Now you can own your own Live HD Video multi screen, multicasting system for broadcasting and entertainment applications. Sofcoast is pleased to provide some preliminary video for the MAKO Live! HD - which is our next ground breaking innovation which brings a truly ready to use commercial off the shelf (COTS)air to ground or ground to ground broadcast quality HD Video solution to the world. Prices start at $10,000.00 for a complete system (turn key and ready to fly or use). Contact us for more details. www.sofcoast.com
March 06, 2013
Coming Soon:
MAKO LiveHD - which is Sofcoast's next ground breaking innovation in the form of Sofcoast's air to ground and ground to ground Live HD Video multi screen, multicasting system for broadcasting and entertainment applications. Contact us for more details. 866-213-2219.
MAKO LIVE HD AERIAL COVERAGE MULTI-SCREEN INNOVATION
The purpose of the Otay Ranch Town Center flight was to provide unique viewing angles and vantage points for lightweight High Definition camera's while fly in high visibility / high profile / high traffic area's such as an outdoor shopping mall in Southern California.
While we were conducting this flight we learned about a pretty cool paintball facility...which we talk a little bit about in the video.
Imagery (Including aerial) of Jessica Sanchez's Top 3 American Idol Homecoming at Eastlake High School in Chula Vista (San Diego), CA.
One note: This happened so fast that I didn't have time to work with any of the Sofcoast payload partners and literally strapped a couple of nonstabilized gopro camera's onto MAKO and "went with it." It's only going to get better - and this is pretty good. Especially since I'm standing in the crowd and nobody realizes until they do and they're like "wow! that's cool!" Life is good.
We're making a presence at the first Federal show of the year, the West 2012 conference, which will take place January 24-26 at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California. We'll be exhibiting our MAKO hybrid air system in the STAR-TIDES booth (#602) so be sure to stop by to learn about Hybrid Air Systems and Sofcoast's vision which is to enable more people to see and share more of their world more often and in more cost effective ways.
West 2012 is co-sponsored by AFCEA International and the U.S. Naval Institute, and is the largest defense technology event on the U.S. west coast for communications, electronics, intelligence, information systems and imaging. The theme of this year’s West 2012 conference is “America’s Military at the Crossroads: What’s Out and What’s In for 2012 and Beyond?” Defense and industry leaders will discuss and debate the technologies and approaches for successful military programs this year.
Thought you would enjoy these small UAS pics I got from AFSOC. The CSC photos are of an Osprey attacking a WASP and yes the WASP did recover from the "bird strike". The second was from Puma over the skies of Afghanistan - nice formation.
Thank you to the STAR-TIDES organization which allowed us to co-exhibit with them.
Here's a little bit of information about them:
Sustainable, Affordable Support to Stressed Populations
TIDES is a research project dedicated to open-source knowledge sharing to promote sustainable support to populations under severe stress—post-war, post-disaster, or impoverished, in foreign or domestic contexts, for short-term or long-term (multi-year) operations. The project provides reach-back "knowledge on demand" to decision-makers and those working in the field. It helps catalyze public-private, whole-of-government, and trans-national approaches to encourage unity of action among diverse organizations where there is no unity of command. TIDES maintains this website, where anyone in the project’s network (called STAR-TIDES) can publish their work for feedback and critique.
Also, I want to thank everyone who stopped by to express interest, give us words of encouragement or just to show their support, we greatly appreciate it.
(CNN) -- Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Friday canceled the controversial virtual fence along the U.S. border with Mexico, citing technical problems, cost overruns and schedule delays since its inception in 2005.
The Secure Border Initiative-network, a high-tech surveillance system to reduce border smuggling, so far has cost taxpayers almost $1 billion for two regions in Arizona, covering just 53 miles overall on the 2,000-mile border, according to a homeland security report.
Napolitano announced "a new path forward for security technology" along the border that is tailored to the needs of each region and provides "faster deployment of technology, better coverage, and a more effective balance between cost and capability," she said in a prepared statement.
"There is no 'one-size-fits-all' solution to meet our border technology needs," Napolitano said about her decision to end the problem-plagued virtual fence.
Her new plan would use mobile surveillance systems, drones, thermal imaging devices, and tower-based remote video surveillance, she said.
"Where appropriate, this plan will also incorporate already existing elements of the former SBInet program that have proven successful, such as stationary radar, and infrared and optical sensor towers," Napolitano said.
"The secretary's decision to terminate SBInet ends a long-troubled program that spent far too much of the taxpayers' money for the results it delivered," Lieberman said in a written statement. "From the start, SBInet's one-size-fits-all approach was unrealistic. The department's decision to use technology based on the particular security needs of each segment of the border is a far wiser approach, and I hope it will be more cost effective."
Thompson said he is glad that homeland security officials are "finally listening to what we have been saying for years -- that the sheer size and variations of our borders show us a one-stop solution has never been best," he said in a prepared statement. "I applaud them for taking this critical step toward using a more tailored technologically based approach to securing our nation's borders."
The decision ends the work of federal contractor Boeing (NYSE:BA) to build the virtual fence, and the homeland security agency will conduct open bidding for the new border plan, agency officials said.
Boeing spokeswoman Jenna K. McMullin said in a statement that the firm remains "committed to providing valuable solutions and supporting" the federal agency.
