Fire-fighting robots developed

Published 14 January 2010

Sheffield-Hallam University develop fire-fighting robots; these robots carry individualized laser-range, radio-signal and ultrasound sensors that are designed for the specific tasks of either the warning of toxic materials, providing and maintaining mobile communication links, or inferring localization information

Sheffield-Hallam University in the United Kingdom is heading a pan-European project aimed at developing intelligent robots to assist fire fighters in hazardous buildings and expects demonstrate its designs on 18 January. The Guardians project team has completed three years of research and will unveil its results at the South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue training centre in Sheffield.

Project coordinator Jacques Penders said that a number of technical difficulties meant that developing a single robot had proven impractical for use in risk assessment during realistic fire-fighting scenarios. “In the beginning, we thought that one system was doable, but what we underestimated was the problem of smoke,” added Penders. “A number of our robots have laser-range scanners. However, used alone they are unable to provide the data needed for fire-fighting situations.”

The Engineer reports that as a result, the team has designed a range of six robot models for undertaking risk assessment in various scenarios ranging from smoke-filled industrial warehouses to chemical spills. These robots carry individualized laser-range, radio-signal and ultrasound sensors that are designed for the specific tasks of either the warning of toxic materials, providing and maintaining mobile communication links, or inferring localization information.

Penders hopes to secure further funding to continue the research and believes that, with industrial support, the team could create a single system able to integrate all of these capabilities within the next two years.

BAE develops a UAV for U.K. police

Published 25 January 2010

BAE Systems, which produces a UAV for war zones, is developing the military-style planes for a consortium of U.K. government agencies; a Home Office-backed project intends to use the drone in time for the 2012 Olympics

Police is to use unmanned spy drones to monitor anti-social motorists, protesters, agricultural thieves, and flytippers. BAE Systems, which produces a UAV for war zones, is developing the military-style planes for a consortium of government agencies led by Kent Police. Similar aerial devices have been used in the war in Afghanistan. Using the same techniques in the United Kingdom will undoubtedly raise concerns about the expansion of covert state surveillance.

The Scotsman’s Nicholas Christian writes that documents from the South Coast Partnership, a Home Office-backed project, have revealed that the police is developing the drone plan with BAE. The documents have come to light under the Freedom of Information Act. They reveal that the partnership intends to use the drone in time for the 2012 Olympics. They also suggest that the police have talked about selling the surveillance data to private companies.

A prototype drone equipped with high-powered cameras and sensors is set to take to the skies for test flights later this year. The Civil Aviation Authority, which regulates U.K. airspace, has been told by BAE and Kent Police that civilian UAVs would “greatly extend” the government’s surveillance capacity and “revolutionise policing.”

The CAA is understood to be reluctant to license UAVs in normal airspace because of the risk of collision with other aircraft. In the future, however, systems that would automatically steer UAVs away from trouble are likely to be developed.

It is understood that five other police forces have signed up to the system as part of a pilot scheme before it is introduced across the United Kingdom. Kent Police’s assistant chief constable, Allyn Thomas, has written to the CAA arguing that military drones would be useful “in the policing of major events.”

BAE drones are programmed to take off and land on their own, stay airborne for up to fifteen hours, and reach heights of 20,000ft, making them invisible from the ground.

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.”

Global Hawk Continues Round-the-Clock Reconnaissance In Haiti

An aerial view of the damaged National Cathedral in Haiti from a U.S. Air Force Global Hawk unmanned aircraft Jan. 14. Aerial images are providing U.S. military planners valuable situational awareness as they coordinate U.S. military support to the Haiti relief effort. Courtesy of U.S. Southern Command and Air Force.

by Staff Writers
San Diego Ca (SPX) Feb 15, 2010
The RQ-4 Global Hawk, Northrop Grumman premier unmanned reconnaissance aircraft system, continues its persistent watch over Haiti. To date, the Global Hawk has flown six missions, approximately 130 hours, and provided more than 3,600 images of Port-au-Prince and areas damaged by the massive earthquake and ensuing aftershocks that rocked the Caribbean nation earlier this year.

"Thanks to Global Hawk's highly advanced sensors, which are capable of taking hundreds of images in a single mission, we've provided disaster assessments for various agencies to make real-time decisions," said Gen. Bob Otto, commander of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing, Beale Air Force Base, Calif.

"The ability to fly 24-hour duration sorties meant the Global Hawk could support hundreds of ad-hoc requests while staying well clear of the relief workers and neighboring airports. Truly, Global Hawk's capabilities have proven invaluable to the worldwide humanitarian efforts in Haiti."

