Charles River Analytics
Cambridge, MA
(617) 491-3474
www.cra.com

Charles River Analytics Inc., a developer of intelligent systems solutions, recently partnered with Sensics, Inc., creators of the OSVR software stack; Technology, Modeling & Simulation, and Training Consultants (TMST), who provide consulting expertise across the spectrum of live, virtual and constructive training of emerging technologies; and the Virtual Reality Medical Center (VRMC), which provides virtual reality exposure therapy. Together, the team designed and developed the VIRTUOSO interface for the US Army Research Laboratory. VIRTUOSO supports natural human interactions in mixed reality/virtual reality/augmented reality (MR/VR/AR) environments.

Within the aerospace industry, 2016 and onwards could be looked upon as the tipping point for direct metal printing (DMP), as the technology increasingly made the jump beyond prototyping to production parts and assemblies ready for flight.

Whether engaged in an asymmetric fight with an insurgent or a conventional battle with a “near-peer” adversary, today's battlefield presents combatants with significant challenges. Rapidly advancing technology and increased lethality of weapon systems have forced the military to develop and deliver more effective technologies to protect our air and vehicle crews. One such critical technology – laser detecting systems – is designed to detect and alert crews to laser-aided threats.

The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) is bringing this year's XPONENTIAL 2018 to the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, CO. The event, which runs from April 30 – May 3, will feature more than 200 presentations and panel discussions focused on all aspects of the unmanned vehicle and robotics market. Over 725 exhibitors representing more than 20 different industries will be showcasing their latest technology to an estimated 7,000 attendees from all over the world.

Arnold Defense
Arnold, MO
(636) 296-5417
www.arnolddefense.com

Arnold Defense, an international manufacturer and supplier of 2.75-inch rocket launchers, has been generating considerable interest in its new, ultra-light LWL-XII and M260 2.75-inch/70mm Weapon Systems.

RF Cable

PIC Wire & Cable^® (Sussex, WI), a Division of The Angelus Corporation, recently announced the launch of its new RFMATES ^® ULTRALITE UH25107 cable. UH25107 is a 50 ohm RF aerospace cable that is highly shielded, light and flexible. The cable's sophisticated design yields low loss characteristics that make it a robust solution for systems requiring a low dB loss budget for antenna runs, like SATCOM and Iridium systems.

Compressive sensing (CS) is a relatively new field that has caused a lot of excitement in the signal processing community. It has superseded Shannon's time-honored sampling theorem, which states that the sampling rate of a signal must be at least twice its highest frequency. In CS, the necessary sampling rate depends on the sparsity of signal, not its highest frequency, reducing sampling requirements for many signals that exhibit natural sparsity. This compression happens on the hardware level, allowing systems to be designed with benefits ranging from increased resolution and frame rates to decreased power consumption and memory usage. Despite this enthusiasm for CS and the large quantity of research being performed, the number of commercial systems that use CS is relatively few. The problem of designing a CS strategy that increases functionality while actually reducing overall system cost has not been solved in many areas. This is a developing field where not only are new applications for CS still being developed, but also fundamental aspects of CS theory are still evolving.

When firing artillery, there is typically a maximum angle that the platform cannot exceed relative to the Earth plane. This is due to the large recoil forces involved and the risk of destabilizing the platform the weapon is mounted to. Mobile systems are particularly sensitive to this as the attitude of the platform relative to Earth is constantly changing. A simple solution is to add pitch and roll sensors directly to the platform. However, many mobile systems already have an assortment of sensors that can be used to calculate the platform attitude.

U.S. soldiers carry loads of equipment and protective gear that can weigh anywhere from 45 to 130 pounds. This is more than enough to quickly tire even the most well-conditioned personnel, contributing to reduced mobility and impaired decision-making that could result in casualties.

Airplanes, one of humanity's greatest inventions, evoke feelings of awe and amazement for most people, unless you live uncomfortably close to a major airport, in which case the feeling may become annoyance and irritation. Constant aircraft noise causes sleepless nights, stress and other health issues, reducing quality of life.