"We appreciate that they recognize the value of the integrated fixed towers Boeing has built, tested, and delivered so far," McMullin said. "We are proud of the accomplishments of our team and of the unprecedented capabilities delivered in the last year that provide Border Patrol agents increased safety, situational awareness, and operational efficiency."
Napolitano said "unprecedented" manpower, infrastructure and resources along the border will complement her new border security plan.
The U.S. Border Patrol is better staffed than at any time in its 86-year history, having nearly doubled the number of agents from approximately 10,000 in 2004 to more than 20,500 in 2010, according to a homeland security report.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has increased the number of federal agents deployed to the Southwest border, with a quarter of its personnel currently in the region.
President Obama has also deployed 1,200 National Guardsmen to the border.
In fiscal years 2009 and 2010, federal agents seized more than $282 million in illegal currency, more than 7 million pounds of drugs, and more than 6,800 weapons along the border -- increases of more than $73 million, more than 1 million pounds of drugs and more than 1,500 weapons compared with 2007-2008.
Also, the Border Patrol's nationwide apprehensions of undocumented immigrants decreased from nearly 724,000 in 2008 to about 463,000 in 2010, a 36 percent reduction, indicating that fewer people are attempting to illegally cross the border, a homeland security report said.
Do you think five years meets the definition of "soon"?
I've spent quite a lot of time working with Small Unmanned Aerial Systems both tethered and untethered. I (and others on our team) have worked very hard with extraordinarily bright end users, engineers, scientists and program managers to improve system designs and performance. We have also worked diligently to increase awareness and to develop new area's, methods and techniques for advancing these systems.
The primary issue was, is and remains to be "low altitude access for small unmanned aerial systems". In other words, operating these drones in the national airspace.
I have said it before and I'll say it again, I believe this is a national issue and of great importance and interest to every American. I've spent hundreds (if not thousands) of hours working unmanned systems issues in my career both as a military member and now as a civilian. The most difficult set of issues that I have personally dealt with (and still deal with) are not technical. They are regulatory and legal issues. Specifically, the issue of unmanned systems access to the national airspace in the United States.
Last year, in a thoughtstream titled "Redux: Put it on a tether", I made the following statement:
"My professional assessment is that the United States is at least five years (yes, I said FIVE years) away from any meaningful remedy that will enable rapid, ad-hoc, low altitude national airspace access for Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (SUAS)."
Today, I was interested and pleased to see the front page article in USA Today titled "Police turn to drones for domestic surveillance". So, I read the article which was very well written and precisely articulates the present situation.
With one exception.
What caught my attention was how "soon" the word "soon" was used in the article, which was the 6th word of the article.
"Police agencies around the USA soon could have a new tool in their crime-fighting arsenal: unmanned aircraft inspired by the success of such drones on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan."
Here's what webster's says about the definition of the word "soon".
within a short period after this or that time, event, etc.: We shall know soon after he calls.
before long; in the near future; at an early date: Let's leave soon.
promptly or quickly: He came as soon as he could.
readily or willingly: I would as soon walk as ride.
early in a period of time; before the time specified is much advanced: soon at night; soon in the evening.
Later in the article a University of Auburn expert makes the following statement,
"Wesley Randall, principal investigator on an FAA grant awarded last year to researchers at Auburn University to study the risks associated with unmanned aircraft, predicts drones will be used by police departments in five to 10 years."
What this means is that "soon" to you and I and Mr. Webster is not the same definition of "soon" used by this author or others. I guess that's the benefit of having an infinite amount of time to do something. Unlike the average American living and working to pay their taxes and bills in a timely manner.
Why is this relevant to us you might ask? Because, frankly timeliness is what matters when critical incidences happen. People value timeliness.
Imagine that a Police Officer has a small drone in the trunk of his or her car. He or she receives a call that a person is lost in the woods. They respond by driving to the approximate last known location of the lost person and park their vehicle. They pull out their small drone system with a camera onboard, launch the system and begin a hasty search of the area.
It seems to me, in this situation, an effective and swift response could make all the difference.
Today, this Police Officer wouldn't have the equipment because no administrator or councilmember or city manager in their right mind would (or perhaps could?) approve purchasing equipment that is illegal to operate in the United States.
When I say "illegal" I am describing the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) regulations that specify and permit equipment to be operated in the United States National Airspace System every moment of every day at every altitude everywhere in the United States.
To wit, in large part,the FAA does a fantastic job, considering all of the complexities and issues that they deal with minute by minute with regards to ensuring a safe aviation transportation system.
Put simply, the US national airspace management system (designed in the 1940's) that the FAA uses to keep America's skies safe actually limits and restricts our safety in other ways.
When filing a Flight Plan (or COA) isn't an option
It doesn't help that said police officer may not know specificallywhere or when he or she might need to begin a hasty search for that lost person.
Presently, in order for that Police Officer (end user) to operate equipment (e.g., Small Unmanned Aerial Systems) in the National Airspace, they are required to have a Certificate of Authorization (COA) Waiver, which is a license of sorts that allows "specific persons with specifically certified and approved equipment with specified and special permissions to deviate or depart from existing FAA regulations for a specific period of time at a specific location".
Currently, the FAA prefers that all Unmanned Aerial Systems operations (Small, Medium and Large) be confined to Warning Area's and Restricted Area's airspace, Non-Joint use Military Class D airspace and in some cases Class G airspace for "low altitude" access provided that that airspace is owned/controlled by the Federal Government.
