.g., automatic target recognition).

Robot to take starring roles in S.Korea plays
by Staff Writers
Seoul (AFP) Feb 10, 2010
A South Korean-developed robot that played to acclaim in "Robot Princess and the Seven Dwarfs" is set for more leading theatre roles this year, a scientist said Wednesday.

EveR-3 (Eve Robot 3) starred in various dramas last year including the government-funded "Dwarfs" which attracted a full house, said Lee Ho-Gil, of the state-run Korea Institute of Industrial Technology.

The lifelike EveR-3 is 157 centimetres (five feet, two inches) tall, can communicate in Korean and English, and can express a total of 16 facial expressions -- without ever forgetting her lines.

Lee acknowledged that robot actresses find it hard to express the full gamut of emotions and also tend to bump into props and fellow (human) actors.

But he said a thespian android was useful in promoting the cutting-edge industry.

"South Korea is an active frontier in developing robots and we thought that making it would be a good way to promote our technology," Lee told AFP.

And just as visitors to New York flock to Broadway, tourists in Seoul may be drawn by a robot actress, he said. "We will try more plays this year with help from the National Theatre and the government."

Robots in future could also play a role as stagehands controlling music and lighting, Lee said.

South Korea has in addition developed a walking robot maid, a robotic penguin, koala and rabbit, and a variety of other models.

In 2007 a robot named Tiro was master of ceremonies at the wedding of one of its designers.

Nanosats Expected To Benefit from Advanced Propulsion Tech

A University of Michigan professor is developing an electric rocket thruster (NanoFET) that uses nanoparticle electric propulsion and enables spacecraft to travel faster and with less propellant than previous technology allowed. (Credit: Michael Rayle, Electrodynamic Applications, Inc.)

by Maria Callier
Air Force Office of Scientific Research
Arlington AFB VA (AFNS) Feb 10, 2010
A University of Michigan professor is developing an electric rocket thruster, NanoFET, that uses nanoparticle electric propulsion and enables spacecraft to travel faster and with less propellant than previous technology allowed.

The Air Force Office of Scientific Research is funding Professor Alec D. Gallimore's research because particle electric propulsion, with its half-inch thruster, increases velocity by several hundred or thousand miles an hour and is expected to have a dramatic impact on nanosatellites and larger spacecraft. These electric fields help to create thrust when the particles are charged, accelerated and propelled into space.

"Particles used in this technology are initially 10 to 50 nanometers in size (approximately a thousand times smaller than a human hair in diameter), and we scale them up to between one and ten microns (1/20th to about half the size of a human hair) because at that size, we can see and use them for advanced propulsion research," said Gallimore.

Even with the modifications there are still challenges in doing NanoFET research.

"There are material science aspects of designing the right materials that can withstand high voltages and close proximity to each other," Gallimore said. "There's also a challenge of making certain that all materials are in a form that fits on a satellite that's not much larger than a baseball." Currently the materials are more functional than form-fitting.

"We're hoping that we can actually resolve a lot of these issues in the next three to four years," said Gallimore.

In the meantime, the researchers have tested the nanoparticle, electric-based propulsion in air and in a vacuum chamber on an aircraft that replicates conditions of limited gravity.

"It has the potential to be a revolutionary propulsion concept, especially regarding nanosatellites and larger satellites, but there's also a possibility of applying the technology to non-space vehicle applications as well," he said.

AFOSR Program Manager, Dr. Mitat Birkan who oversees the research, agrees. "Electrostatic acceleration of charged nanoparticles has many potential applications besides space propulsion, including manufacturing and biomedical technologies."

Research for Bat-Inspired Micro Air Vehicles Taking Wing

In anticipation of improving future MAV systems, academic researchers are exploring the biological attributes of flapping, flexible flight as demonstrated by bats, birds, and insects. This MURI-enabled research has prompted the creation of numerous engineering models, including the one illustrated in this graphic (image credit: Dr. Shyy).

by Molly Lachance
Arlington AFB VA (AFNS) Feb 11, 2010-
Air Force Research Laboratory-funded researchers from several universities are studying the flexible, flapping wings of bats (as well as birds and certain insects) in order to mimic desirable biological attributes towards micro air vehicle improvements in agility, speed, and adaptability.