On Jan. 13, a U.S. Air Force Block 10 Global Hawk was diverted by the 12th Reconnaissance Squadron at Beale Air Force Base from its trip en-route to support usual wartime operations in Afghanistan to assist in relief efforts after Haiti's 7.0 magnitude earthquake on Jan. 12.

A Global Hawk took off from its main operating base at Beale Air Force Base, flew to Haiti, and provided 12 hours of coverage over the disaster area before landing at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md.

Subsequent missions were launched from Maryland to provide 14 to 16 hours of persistent watch over Haiti before landing back at Patuxent River.

"Not only has Global Hawk helped determine the extent of damages and usability of Haiti's infrastructure, it has also helped to find and recommend roadways and airfields accessible for delivering emergency supplies and rescuing injured and trapped people," said George Guerra, Northrop Grumman vice president of high-altitude, long-endurance systems.

"We are committed to supporting the ongoing relief efforts in Haiti for as long as necessary to help rebuild the lives of those affected."

The Global Hawk team collaborated with other agencies to assist in all aspects of recovery and relief. Officials and analysts from U.S. Southern Command in Miami, the 548th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) Group from Beale Air Force Base, the 480th ISR Wing from Langley Air Force Base, and the Naval Air Systems Command Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Demonstration program from Patuxent River helped provide critically needed imagery and information.

Capable of flying at altitudes up to 60,000 feet for more than 32 hours at a time at speeds approaching 340 knots, Global Hawk is equipped with an integrated sensor suite, which includes synthetic aperture radar, electro-optical and infrared sensors. Global Hawk has supported previous humanitarian relief efforts, including the southern and northern California wildfires in 2007 and 2008, respectively, as well as Hurricane

Israeli drones bound for Turkey
by Staff Writers
Ankara, Turkey (UPI) Feb 15, 2009
A controversial order of Israeli-made Heron unmanned aerial vehicles passed critical performance tests in Israel and will soon be delivered, Turkey's top procurement official says.

"Six of the aircraft have successfully passed the tests inspected by a delegation of Turkish officials," Murad Bayar, head of the government's defense procurement agency, the Under Secretariat for Defense Industries was quoted telling local media. "We are expecting their deliveries in the weeks ahead. And this closes the deal from our point of view."

Similar performance tests will take place in the next few months for the remaining four UAVs included in the program.

Turkey awarded the lucrative contract five years ago, placing the order with Israel Aerospace Industries and Elbit. Both companies beat out major U.S. competitors but the contract was bogged from a start with delays stemming from technical problems.

The contract deadline was initially set at 24-30 months. But both contracts missed the first deadline, breaching, also, a follow-up delivery date for the dispatch of four Herons last August.

With the deal dogged by problems, the Turkish government threatened to pull the plug on the order, saying it would seek financial damages from the Israeli contractors.

Last December, however, Ankara announced its intention to speed up the deal.

The order is estimated at $183 million, of which $50 million is set to go to Turkish Aerospace Industries and Aselsan. While the bulk of the project rests with IAI and Elbit, TAI is the Heron program's prime contractor.

The Turkish daily Hurriyet reported that under the revised deal the manufacturing team will pay compensation of nearly $18 million to Turkey for the delays and failure to meet some of the criteria in the program's original specifications.

"The compensation will be divided among the drones' manufacturers, including the Turkish companies taking part in the program, in line with their shares in the contract," the newspaper reported.

It is expected to be paid out in equipment and services, rather than in cash.

Major militaries round the globe have been increasing their use of UAVs for reconnaissance, surveillance and, at times, offensive purposes.

Muslim but secular Turkey has had a strong history of military cooperation with Israel. It has also acted as an intermediary for the Jewish state with the Arab world. Yet the Heron dispute aggravated relations late last year, forcing senior Israeli officials to meet with high-level government officials to try and mend ties.

It is understood that some of the drones to be delivered to Turkey will be deployed along the country's southeastern province of Batman, on the border with Iraq, for additional tests.

Team K-MAX Demos Unmanned Helicopter Cargo Resupply

The Unmanned K-MAX launches from the pad with a 1500 lb sling load during contractor flight tests at Yuma Proving Ground, AZ, January 2010.

by Staff Writers
Dugway UT (SPX) Feb 16, 2010
Lockheed Martin and Kaman Aerospace have successfully demonstrated to the U.S. Marine Corps the capability of the Unmanned K-MAX helicopter to resupply troops by unmanned helicopter at forward operating bases in Afghanistan.

During a series of flights last week in subfreezing temperatures at the U.S. Army's Dugway Proving Ground, UT, the Unmanned K-MAX demonstrated autonomous and remote control flight over both line-of-sight and satellite-based beyond line-of-sight data link.