Again, unfortunately, this doesn't do the lost person or the first responder much good.
Put another way, Imagine filing a flight plan that takes two years to be approved.
The problem is that it can and does take years to be granted these permissions. (If you can get them). If you live in area's that are "unsuitable" from the FAA's perspective, your request will be denied or rejected.
Again, unfortunately, this doesn't do the lost person or the first responder or taxpayer much good.
The present (and even proposed) regulatory requirements for having pre-approved (Certificate of Authorization Waivers) COA's (as well as emergency COA's) essentially eliminates (or at a minimum heavily prohibits) the possibility for "rapid and ad-hoc" access to low altitude airspace in the US. (In other words getting a camera in the air as quickly as possible).
These requirements also eliminate certain US citizens from the value and benefit to
compete in a burgeoning industry
benefit as tax payers and citizens from the protections and capabilities these systems can provide to all of us.
I and most of my peers have accepted this to be the present situation for now and into the foreseeable future that we find ourselves in.
What's a true "soon" or "now" solution? (not a five year "soon" solution)
Putting it on a Tether
The primary reason we decided to design and build an inflatable device on a tether is a very practical one.
We truly "get" that "soon" isn't really "soon".
The Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) allow moored and tethered equipment (e.g., lighter than air balloons) to operate at or below 500 ft. above ground level (AGL).
So enter the Sofcoast Hybrid Air System called MAKO. One one hand MAKO is an interim solution (product substitute) that can serve to provide "rapid and ad-hoc access" to low altitude airspace in the US. On the other hand MAKO provides a new kind of capability (new product) that has merit on its own and in the process, it just might democratize the very undemocratic process of accessing low altitude airspace in the United States and around the world.
One of the biggest benefits of MAKO is actually being able to easily (and legally) get payloads airborne, thereby allowing for low altitude airspace access for numerous reasons, one of which might be searching for that lost child in the woods.
Researchers have developed a camera system that snaps multi-gigabit images at 30 frames per second over 360 degrees and then displays them as one three dimensional panorama
Cameras that can shoot 3D images are nothing new, but they don't really capture three dimensional moments at all - they actually record images in stereoscopic format, using two 2D images to create the illusion of depth. These photos and videos certainly offer a departure from their conventional two dimensional counterparts, but if you shift your view point, the picture remains the same. Researchers from Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) hope to change all that with the development of a strange-looking camera that snaps 360 degrees of simultaneous images and then reconstructs the images in 3D.
The researchers have created two prototype models, both inspired by the multi-lens eyes of insects like the house fly. One has a lens head about the size of an orange and features over a hundred camera lenses - like the ones used in mobile phones - and the other about the size of a golf ball and sporting 15 lenses. Unlike the stereoscopic photographic or video cameras with a front facing lens setup, the prototypes are able to record images from all around them.
The lenses point out through a hemispherical frame and are positioned in such a way that each image captured overlaps slightly on its neighbors. Sophisticated algorithms built into a dedicated hardware platform then judge the actual distance between the camera and subjects in the frame and merges the many gigabits of photographic information captured at 30 frames per second into a 360 degree panorama.
"With this invention, we solved two major problems with traditional cameras," said Professor Pierre Vandergheynst. "The camera angle, which is no longer limited thanks to the camera's ability to film in 360 degrees and in real time; and the depth of field, which is no longer limiting thanks to the 3D reconstruction."
The researchers report that images are captured in real time and without distortion and that users can choose to snap a single shot from a particular lens or have them all work together to produce the 360 degree, three dimensional panorama.
The team's Professor Yusuf Leblebici said that the "work is likely to change the entire field of image acquisition, with a huge range of potential applications" including movie-making and immersive games design.
The project is a collaborative project between the EPFL's Signal Processing Laboratory - who authored the algorithms to calculate the distance between the camera and subjects and those tasked with assembling all of the images into one 360 degree panorama - and the Microelectronic Systems Laboratory - who developed the apparatus and took care of the processing needs.
In the following video, Vandergheynst gives a short explanation of the technology:
Early 2011 will see printed memory devices in toys and printed sensors in packages used to ship drugs.
By Katherine Bourzac
Inexpensive printed sensors, transistors, and memory devices that aren't as speedy or as high-capacity as silicon devices could enable the widespread use of sensors in places that aren't cost-effective today. Disposable devices could monitor and store information about the temperature of drugs, the safety of food during shipping, or air quality.
Researchers at the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), which is owned by Xerox, have been developing a suite of materials for making printed electronics, including sensors and transistors. This week at the Printed Electronics USA conference in Santa Clara, California, PARC announced details about two partnerships to develop products based on its research prototypes. PARC will work with Norwegian company Thin Film Electronics to make higher-capacity printed memory devices that incorporate the research center's printed transistors. And PARC is working with Soligie of Savage, Minnesota, to develop products based on its printed temperature sensors.
Much of the excitement around printed electronics has centered on the potential to replace silicon electronics in complex devices such as display screens so that they can roll up. For these types of applications, researchers are working to match silicon's performance in materials that are just as fast and efficient, but flexible and inexpensive.
These more sophisticated printed electronics may be a few years from commercialization. "We want to go to market in simpler applications to prove that printed electronics can work today," says Davor Sutija, CEO of Thin Film. The company's 20-bit printed memory devices will be in toys early next year.