If successfully transitioned, this research could ultimately lead to small, remote-controlled (i.e., unmanned) aircraft with the capacity to navigate in complex environments such as forests, caves, building interiors, and tunnels.

AFRL manages two projects on biologically inspired flight. Both efforts are part of the 2007 Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative, which provides funding for topics that rely on expertise from multiple disciplines.

Dr. Kenny Breuer, a fluid mechanics professor from Brown University, and Dr. Wei Shyy, an aerospace engineering professor from the University of Michigan, each lead a MURI project.

Though their respective teams focus on different biological and engineering aspects of this challenge, they share the same overall goal of understanding bat flight and its potential applications to MAV operations.

Dr. Breuer is working various efforts to unlock the mysteries of this complex biological system. One such activity involves the collection of video footage and associated measurements. As the bats fly in a wind tunnel, researchers videotape the creatures and measure the fluid velocities in their wakes.

Another effort targets the investigation of flight properties in different environments and among varying bat species. From the results of his own experiments and others, Dr. Breuer has accordingly constructed engineering models that mimic specific features found in bat flight.

Among his MURI partners are colleagues from Oregon State University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Maryland; their own innovations include developing computational methods for simulating complex, moving, flexible structures; mapping the neurophysiology of bat sensor and motor systems; and creating control systems that might be of use in devising MAV technologies.

Meanwhile, Dr. Shyy's team comprises faculty and students from the University of Michigan, as well as a cohort from the University of Florida and University of Maryland. Focused primarily on MAV hovering and forward flight modes, his team has thus far placed particular emphasis on learning how and why flexible wing structures affect lift and thrust generation, especially in unsteady environments.

Whole-body scanners may lengthen airport security lines

Published 11 February 2010

Scanners that look through passengers' clothing to find hidden weapons are significantly larger than the metal detectors they will replace, and they take at least five times longer to scan a single passenger; TSA plans to install 950 whole-body scanners at U.S. airports in the next two years,

The U.S. government’s plan to install body scanners in dozens of airports could lengthen security lines and congest terminals, airline and airport officials warn. Scanners that look through passengers’ clothing to find hidden weapons are significantly larger than the metal detectors they will replace, and they take at least five times longer to scan a single passenger. “Those machines have a footprint that we don’t have the space for,” said Tim Anderson, operations chief at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, which will get scanners this year.

Steve Lott of the International Air Transport Association, an airline group, said scanners “would lead to significant passenger delays at the checkpoint.”

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) spokesman Greg Soule said the scanners will not “significantly increase” checkpoint lines. The agency will help find the best location for the machines, he said, adding that “TSA’s top priority is enhancing security.”

USA Today’s Thomas Frank writes that the TSA plans to install 950 scanners at airports in the next two years, a move driven partly by the recent attempt to bomb an airliner near Detroit. Suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab boarded the plane in Amsterdam with explosives in his underwear.

The first new scanners will be installed this month. Most will be used on passengers in “primary” screening as they enter airport checkpoints and put belongings through an X-ray machine, Soule said. About 40 scanners have been operating in 19 airports for more than a year, mostly for passengers requiring extra screening.

The scanners take about fifteen seconds to check a passenger compared with “a few seconds” for a metal detector, Soule said. The extra time should not create backups, Soule said, because checkpoint lines are usually slowed by passengers putting carry-on items through X-ray machines.

Lott said scans can take forty seconds for passengers unfamiliar with the portal-style machines that are up to six feet wide.

Christopher Bidwell, security chief for the Airports Council International, said he was pleased the TSA is working with airports to address lines and space constraints. “Certain airports just don’t have the real estate” for scanners, Bidwell said.

The scanners already in use have been welcomed by passengers, particularly as an alternative to pat-downs, the TSA says. Passengers who decline to be scanned are searched by hand.