"We met or exceeded the requirements within the scheduled three-day timeframe of the demonstration," said Dan Spoor, Aviation Systems vice president at Lockheed Martin's Mission Systems and Sensors facility in Owego, NY. "The system performed a rigorous set of cargo resupply scenarios as programmed, allowing the ground-based operator to monitor progress, and make adjustments to aircraft positioning only when requested by the Marine Corps for demonstration purposes."

Performance attributes demonstrated included hovering at 12,000 ft. with a 1,500-pound sling load; delivering 3,000 pounds of cargo well within the six-hour required timeframe to a forward operating base (two 150 nm round-trip flights); remotely controlling flight and a precision load delivery by a ground-based operator in both day and night conditions; and uploading a new mission plan to the aircraft's mission management system during flight.

As an optional demonstration, Team K-MAX showcased the Unmanned K-MAX helicopter's four-hook carousel, which enables multi-load deliveries in a single flight. Lifting a total cargo of 3,450 pounds, the aircraft flew to three pre-programmed delivery coordinates, autonomously releasing a sling load at each location. At the customer's request, the fourth load delivery was performed under manual control by the ground operator.

"The Unmanned System performed operationally representative cargo resupply scenarios, and each time the system delivered as promised," said Sal Bordonaro, President, Kaman Helicopters, a division of Kaman Aerospace Corporation. "This capability gives the Marine Corps a proven unmanned power lifter to bring vital cargo to troops on the battlefield without the need for ground vehicles and manned helicopters."

Team K-MAX has flown the Unmanned K-MAX nearly 400 hours in unmanned mode since 2007. The demonstration fulfilled an $860,000 U.S. Marine Corps contract awarded to K-MAX manufacturer Kaman Aerospace in August 2009.

A manned version of K-MAX has accumulated more than 250,000 flight hours, conducting repetitive lift operations for the construction and logging industries worldwide.

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.” 

Minnesota college launches UAV repair program

Published 18 February 2010

There are more and more UAVs carrying out more and more military and policing missions; a Minnesota technical college already has a 50-year experience college training aircraft mechanics; with an eye to the future, the college has launched a program to teach students how to repair unmanned systems

Students at Northland Community and Technical College in Thief River Falls will learn how to repair unmanned aircraft as part of a new federal stimulus-backed program. Experts say it will help make the region a center for unmanned aircraft research and training.

Minnesota Public Radio’s Dan Gunderson reports that Northland Community and Technical College has fifty years of experience training aircraft mechanics. Scott Fletcher, director of the Aviation Maintenance Program, said that experience positions the school well to move into the unmanned aircraft systems or UAS industry. “Our vision for the UAS [unmanned aerial systems] is to be the primary maintenance training on UAS’s globally,” Fletcher said. “It’s a new and emerging industry and it’s going to take off here. We want to be on the ground floor. We are on the ground floor and we want to be in place when this hits.”

Fletcher said the program will accept its first students next spring, in 2011. He expects the program to be popular with aircraft mechanics who have lost jobs. A $5 million federal stimulus grant will allow the school to buy the aircraft and tools to train students.

Because of the state budget deficit, local investors and foundations are also putting up funds to help start the program. Fletcher expects to sign a contract with aircraft manufacturer Northrop Grumman to train the mechanics for the Global Hawk aircraft. The Air Force expects to start flying Global Hawk missions from the Grand Forks Air Force Base sometime next year.

Northland Community and Technical College is working with the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Center at the University of North Dakota.

Center Director Jeff Kappenman said UND is focused on research, education and training. He said the Thief River Falls program adds a key component that can make the region an unmanned aircraft industry center.

“It’s a huge thing for Northland and for this Red River Valley region,” Kappenman said. “I know there’s a state border here obviously, but we’re all pulling together to kind of pursue this UAS market.”

It is a high stakes gamble for the regional economy. Kappenman said industry analysts predict in the next decade, tens of billions of dollars will go into development and construction of unmanned aircraft. However, one critical part to all of this is that the Federal Aviation Administration must ease restrictions on flying unmanned aircraft.

The military wants to open a large test area in North Dakota. Scott Fletcher is hopeful Thief River Falls will be one of the first airports in the country open to unmanned flights.

“When the FAA opens up the airspace they’re not going to open the entire national airspace,” he said. “They’re going to open up a piece here and a piece there. We’d like to be one of the first pieces opened up so you can fly out of Grand Forks to here and do whatever you need to do. That itself will bring a huge economic boom.” Fletcher said he expects that economic growth to start in the next three to five years.