Products integrating these postage-stamp-sized memory devices will include playing cards paired with online games. Kids will use the cards to transfer their playing history between a PC and a handheld device. For a toy or a game that requires only a small amount of memory, using silicon-based memory like flash is impossibly expensive. "When you're only storing a small amount of data in lots of places, the cost threshold is right for printed electronics that cost a few cents," Sutija says.
Thin Film's memory devices are made on long reels of plastic using roll-to-roll printing, the same basic process used to churn out newspapers. They sandwich a layer of electrically sensitive polymer between top and bottom layers of wire-like electrodes that are perpendicular to one another. Where the electrodes cross, it creates a charge-storage device called a capacitor. When a small voltage is applied to the capacitor, the orientation of the polymer in the capacitor changes; this change in orientation makes the "1" and the "0."
The current devices have a large footprint relative to their storage capacity. By increasing the storage density in collaboration with PARC, Thin Film hopes to make a printed memory product that can be integrated with radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags for use in disposable packaging to store information about an individual item's history. Today, this requires silicon chips, which are too expensive to implement widely. However, cheaper devices could hold information about the history of, for example, individual bags of spinach, rather than about pallets that hold many boxes of bagged spinach. And more cell phones are expected to begin integrating near-field communications devices that will enable them to act as a contactless credit card and read ubiquitous RFID tags on things like bags of spinach.
To improve the storage density of the printed memory devices, Thin Film will integrate PARC's printed transistors. This will reduce the total number of electrical contact pads needed to read and write to the device. Sutija says the collaboration with PARC will lead to a 128-bit memory product that costs less than 10 cents.
Printed-electronics company Soligie is working with PARC to commercialize printed temperature sensors, or "thermistors," devices commonly found in air conditioners, ovens, and containers used to ship drugs. They're based on materials whose electrical resistance varies with temperature. To manufacture them usually requires baking ceramic materials at high temperatures to make a rigid wire-like structure. PARC has developed printable materials to make flexible thermistors that should be less expensive to make, says PARC's senior director of business development, John Knight.
The thermistors PARC will commercialize with Soligie will still need to be connected to a silicon chip to read out the temperature; down the line, the researchers expect to integrate them with all-printed circuits. The company will begin sending prototypes to customers early next year.
Army Makes New Attempt To Field Networked Soldier System
After nearly 20 years of development and some $500 million spent on a now-defunct program, the Army is making another attempt to connect infantrymen to the battlefield network with a wearable system of hands-free computers and radios.
The Nett Warrior program has taken bits and pieces from the Land Warrior ensemble cancelled in 2007 and is currently testing three prototypes that officials say will provide soldiers and commanders with better navigation, friendly force tracking and communication devices. “It tells you where you are, where your buddies are and what your mission is,” said Jason Regnier, the Army’s deputy product manager for Nett Warrior.
The Land Warrior program began nearly 20 years ago when the idea for a high-tech, omniscient system that would be worn by soldiers sounded more like science fiction than military fact. The Army cancelled the program after complaints from soldiers and politicians about its functionality and cost. The initiative did much to point the way forward for soldier technology, but it failed to reach the battlefield in great numbers. After the program’s termination, an infantry brigade took rehashed versions of the system to Iraq. Parts of Land Warrior also made it to Afghanistan, but the system as a whole ultimately missed the high mark set by the program.
The Army’s vision of connecting every soldier to a network did not die with Land Warrior, though. It almost immediately began planning a follow-up system to give ground soldiers tools generally reserved for those in planes, tanks and command centers. Prototypes of Nett Warrior currently are being tested at Fort Riley, Kan. There, soldiers are wearing the systems during scenarios that include a “cordon and search” of hilly terrain and a “movement to contact” with an enemy in an urban environment. The prototypes come from three competing contractors — General Dynamics C4 Systems, Raytheon and Rockwell Collins. Each received contracts between $5 million and $5.5 million for their work thus far.
All three competitors have a history with soldier systems. General Dynamics was the prime contractor on Land Warrior, but Rockwell Collins built a lot of the hardware and Raytheon provided the radio for the system. Using three competing companies during the development phase of the program likely will mean that the Army will get more bang for its buck come production time, said Lt. Col. Roland Gaddy, the program’s product manager. “It drives down price and drives up innovation,” he said.
As stated in the Army’s promotional materials for Nett Warrior, the program’s mission is to “provide unparalleled situational awareness and understanding to the dismounted leader allowing for faster, more accurate decisions in the tactical fight and connecting the dismounted soldier to the network.” The system takes its name from World War II Medal of Honor recipient Col. Robert B. Nett, who died in 2008. He led an attack in 1944 against Japanese soldiers in the Philippines, killing seven of them with his rifle and bayonet despite having been wounded multiple times. A Connecticut native, Nett enlisted in the Army in 1940 at the age of 17 and served until 1978. Nett Warrior features many of the same components as its predecessor.