The mass installation worries airports. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport expects to get five scanners, which could push checkpoint lines into a main corridor, airport spokesman Perry Cooper said. “This will be an impact for us,” Cooper said.

Metropolitan Oakland International Airport officials are working with TSA to find the “optimum placement” for scanners, acting airport director Deborah Ale Flint said. “We have space constraints in both of our checkpoints,” Flint< said.

Oak Ridge develops powerful intrusion detection systems

Published 11 February 2010

The attack analysis program uses machine learning to increase effectiveness; ORCA effectively sits on top of off-the-shelf intrusion detection systems, and its correlation engine processes information and learns as cyberevents arrive; the correlation engine supplements or replaces the preset rules used by most intrusion detection systems to detect attacks or other malicious events

Scientists at the Energy Department’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed an attack analysis tool that uses machine learning to filter noise and increase the effectiveness of commercial intrusion detection systems.

Oak Ridge Cyber Analytics was developed as part of a Lockheed Martin-funded project to develop a self-healing network. “ORCA effectively sits on top of off-the-shelf intrusion detection systems, and its correlation engine processes information and learns as cyber events arrive,” said Justin Beaver, the research scientist leading the development team.

The correlation engine supplements or replaces the preset rules used by most intrusion detection systems to detect attacks or other malicious events. “The problem is there is a sweet spot with the rules,” Beaver said. “The existing IDSes are great for existing problems. But if you open them up, you can get swamped.”

GCN’s William Jackson writes that if the rules are all turned on, the system will produce more information than can be effectively used. If they are tuned too finely to limit reported information, they can miss important events. The ORCA correlation engine allows operators to open the intrusion detection system by using all of the rules and then sending the data to a correlation engine for analysis before the system issues alerts.

“We use machine learning,” Beaver said. “We are not using rules; we are using examples. But if you don’t have a way for an operator to say, ‘These are the kinds of things that are important,’ the system doesn’t work.” An analysis engine provides that capability. “That is the part that I am proudest of.”

The analysis engine allows an operator to look at intrusion detection system data in a variety of ways, including:

• Clusters that provide high-level views of activity that can be highlighted or excluded to reveal patterns.
• A timeline graph to show temporal relationships of different kinds of events.
• Swarm intelligence, an innovative technique that provides what Beaver called “a nature-inspired view of computational intelligence.”

Jackson writes that swarm intelligence uses a bird flock model based on the idea that “birds of a feather flock together.” Dots representing specific types of traffic behavior from specific IP addresses are placed on a grid, and a simulation tool allows them to move around the grid and congregate when two dots representing similar behavior come together. As some dots flock together, a pattern should emerge that shows similar behaviors from different IP addresses.

When the system identifies an attack pattern, the operator can identify that behavior in a swarm or flock. With that information, the analysis engine could identify zero-day attacks that rules have not previously identified.

ORCA is an operational prototype incorporated in Lockheed Martin’s experimental Defense and Self-Healing Network. In addition to a number of other metrics-collecting tools, ORCA uses Splunk, a search-and-reporting tool that gathers log and other data from applications, servers and network devices and indexes them for searches. That should make ORCA compatible with most commercial intrusion detection systems, Beaver said. “I think we could adapt to anything that puts out a log file thanks to Splunk,” he said.

ORCA’s advanced capabilities require operators to spend some time training the tool. “When you first fire the thing up, you are going to have to invest some time upfront in laying out the examples” for the analysis engine, Beaver said. That learning period probably will last several weeks before the engine knows enough to handle detection and alerts on its own.

Oak Ridge develops powerful intrusion detection systems

Published 11 February 2010

For now, the examples are expected to be unique to each location where ORCA operates. But Oak Ridge researchers are hoping to develop a collaboration tool that would let users share examples so that each developer does not have to build them from scratch.

