Cornell University researchers are developing a system to enable teams of robots to share information as they move around, and if necessary, interpret what they see. This would allow the robots to conduct surveillance as a single entity with many eyes. Beyond surveillance, the new technology could enable teams of robots to relieve humans of dangerous jobs such as disposing of landmines, cleaning up after a nuclear meltdown or surveying the damage after a flood or hurricane. The project, called “Convolutional-Features Analysis and Control for Mobile Visual Scene Perception,” is supported by a four-year, $1.7 million grant from the U.S. Office of Naval Research.

A novel technology called "Tactical Augmented Reality," or TAR, is now helping soldiers precisely locate their positions, as well as the locations of friends and foes. It even enables them to see in the dark, all with a heads-up display device that looks like night-vision goggles (NVG). In essence, TAR replaces NVG, GPS, plus it does much more.

Real-time video is playing an increasingly important role in a range of military local situational analysis (LSA) applications to help improve surveillance and intelligence of possible threats while keeping troops out of harm’s way.

Kinematically ground polygonal shapes have been used as drive connections for more than 45 years. What is now referred to as Polygon Systems was developed by Fortunawerke, Stuttgart, West Germany, who patented a grinding machine capable of producing matched polygonal shaft and bore diameters.

Interest in 3D printing is remaking the manufacturing landscape. Consulting firm IDC says global spending on 3D printers, both desktop and industrial, hit about $11 billion in 2015 and is forecast to reach $27 billion by 2019. Another research company (MarketsandMarkets) is saying 3D printing will experience 30% compound annual growth and reach $30 billion by 2022. In its April 2016 study, “3D Printing Comes of Age in US Industrial Manufacturing,” Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) says compared to two years ago, more manufacturers (52% this year compared to 38% in 2014) expect 3D printing to be used in high-volume production in the next three to five years.

On-Line UPS Family

Falcon Electric, Inc., (Irwindale, CA) announced the addition of tower models to its on-line rackmount SC UPS family. The new 700VA to 3kVA tower-configured SC UPS protects IT/IoT equipment, telecommunications, servers, security systems, programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and other power-sensitive electronic systems against costly power disruptions.

There are several labs operating throughout the world that do not follow a designated guideline for calculating measurement uncertainty for force calibrations. Realizing the need for guidance, Morehouse decided to draft this document explaining how to calculate measurement uncertainty and how uncertainty propagation for force calibration systems works.

It is both an exciting and a difficult time for the aerospace industry. While the sector is at its most buoyant with demand soaring in the commercial market, this is placing a strain on the manufacturing supply chain, and putting the MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) market under pressure to keep aircraft in operation for as long as possible. In addition, OEMs and MRO businesses are being forced to consider potential ever-evolving legislation, particularly regarding the use of various chemicals used in the plating process, most notably the use of cadmium. This toxic metal has long been the topic of debate in the industry, with companies facing the threat of a European ban on cadmium being extended to the global aerospace industry if studies into possible alternatives prove fruitful.

Ultra-Wideband Amplifier

The Lemos (Barrington, RI) PATHPA21G is a low noise, ultra-wideband amplifier, based on GaN technology. Compact and lightweight, the PATHPA21G has good N.F, high output power P1db of 24 dbm, and high gain of 30 db. The unit can achieve even better specs if the user doesn't need the entire frequency band of 0.8-21 GHZ and only needs, for example, 6-18 GHZ. Low Current 220 mA Max. Meets MIL-STD 810F requirements. Physical dimensions are 1.20” x 0.64” x 0.45.” Weight equals 17 grams.

An effort has been made within the US Army Research Laboratory (ARL) to extract quantitative information on explosive performance from high-speed imaging of explosions. Explosive fireball surface temperatures are measured using imaging pyrometry (2-color 2-camera imaging pyrometer; full-color single-camera imaging pyrometer). Framing cameras are synchronized with pulsed laser illumination to measure fireball/shock expansion velocities, enabling calculation of peak air-shock pressures. Multicamera filtering at different wavelengths enables visualization of light emission by some reactant species participating in energy release during an explosion. Measurement of incident and reflected shock velocities is used to calculate shock energy on a target.