The centerpiece of the system is a full-color, hands-free viewing monitor attached to an eyepiece that gives the soldier the illusion of looking at a 17-inch screen. Consisting of a computer, navigation system, control unit, radio, microphone and headphones, the ensemble allows dismounted leaders to track themselves, other soldiers and the enemy on the hands-free device. A protective vest hides the wiring for the system. It’s a command-and-control center for the body and “a revolutionary change to the way we fight,” Gaddy said. “Finally, commanders have that situational awareness when they get out of the back of the vehicle, out of that helicopter, out of that airplane.” One of the issues the Army struggled with in Land Warrior is who would wear the system. Nett Warrior has been designed for team leaders and above to connect them with infantrymen out of the line of sight. The ensemble will be compatible with coming devices like the “rifleman’s radio,” which aims to bring each individual soldier into the network. Recalling his own experiences, Gaddy said it was easy to lose track of a team of soldiers almost as soon as they jumped out of a vehicle. “That’s a scary thought when you’re driving around with Bradleys and tanks,” he said, adding that deaths from friendly fire should drop because of Nett Warrior. “Not only do I want to kill the bad guy, I want to prevent my guys from getting killed. I’m really worried about where I’m at and where my buddies are at.” Nett Warrior will keep everyone on the same page, Gaddy said. The contractors are determined to improve upon Land Warrior by focusing on what the Army calls “SWAP” — the size, weight and power of the system. Gaddy called it the top priority at this point. Much of the criticism aimed at Land Warrior concerned its overall heft. Early on, the gear weighed a cumbersome 40 pounds, though it had been trimmed to a little more than 14 pounds when the brigade took it to Iraq. The three Nett Warrior prototypes average about 11.8 pounds.
“Our focus is to continue driving the size and weight to the lowest levels possible,” said Dave Treichler, manager of Raytheon’s effort. Nett Warrior seeks to do away with the question, “Do I carry bullets or water, or my Land Warrior system?” he added. But before it reaches the battlefield, the Army wants to ensure that everything on it works. A foot soldier puts technology through the ringer, and industry is at a crossroads trying to develop devices rugged enough to take a beating, said Rockwell Collins’ Preston Johnson, who likens it to the critical juncture with unmanned aerial systems a decade ago. “Everybody was worried about getting the thing to fly somewhere and being able to recover it without crashing the darn thing,” said Johnson, the company’s business development lead for soldier systems. “It was all about the hardware functioning.”
There isn’t a worse environment for electronics than the body of a ground soldier who trudges in extreme temperatures through water, dust and dirt, Johnson said. He throws himself on the ground, bangs into doors and crawls in the mud. “It’s almost impossible to make things for the soldier environment too rugged,” Johnson added. The new system also will consume less power while providing more memory and a graphical user interface inspired by soldiers with battlefield experience, Gaddy noted. The Army took a new approach to the design of its latest soldier system. It provided each contractor with a liaison team consisting of combat veterans. These “embedded users” worked side by side with the contractors as they developed their versions of Nett Warrior. “They provided instant answers to questions we had,” Treichler said.
The Army has put Nett Warrior on the fast track and meeting the deadlines would have been impossible without the liaison teams, he added. The approach brought engineers in contact with the end user before having to deliver a final product. This eliminated guessing games and repeated attempts to build something just to watch it fail, contractors said. “Soldier acceptance is critical,” said Mark Showah, integrated systems director at General Dynamics. “You can field systems on vehicle platforms and they won’t complain about the size.” Hanging heavy equipment on a human body comes at a price. Knowing how a soldier feels about the gear while still in the lab saves time, money and frustration, Showah explained. Many user suggestions are included in Nett Warrior.
For example, it’s common practice for soldiers who have just cleared a building to break a chemical light and hang it on the structure. This lets other troops know the building has been investigated, but it also imparts information to the enemy. Soldiers indicated that they wanted a way to record and view such actions secretly, Showah said. Nett Warrior’s software allows them to mark cleared buildings on a map that can be shared through the network with other units. “Consumer needs are driven by consumers,” Gaddy said. “Who better to give feedback than the guys who have to use it in the field?” Wars have changed since Nett’s service, and the system that bears his name brings together two Army slogans — the “soldier as a system” and “every soldier is a sensor.” The 2010 Army modernization strategy refers to the individual soldier as the “center of gravity” and says the service’s primary goal is to integrate these men and women into the network.
The Army wants “integrated networked” soldiers in all brigade combat teams by 2025, according to the strategy. “Bringing battle command and networked connectivity down to dismounted leaders is a breakthrough,” Showah said, adding that the technology can’t afford to advance at the expense of reliability. “These systems need to work every time a soldier turns it on, every time they look at it.” The prototypes already have been through a series of environmental and electrical tests. The operational exercises at Fort Riley will run through November. The Army plans to decide in March or April of 2011 which contractor or combination of contractors will be called on to produce the definitive version of Nett Warrior.
The ultimate goal is to provide 20,000 systems to 30 infantry brigade combat teams by fiscal year 2016. The Army plans to begin fielding the gear within two years. The Marine Corps also has asked to see the prototypes strictly for analysis purposes, Gaddy said. Systems like Nett Warrior will play a big role in the Army’s vision of connecting the Pentagon to the front lines in real time. And it won’t stop there, Regnier said. The future of the program could include cell phones, voice translation, sensors and the ability to control unmanned systems. “The user defines the next requirement,” Regnier said. And soldiers are having their say this time around, all the way from the lab to the battlefield.
NETT WARRIOR PRODUCTION CONTRACT DRAFT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. Overview On the Army’s 235th birthday June 14, 2010, the Ground Soldier System Increment I was renamed Nett Warrior in honor of COL Robert B. Nett. Nett Warrior (NW) provides dismounted leaders increased situational awareness, decreased reaction times, and a reduced risk of fratricide. These capabilities are informed by combat experiences from the Land Warrior (LW) system. The performance of LW validated the need for a dismounted battle command system for today’s Warfighter. The Army terminated the LW program due to competing priorities; however, a recognized need still exists for the Army to provide these capabilities to the ground Soldier. The path to fulfill this need is the Nett Warrior.