L-1 Identity Solutions’ Daugman-based iris algorithm passes test

Published 27 January 2010

Rigorous tests by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) find that the accuracy of L-1’s iris recognition technology as markedly higher than prior results, and that improvements came without sacrificing speed; the evaluation also showed that L-1's accuracy did not come at the expense of template size

Good news for L-1’s iris recognition technology. L-1 Identity Solutions announced that the accuracy, speed, and template compactness of L-1’s Daugman-based iris algorithm was unsurpassed in a NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) IREX I (Iris Exchange) supplemental report published this month. The company notes that the NIST IREX I supplemental report adds to the October 2009 release of initial IREX results on the performance of iris recognition algorithms.

The report notes that the accuracy of L-1’s iris technology was markedly higher than prior results and improvements came without sacrificing speed. In fact, when averaged over all tested databases and measured at the most demanding operating point published by NIST (a false match rate of 1 in 1,000,000), the Daugman-based L-1 algorithm produced the best accuracy of all ten iris vendor participants.

The evaluation also showed that L-1’s accuracy did not come at the expense of template size or algorithm speed. Compared to the competition, L-1 templates were ten times smaller than the next most accurate vendor. In NIST’s modeling of a 2,000 enrollee identification for access control (where the time for template creation and matching were both considered), the L-1 iris technology showed the lowest false rejection rate and the fastest composite match time of all five of the most accurate vendors. Among all algorithms participating in the IREX evaluations, the speed of template creation varied over a factor of 100, the speed of matching varied over a factor of 1,000, and L-1 performed at the highest end of both parameters for a given accuracy. As a result, the L-1 algorithm had the best combination of accuracy and speed of all tested algorithms, an attribute that is critically important to facilitating large-scale identity programs and supporting national database applications.

Professor John Daugman, chief scientist of iris recognition for L-1 Identity Solutions said, “Our performance in the NIST IREX test shows that L-1’s iris technology gives consistently accurate matching over a variety of databases without sacrificing template size or matching speed. This translates into huge operational advantages in real world deployments. I am honored to play a role in continuing to set new levels of excellence for iris recognition within the scientific community and together with L-1 remain committed to ensuring that this important technology brings demonstrable and the industry.”

IREX is an umbrella program for various NIST activities supporting interoperable iris biometrics. The IREX I supplemental report is available at NIST Web site.

Providing Hybrid Electric Autos With Power To Spare

The charging system concept, which is market ready, could also be used to enhance the voltage stability of the grid by providing reactive power, Su said.

by Staff Writers
Oak Ridge, TN (SPX) Feb 12, 2010
An advancement in hybrid electric vehicle technology is providing powerful benefits beyond transportation.

Researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have designed, fabricated and demonstrated a PHEV traction drive power electronics system that provides significant mobile power generation and vehicle-to-grid support capabilities.

"The new technology eliminates the separate charging mechanism typically used in PHEVs, reducing both cost and volume under the hood," said Gui-Jia Su of ORNL's Power Electronics and Electric Machinery Research Center. "The PHEV's traction drive system is used to charge the battery, power the vehicle and enable its mobile energy source capabilities."

Providing more power than typical freestanding portable generators, the PHEV can be used in emergency situations such as power outages and roadside breakdowns or leisure occasions such as camping. Day-to-day, the PHEV can be used to power homes or businesses or supply power to the grid when power load is high, according to Su.

The charging system concept, which is market ready, could also be used to enhance the voltage stability of the grid by providing reactive power, Su said.

The Power Electronics and Electric Machinery Research Center is DOE's broad-based research center helping lead the nation's advancing shift from petroleum-powered to hybrid-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. The center's efforts directly support DOE's Vehicle Technologies Program and its goal to provide Americans with greater freedom of mobility and energy security while lowering costs and reducing impacts on the environment.

Northrop Grumman Delivers First Production STARLite Radars To US Army

Each STARLite radar features both SAR and GMTI capabilities and comes equipped with a complete software package for interfacing with the U.S. Army One Common Ground Station, enabling easy operator control of the SAR maps and ground moving target detection indication on standard Army maps.

by Staff Writers
Baltimore MD (SPX) Feb 12, 2010
Northrop Grumman has delivered the first two production AN/ZPY-1 STARLite radars for the U.S. Army's Extended Range / Multi-Purpose Unmanned Aerial System.

Northrop Grumman's STARLite is a small, lightweight radar used for supporting tactical operations. By providing precise battlefield intelligence in all types of weather and in battlefield obscurants, day and night, STARLite significantly improves battlefield situational awareness and optimizes force maneuver and engagement for mission success.

Northrop Grumman is working under a 78.5 million dollar contract with the Army's Robotics and Unmanned Sensors Product Office at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, to provide a total of 33 STARLite radar systems between now and April 2011.

The radar deliveries followed a compressed 18 month post-contract award schedule that included the successful completion of a rigorous battery of qualification tests of the radar as well as independent performance verification tests conducted by the Army's Test and Evaluation Center at the Yuma Proving Grounds, AZ.

"STARLite passed customer-mandated reliability, operational and environmental qualification tests, including 1,200 hours of operational testing without a single hardware failure," said Pat Newby, vice president of Northrop Grumman's Land and Self Protection Systems Division.

"The demonstrated high-reliability of STARLite will help ensure our warfighters have this significant improvement in surveillance capability readily available to them in theatre, when needed, in the war against terrorism."

Each STARLite radar features both SAR and GMTI capabilities and comes equipped with a complete software package for interfacing with the U.S. Army One Common Ground Station, enabling easy operator control of the SAR maps and ground moving target detection indication on standard Army maps.

The AN/ZPY-1 leverages Northrop Grumman's experience in creating the proven Tactical Endurance Synthetic Aperture Radar and the Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Radar.

Liverpool police use thermal-imaging UAV to track and capture a car thief

Published 12 February 2010

Police in Liverpool used thermal-imaging device housed in a UAV to track down and capture a car thief; the technology allowed the operator to use live images of the suspect’s body heat to guide other officers to the man’s hiding place

Thermal imaging produces a bright image against a cool dark background // Source: flickr.com

Thermal-imaging technology housed in a UAV has been used by police in Merseyside to arrest a suspected car thief. Two men suspected of stealing a Renault Clio in Bootle were tracked by the UAV, a remote-controlled aerial camera operated by a police officer on the ground.

After fleeing the vehicle, one man was immediately arrested while another hid in undergrowth. The Engineer reports that the UAV’s onboard thermal-imaging technology allowed the operator to use live images of the suspect’s body heat to guide other officers to the man’s hiding place.

Merseyside Police is the only police force in Britain to operate a UAV and this was the first time since it was introduced last November that the specific use of its thermal-imaging camera led to an arrest.

Chief inspector Nick Gunatilleke from Merseyside Police’s Anti-social Behavior Taskforce said:

“The UAV’s thermal-imaging camera was particularly helpful in identifying where one of the suspects was hiding by detecting the body heat he was giving off. The live footage was being viewed by the UAV’s operator in the mobile command vehicle close to the scene and they were able to then direct patrols on the ground to where the suspect was concealed.

We are the only police force in the country currently using a UAV like this and this is the first time the thermal-imaging equipment has led directly to an arrest since the UAV went live in November, so we are very pleased.”

Electric cars: put a battery in your roof
by Staff Writers
Paris (AFP) Feb 15, 2010
A nanoscale material developed in Britain could one day yield wafer-thin cellphones and light-weight, long-range electric cars powered by the roof, boot and doors, researchers have reported.

For now, the new technology -- a patented mix of carbon fibre and polymer resin that can charge and release electricity just like a regular battery -- has not gone beyond a successful laboratory experiment.

But if scaled-up, it could hold several advantages over existing energy sources for hybrid and electric cars, according to the scientists at Imperial College London who developed it.

Lithium-ion batteries used in the current generation of plug-in vehicles are not only heavy, which adds to energy consumption, but also depend on dwindling supplies of the metal lithium, whose prices have risen steadily.

The new material -- while expensive to make -- is entirely synthetic, which means production would not be limited by availability of natural resources.

Another plus: conventional batteries need chemical reactions to generate juice, a process which causes them to degrade over time and gradually lose the capacity to hold a charge.