Nett Warrior integrates mature commercial electronic technologies and government furnished equipment such as secure communications to provide improved situational awareness and network connectivity capabilities at various echelon levels within a brigade combat team while minimizing the size, weight and power impacts to the Soldier. The Soldiers using Nett Warrior will be predominately dismounted conducting combat operations. Nett Warrior modularity is required to permit tailoring for mission requirements and allow for varying combat load configurations.
The Nett Warrior is designated as Category XI, Military Electronics, and Category XIII, Auxiliary Military Equipment, on the U.S. Munitions List. Note to all prospective Nett Warrior offerors and prospective subcontractors: Project Manager Soldier Warrior is denying release of Nett Warrior controlled unclassified information (CUI), to include FOUO, Distribution C, D, X or other controlled markings, to any foreign persons, companies, or Governments. 2. Nett Warrior Production Acquisition Strategy
This Executive Summary is for informational purposes only. The following strategy is a DRAFT that is being published solely for comment. Publishing this document does not obligate the Government in any way and the Government reserves the right to change any/all of the strategy listed here at any time.
In accordance with the DoDI 5000.02 and the Office of the Secretary of Defense Memorandum on Prototyping and Competition, three Technology Development (TD) contracts were awarded on 15 April 2009 to General Dynamics C4 Systems of Scottsdale, Arizona; Raytheon Network Centric Systems of McKinney, Texas; and Rockwell Collins of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The systems developed under these current TD contracts are undergoing Developmental Tests (DT) and will undergo a Limited User Test (LUT) later this year. It is the Army’s intent, with the appropriate approvals, to limit the competition to the existing TD contractors that successfully complete the TD phase.
With the successful achievement of Milestone C in March/April 2011, the Government plans to award one or more Firm Fixed type contract(s) to meet Production and Deployment requirements for fielding contractor-built parts of the Nett Warrior systems.
The Government plans to use the “Best Value” source selection process for selecting the awardee(s).
Table 1 below provides the current Nett Warrior quantity projections of systems to be procured for the Production and Deployment Phase. This includes projected Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) and Full Rate Production (FRP) quantities for the first five years of fielding. The procurement anticipated by this announcement will cover an estimated three to five years of production quantities.
Found an incredible comment while I was reading an article about Gen Y unplugging cable tv, which is worth the read here.
"As a member of Generation Y, I am a prime example of this. I have no permanency in terms of physical ties to infrastructure. Our generation is transient. Most are taking advantage of our age to gain experiences through travel more than past generations because we are more globally focused and technology allows us flexibility to explore as we simultaneously stay connected. In a globalized economy, our Gen Y way of life will become the new reality." - Chelsea
According to Jeffrey Cole, generation Y's changing habits will continue to upset and disrupt plenty of media businesses with its unconventional consuming habits with the next big sector likely to cable and satellite television.
According to Cole's research, people in their 20s and younger no longer buy print newspapers, music CDs, land-line phones or watches. Cole has also pointed out that they're no longer signing up for cable, they’re simply watching video on laptops or even their cell phones.
11.19.2010 By Staff Sgt. Nathaniel G. Johnson CAMP ADDER, Iraq – In response to threats against U.S. troops deployed to Iraq over the last eight years, the Army deploys small tethered blimps, or aerostats, equipped with surveillance equipment for force protection. As a result, the Army has had to train soldiers from a variety of military occupational specialties to operate this equipment.
Sgt. Anthony Palumbo, wheeled vehicle mechanic, of Sterling, Ill., 3rd STB, 3rd AAB, 4th Inf. Div., makes a minor repair to a bracket that is used to attach aircraft warning lights to the cable that anchors the aerostat. Courtesy Photo
Today, six soldiers of 3rd Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Advise and Assist Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, operate the aerostat as it hovers over Camp Adder in support of base defense. They provide surveillance data, enabling the protection of the U.S. and Iraqi forces on Camp Adder and the surrounding Iraqi bases and local villages.
“It’s a great asset because it’s similar to
a guard tower with a huge advantage. It’s a few hundred feet in the air giving us a much better view,” said Sgt. Michael Milsap, Bradley mechanic, from Abilene, Texas.
Without a designated military occupation specialty to maintain and operate the aerostat, this group of mechanics, fire supporters and communications specialists had to learn an entirely new skill set to keep it flying.
“It’s a very useful skill because it’s also used in the civilian world,” said Spc. James Williams, of Virginia Beach, Va., a fiber optics specialist, “It’s a skill I may be able to use later on.”
Once selected to operate the aerostat, the team attended a 28-day training course to learn the theories of lift and how the system works, said Milsap.
“From helium operations to launching the blimp, soldiers are evaluated in the classroom and hands-on exercises, to operate the system proficiently,” he said.
After two-weeks of classroom instruction, they took a written exam and then moved on to two-weeks of hands-on training that required them to learn launch and recover techniques.
“The training was really good because you learn a lot more when you train hands-on like we did for more than 14 days,”
According to Williams, some of the soldiers do get the opportunity to apply the skills learned in their chosen military occupational specialty.