The carbon-polymer composite does not depend on chemistry, which not only means a longer life but a quicker charge as well.

Because the material is composed of elements measured in billionths of a metre, "you don't compromise the mechanical properties of the fibers," explained Emile Greenhalgh, an engineer at Imperial College and one of the inventors.

As hard a steel, it could in theory double as the body of the vehicle, cutting the weight by up to a third.

The Tesla Roadster, a luxury electric car made in the United States, for example, weighs about 1,200 kilos (2,650 pounds), more than a third of which is accounted for by batteries, which turn the scales at a hefty 450 kilos (990 pounds). The vehicle has a range of about 300 kilometers (185 miles) before a recharge is needed.

"With our material, we would ultimately lose that 450 kilos (990 pounds)," Greenhalgh said in an interview. "That car would be faster and travel further."

Vehicles with bodies crafted from the new material would likewise shed weight because it is four time lighter than steel, while remaining as strong and stiff.

"It is the sort of thing you find in tennis rackets or fishing rods -- a carbon fibre composite," Greenhalgh said.

"We aim to increase the surface area of the fibres as much as possible without degrading the mechanical properties. The larger the surface, the more electrical charge they can store."

The European Union (EU) announced last week that it would sink 3.4 million euros (4.6 million dollars) over three years into developing the new technology, with Imperial College coordinating a project spread over nine companies and institutes in Britain, Sweden, Germany and Greece.

Swedish car manufacturer Volvo has said it might build a demonstration panel into an existing electric car prototype.

Within three years, the researchers expect shave 15 percent off the weight of a car, and in five to six years, be able to integrate the material into the body.

But it will take a decade before the new material could fully replace existing batteries, Greenhalgh cautioned.

One of the question marks is cost.

Carbon fibre is a lot more expensive than steel, but mass production should bring down costs dramatically, he said.

 ID theft climbs 12 percent in '09

By Judi Hasson

Comment | Forward

Identity fraud hit more than 11 million adults in the United States last year--a 12 percent increase over the previous year. It came at a big price, too, according to the "2010 Identity Fraud Survey Report" published last week by Javelin Strategy & Research.

The cost of ID fraud reached $54 billion in 2009, the study found. Each case cost an average nearly $5,000, although some cases totaled more than $50,000. The average cost to a victim of identity fraud reached $373 for out-of-pocket expenses to resolve the problem.

In many cases, a breach occurred because of employee carelessness. In some cases hackers managed to attack and get into a system. In every case, something could have been done to make it harder for this information to be accessed.

For the first time, Javelin probed mobile phone-account fraud and found 29 percent of identity-fraud victims reported mobile phone accounts were fraudulently opened in their names.

In an age-related finding, the survey found that young adults--ages 18 to 24 years old--took about twice as long to detect fraud compared to other age groups. The reason: Young adults may not be monitoring their credit card reports as frequently as other age groups.

Whatever you are doing at your company these days, make sure ID theft doesn't become your problem. You are probably acutely aware of its potential to damage your company and hurt your relationships with your customers. Take the time to figure out what can be done to head off disaster.

For more on ID theft:
- see this NetworkWorld.com article

Related Articles:
Medical ID theft rampant
FTC: ID theft surges in '08

New fiber nanogenerators could lead to electric clothing

Published 16 February 2010

UC Berkeley researchers have created energy-scavenging nanofibers that could one day be woven into clothing and textiles; these nano-sized generators have "piezoelectric" properties that allow them to convert into electricity the energy created through mechanical stress, stretches, and twists

Good news for soldiers and first responders: much of the electronic gear they carry is heavy because of the considerable weight of the batteries required to operate the gear. Imagine if these batteries were no longer needed because the solider or the first responder would generate the power just by walking.

In research that infuses the term “power suit” with new meaning, University of California, Berkeley, engineers have created energy-scavenging nanofibers that could one day be woven into clothing and textiles.