“There’re two of us fiber optics specialists here,” he said, “so we are able to take care of most of the problems with the cables without calling the field support representative.”
Designed to carry communications and surveillance equipment, operating at altitudes of several hundred feet, the aerostat provides a bird’s-eye view across the area of responsibility.
Sgt. Anthony Palumbo, wheeled vehicle mechanic, of Sterling, Ill., 3rd STB, 3rd AAB, 4th Inf. Div., inspects the cable as he reels down the aerostat that the cable anchors. Courtesy Photo
“With the eye in the sky, we help deter the enemy,” said Williams.
To some, the aerostat is not only a great deterrent, but also a reassuring sight when it’s flying in the air. The team tries to keep it flying as often as possible, because it gives people on base a greater sense of security, said Sgt. Anthony Palumbo, wheeled vehicle mechanic, of Sterling, Ill.
The aerostat team has provided valuable data to the base defense operations center which uses the data to advise and assist Iraqi security forces in response to threats near Adder.
“The [base defense operations center] calls when they want us to look as something suspicious and we swing the camera in that direction. We provide a real-time surveillance feed so everyone sees what’s going on,” said Palumbo.
Spc. Trevor Holden, cannon crew member, of Columbus, Ohio, Battery A, 3rd Bn. 29th FA Reg., 3rd AAB, 4th Inf. Div., attaches aircraft warning lights to the cable that anchors the aerostat. Courtesy Photo
Even though the aerostat has been a part of military operations for several years, few people know about the training and hard work that is required to operate it.
“To some people it’s just a blimp tied to a cable with a few gadgets,” said Williams. “But it’s important to force protection and I’m proud that I can contribute to troop safety.”
Celebrities could soon be running for cover as paparazzi deploy unmanned drones to take their pictures, according to reports.
Paparazzi could soon be using unmanned drones to take their photographs Photo: REX
By Nick Allen in Los Angeles 6:11PM GMT 08 Nov 2010
So-called "personal drones" mounted with cameras have already been used by police in crime fighting and photographers believe they could also be used to track stars.
Remote controlled flying devices about the size of pizza boxes are being developed by several companies and universities in the US and could be in use by the end of next year.
They are much smaller, simpler versions of the Predator drones used by the CIA to fire missiles in Afghanistan.
Ken Rinaldo, an associate professor at Ohio State University, is working on the "Paparazzi Drone." At the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada earlier this year he deployed "Paparazzi Bots," human-sized robots which followed athletes and spectators and took photographs of them.
Prof Rinaldo told the Wall Street Journal his drones would have "a lot of flash and bling, probably some lasers too." The US Federal Aviation Administration advises that only the government should use unmanned drones over US airspace.
However, it does not have rules prohibiting the flying of mini-drones for recreational purposes, and only advises that such aircraft be flown at low altitude and away from airports.
The FAA said if paparazzi began using the drones the "primary concern with that would be safety issues." Supporters of the idea suggest that stars could benefit because they would no longer be followed by photographers in cars. However, lawyers suggested celebrities would fight any use of drones on privacy grounds.
Other potential uses include accompanying soldiers on the battlefield, as search and rescue tools following natural disasters, for parents to check on children, or even for suspicious husbands and wives to track their spouses.
In February it was disclosed that Merseyside Police in the UK had used a £40,000 drone called the "Air Robot" to successfully track a suspected car thief and arrest him.
I read an article today from the Homeland Security NewsWire about the recent release of AT&T's new satellite smarphone called the TerreStar Genus. As a former military operator of sophisticated satellite communications systems, I've always been impressed with the tech. I was impressed with the article about this gadget as well.
To summarize the article
"AT&T’s TerreStar Genus satellite smartphone allows users to communicate from areas where no wireless network coverage exists -- or areas where such coverage was destroyed by a disaster; the phone is not cheap, and using it is costly; there are other limitations, too -- but for those who need to stay in touch with headquarters even when outside of traditional coverage areas, or when such coverage has been disrupted, the phone offers a reasonable solution."
Beyond the typical information about features, benefits and costs there was an interesting comment made by the author about users of this device and "priviledge".
For some reason the statement "the phone offers a reasonable solution." for those "priveledged" (to use it) bothers me. I think primarily because I kept asking myself, "reasonable and priveledged for whom? and by whose standards?"
What I discovered is that while the tech is cool I started to think about the concept of two people separated by a few miles from one another trying to talk to each other and using something like this to enable those kinds of communications. Then it hit me. What bugs me is that this is a really sophisticated system that was originally developed for the United States Military to have their troops in the field be able to communicate in real time with their Headquarters which in some cases could be halfway around the world.
According to the article...
"APreports that there are some important benefits to the Genus. It could become an important tool for businesses that operate off the beaten path, like mineral mining companies, commercial fishermen, wilderness authorities, and emergency response workers."
My observation is that there are people who use and will use these devices to talk or message someone a few miles away with each other and end up paying the same premium one would expect to pay for something that enables you to talk or message someone halfway around the world. I mean think about it. Would you pay 65 cents per minute to talk to someone, $5 per megabyte to send data back and forth or pay .40 cents per text message if you could avoid it? Especially if you've got multiple people scattered out over a 20 mile radius? (as an example)
I'm not a doctor, but it seems kind of like using a sledgehammer when you need a scalpel, it just seems to me to be really expensive and inefficient.
This is the reason we're bringing our technology to market.