These nano-sized generators have “piezoelectric” properties that allow them to convert into electricity the energy created through mechanical stress, stretches, and twists. “This technology could eventually lead to wearable ‘smart clothes’ that can power hand-held electronics through ordinary body movements,” said Liwei Lin, UC Berkeley professor of mechanical engineering and head of the international research team that developed the fiber nanogenerators.

Because the nanofibers are made from organic polyvinylidene fluoride, or PVDF, they are flexible and relatively easy and cheap to manufacture.

Although they are still working out the exact calculations, the researchers noted that more vigorous movements, such as the kind one would create while dancing the electric boogaloo, should theoretically generate more power. “And because the nanofibers are so small, we could weave them right into clothes with no perceptible change in comfort for the user,” said Lin, who is also co-director of the Berkeley Sensor and Actuator Center at UC Berkeley.

The fiber nanogenerators are described in this month’s issue of Nano Letters, a peer-reviewed journal published by the American Chemical Society.

The goal of harvesting energy from mechanical movements through wearable nanogenerators is not new. Other research teams have previously made nanogenerators out of inorganic semiconducting materials, such as zinc oxide or barium titanate. “Inorganic nanogenerators — in contrast to the organic nanogenerators we created — are more brittle and harder to grow in significant quantities,” Lin said.

The tiny nanogenerators have diameters as small as 500 nanometers, or about 100 times thinner than a human hair and one-tenth the width of common cloth fibers. The researchers repeatedly tugged and tweaked the nanofibers, generating electrical outputs ranging from 5 to 30 millivolts and 0.5 to 3 nanoamps.

Furthermore, the researchers report no noticeable degradation after stretching and releasing the nanofibers for 100 minutes at a frequency of 0.5 hertz (cycles per second).

Lin’s team at UC Berkeley pioneered the near-field electrospinning technique used to create and position the polymeric nanogenerators 50 micrometers apart in a grid pattern. The technology enables greater control of the placement of the nanofibers onto a surface, allowing researchers to properly align the fiber nanogenerators so that positive and negative poles are on opposite ends, similar to the poles on a battery.

Without this control, the researchers explained, the negative and positive poles might cancel each other out and reducing energy efficiency.

The researchers demonstrated energy conversion efficiencies as high as 21.8 percent, with an average of 12.5 percent. “Surprisingly, the energy efficiency ratings of the nanofibers are much greater than the 0.5 to 4 percent achieved in typical power generators made from experimental piezoelectric PVDF thin films, and the 6.8 percent in nanogenerators made from zinc oxide fine wires,” said the study’s lead author, Chieh Chang, who conducted the experiments while he was a graduate student in mechanical engineering at UC Berkeley.

New fiber nanogenerators could lead to electric clothing

Published 16 February 2010

“We think the efficiency likely could be raised further,” Lin said. “For our preliminary results, we see a trend that the smaller the fiber we have, the better the energy efficiency. We don’t know what the limit is.”

Global UAV sales boom, but South Africa's UAV sector flounders

Published 27 March 2009

South Africa was among the world's leaders in designing and manufacturing UAVs; UAVs are the most dynamic segment growth sector in the global aerospace industry; South Africa could have benefited from the growing interest in UAVs, lack of investment in R&D and in finished products may cause South Africa to abdicate the UAV lead it once held

UAVs are hot — not only above the battlefield, but as a business. Engineering News, for example, has published a series of stories on South African UAV programs, projects, and proposals. These have covered the products and projects of Advanced Technologies & Engineering (ATE), Denel Dynamics, and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). The reason for the magazine coverage of South Africa is that South Africa has been a world leader in UAVs, and UAVs are becoming very important, both technologically and as a business sector, within the aerospace industry.

Keith Campbell writes that U.S. aerospace and defense market analysis company Teal Group recently forecast that the global UAV market will be worth more than $62-billion over the next ten years. The report states that UAVs are the most dynamic segment growth sector in the global aerospace industry. Currently, total world expenditure on UAVs amounts to $4.4 billion a year, and this should reach an annual figure of $8.7 billion after ten years. In addition, billions of dollars more is being, and will be, spent on payloads for UAVs.

During the U.S. FY2009, worldwide expenditure on UAV payloads exceeded $2 billion, and Teal expects this spending to rise to $5 billion in U.S. FY2018. These payloads include command, control, communications, computer and intelligence systems; electro-optical/infrared sensors; electronic warfare systems; signals intelligence systems; chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear sensors; and synthetic aperture radars.

Respected British aerospace journal Flight International currently lists 59 companies worldwide which manufacture UAVs, including ATE and Denel (the CSIR is not a UAV manufacturer; it only produces a handful or less of each of its designs, and they are all for research purposes, not for series production).

Campbell correctly notes that UAVs are big business. They are also cutting-edge technology, especially with regard to autonomous control systems, both hardware and software. At the very top end, both the United States and the United Kingdom are known to be working on tailless blended wing body (BWB) stealth UAVs, which also involve leading-edge airframe and materials technology, design, and manufacture.

UAVs are also aircraft that South Africa has the financial resources and technological capability to totally design and manufacture on its own. South Africa has successfully exported UAVs. There is a problem, though: While five years ago one could have confidently asserted that South Africa was a world-leader in UAVs, along with the United States and Israel, today the country is grave danger of losing that status. Huge amounts of money are being poured into UAVs by the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, and many others. There are now, or now under development, nano-, micro-, and mini-UAVs (issued to infantry companies, even platoons, and often hand-launched), battalion-level tactical UAVs (like ATE’s Vulture, designed to provide observation for field artillery units), brigade-level tactical UAVs (Denel’s Seeker would fit here), medium altitude long-endurance (Male) UAVs (for divisions, corps, and armies) and high altitude long-endurance (Hale) UAVs (strategic systems, exemplified by the extremely expensive US Global Hawk). There are fixed-wing and rotary-wing designs, and ducted fan designs that look just like flying saucers. And there are Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles (UCAVs), of which the best known is General Atomics’ MQ-9 Reaper (previously called the Predator B).

Global UAV sales boom, but South Africa's UAV sector flounders

Published 27 March 2009

Ironically, South Africa was one of the first countries to develop a stealth UAV design, codenamed Flowchart, but it seems never to have progressed beyond the stage of a wind tunnel model. It was not, however a tailless BWB design. Nor was Denel’s subsequent stealth UAV/UCAV design, designated Seraph.

At the small end off the UAV scale, ATE has developed the hand-launched Kiwit mini-UAV, which has not yet gained any customers (but it was only unveiled last year). Its Vulture system is now being delivered to the South African Army. Denel Dynamics is marketing the latest version of its Seeker family, the Seeker 400, which represents a significant improvement over the Seeker II.

Top of the range in South Africa is Denel’s Bateleur Male UAV — announced in 2003, it has still not progressed past the mock-up, and the company is hoping that Brazil will turn the project into reality by investing in it, just as they have invested in Denel’s A-Darter missile. Brazil, though, is also talking to the Israelis about cooperating on a Male UAV program. The CSIR is seeking to help the local industry keep up with the latest international trends — for example with its Sekwa BWB (although it has upturned wing tips) UAV, to develop local expertise in BWB flight control algorithms.

Despite all the work done on UAVs in South Africa, the South African National Defense Force (SANDF) only operates the original Seeker system — which can now be regarded as obsolete — and the Vulture. The Kiwit, Seeker 400, and Bateleur would all be of enormous value to the SANDF, to support its peacekeeping deployments, and patrol the country’s borders and maritime frontiers. None has been ordered by the SANDF, though, nor is there any sign they will be (Denel is very hopeful for a foreign contract for the Seeker 400, as was the one achieved with the Seeker II).

Nor is there any large-scale local UAV research and development (R&D) program to further develop and promote local capabilities. There are only small projects. Critical mass is lacking. Through lack of investment in both R&D and in finished products, South Africa is abdicating the lead it once held, in a booming high-tech sector it could successfully compete in, globally. “As the Americans say,” Campbell concludes, “go figure.”