As I've said before, we've observed over the years that something was missing for individuals who simply need lightweight, affordable, rapidly deployable and highly mobile technology to enable them to provide themselves with effective and efficient localized voice, data & imagery coverage capabilities.
If you want to think about it in geeky computer science terms, we believe that the world is transitioning from a "Client Server or mainframe" architecture to a peer-to-peer architecture or even a Peering-Client-Peering-Server architecture. Think about the way the United States Military developed their satellite communications or satellite Imagery systems. To reflect their organizational requirements - which are global reach and centralized command and control, which is shifting and decentralizing and flattening, by the way. This leads one to choose a Client Server or main-frame architecture.
Obviously this is fantastic technology and is very useful for many many people. But it's not a cure-all for communications and imagery coverage for everyone. Again, the problem is having to connect back to a server. If you use Gmail you realize the limitations when Gmail slows down or is unavailable. It stinks!
The opportunity we see is to design, build, develop and deliver game-changing 21st century expeditionary enterprise platforms to front-line users. In addition to the simple example outlined for localized communications coverage, front-line users need the ability to generate localized iterative data and they need approachable systems, methods and techniques to accomplish this. Examples of localized iterative data are high resolution aerial images or full motion video. Of course, the data would be processed locally and then shared locally first and globally second which provides the (most important) local users "first dibs" on the data. An additional benefit will be increasingly precise data, information, decisions and execution - resulting in more desirable outcomes. By the way, the military calls this idea "Persistent Coverage". They also have an interesting project ongoing in Afghanistan right now called "Gorgon Stare".
Today, if you aren't in the military (or a humongous publicly traded corporation with gobs of investors capital and net margins to spend) how do you affordably and effeciently achieve "persistent coverage" at the local level?
Besides the military, additional users of persistent coverage generating iterative data are mineral mining companies, commercial fishermen, wilderness authorities, and emergency response workers.
Think about it, if wall street can come up with methods, techniques and systems to get the robot traders up to the minute data to generate enormous gobs of cash and transactions, why can't an expeditionary enterprise user on the front-line trying to save human life or defeat murderous thugs have a 21st century capability that puts their immediate and local needsfirst?
Global strategies, global reach, global this, global that sounds great on paper, looks wonderful in a prospectus or in the financial summary of a quarterly report or from a pundit on television.
The cold hard truth is that people (you and I) think, act and respond locally.
Like when you are trying to dig your relatives out of the rubble of a collapsed building or keep your shipmates or fellow soldier's safe in a hostile place far from the comforts and safety of home - the only thing that matters to you is to be blunt - what's going on around you. Nothing else really matters.
If you don't believe me - find a member of the military or a public safety professional or a Disaster Responder, or an NGO/Humanitarian Aid professional and ask them.
Before you ask them though, thank them for serving and for not being too "priveledged" to serve.
DARPA plans to build the network around handheld radios developed by the BBN Technologies division of Raytheon under an earlier research program, the $10 million Wireless Network After NextProject, started in 2007.
Among other things, the BBN radios include software that helps soldiers automatically locate data and information on a network. In the AWNS project, DARPA wants to use that capability as the basis for a soldier information system in which the radios would work as computers linked in a wireless environment.
Bernie Skoch, a communications consultant and retired Air Force general with extensive experience in communications, said the idea makes sense because "the distinction between radios and computers no longer exists." Today's software-based radios -- such as those under development for the military's Joint Tactical Radio System -- also are computers, Skoch said.
DARPA, in a broad agency announcement for the AWNS program, said it is seeking proposals from industry on how to tap into the networked computer resources of nine Wirelesses Network after Next radios.
The agency also wants industry's help in adapting the multiple antenna technology used in the latest standard of consumer Wi-Fi, 802.11n, to advanced radios. This multiple-input and multiple-outputtechnology helps capture weak signals, and Skoch said it is well suited for use in urban environments where traditional antennas cannot always receive signals.
The MIMO antenna DARPA wants to use in its next generation radios and networks will differ significantly from traditional vertical metal antennas. The agency said it needs help in developing antennas that would be distributed around the uniform of the soldier. Skoch said they might be built into patches that could be attached, for example, to a shoulder pad.
While traditional military radios work on selected frequencies, DARPA said it wants to develop a software-based "strategic reasoner" that will help the radios select the best frequency for a given location.
McCarthy said that later this year he plans to test tactical cellular gear from Sirran Communications at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. He also plans to test cellular systems from XG Technology Inc. that can seek out and operate on unused frequencies.
McCarthy said he is working closely with DARPA on the AWNS project and noted that development of advanced battlefield systems has the strong backing of Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the Army's vice chief of staff.
[0]wooferhound writes "A portable laser [1]backpack for 3D mapping has
been developed at the University of California, Berkeley, where it is
being hailed as a breakthrough technology capable of producing fast,
automatic and realistic 3D mapping of difficult interior environments.
... The backpack is the first of a series of similar systems to work
without being strapped to a robot or attached to a cart. At the same
time, its data acquisition speed is very fast, as it collects the data
while the human operator is walking; this is in contrast with existing
systems in which the data is painstakingly collected in a stop-and-go
fashion, resulting in days and weeks of data acquisition time. It
utilizes novel sensor fusion algorithms that use cameras, lasers range
finders and inertial measurement units to generate a textured,
photo-realistic, 3D model that can operate without GPS input and that is
a big challenge."
