RoboCat: not all cats are made for “likes”

Who doesn’t like a cute cat? The internet is crazy about these fluffy animals and a picture-of-a-kitty post always gets more Facebook likes than some routine photos. However, a new WildCat creature is something different.

WildCat is the latest version of the fastest robot in the world that can run up to 25 km an hour and developers hope that one day it will be able to speed over 100 km/h. This week, Boston Dynamics revealed its newest four-legged robot. The cheetah-inspired WildCat was designed with two different modes ­ "gallop" and "bound." It can successfully transition between the two different gaits just like a real cat can when it races and dodges across the prairies hunting food, which suggests the machine may ultimately be capable of greater sprinting. Boston Dynamics has been working on the robot for about a year, and believes the new invention could come handy in emergency rescue, firefighting, disaster recovery, agriculture and military operations. WildCat is really likely to end up on the battlefield fetching weapons to strategic positions as the robot was built under Defensee Advanced Research Projects Agency 's Maximum Mobility and Manipulation program, whose aim was to make "robots assist in the execution of military operations far more effectively across a far greater range of missions." Researchers also hope to make several adjustments for the WildCat to become faster, further and rougher terrain. Having obtained extra funding from DARPA, researchers have already started work on Big Dog, a futuristic pack mule, and PETMAN, an anthropomorphic robot for testing equipment. Olga Yazhgunovich. Source: Voice Of Russia

Read More........→November 09, 2013

TALOS: Military Developing Real Iron Man Suits

Army researchers are responding to a request from the U.S. Special Operations Command for technologies to help develop a revolutionary Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit. The Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit, or TALOS, is an advanced infantry uniform that promises to provide superhuman strength with greater ballistic protection. Using wide-area networking and on-board computers, operators will have more situational awareness of the action around them and of their own bodies The Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit, or TALOS, is an advanced infantry uniform that promises to provide superhuman strength with greater ballistic protection. Using wide-area networking and on-board computers, operators will have more situational awareness of the action around them and of their own bodies. The U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, known as RDECOM, is submitting TALOS proposals in response to the May 15 2013 request. "There is no one industry that can build it," said SOCOM Senior Enlisted Advisor Command Sgt. Maj. Chris Faris during a panel discussion
at a conference at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., recently, reported Defense Media Network. "The requirement is a comprehensive family of systems in a combat armor suit where we bring together an exoskeleton with innovative armor, displays for power monitoring, health monitoring, and integrating a weapon into that -- a whole bunch of stuff that RDECOM is playing heavily in," said. Lt. Col. Karl Borjes, an RDECOM science advisor assigned to SOCOM. TALOS will have a physiological subsystem that lies against the skin that is embedded with sensors to monitor core body temperature, skin temperature, heart rate, body position and hydration levels. Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are

"RDECOM cuts across every aspect making up this combat armor suit," Borjes said "It's advanced armor. It's communications, antennas. It's cognitive performance. It's sensors, miniature-type circuits. That's all going to fit in here, too."

currently developing armor made from magnetorheological fluids -- liquid body armor -- that transforms from liquid to solid in milliseconds when a magnetic field or electrical current is applied. Though still in development, this technology will likely be submitted to support TALOS.  SOCOM demonstrations will take place July 8-10 2013, at or near MacDill Air Force Base. The request asks participants to submit a white paper summary of their technology by May 31 2013, describing how TALOS can be constructed using current and emerging technologies. A limited number of participant white papers will be selected and those selected will demonstrate their technologies. The initial demonstration goal is to identify technologies that could be integrated into an initial capability within a year. A second goal is to determine if fielding the TALOS within three years is feasible. U.S. Army science advisors, such as Borjes, are embedded with major units around the world to speed technology solutions to Soldiers' needs. The Field Assistance in Science and Technology program's 30 science advisors, both uniformed officers and Army civilians, provide a link between Soldiers and the RDECOM's thousands of subject matter experts. RDECOM MISSION: The U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command has the mission to develop technology and engineering solutions for America's Soldiers.  RDECOM is a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Materiel Command. AMC is the Army's premier provider of
materiel readiness -- technology, acquisition support, materiel development, logistics power projection, and sustainment -- to the total force, across the spectrum of joint military operations. If a Soldier shoots it, drives it, flies it, wears it, eats it or communicates with it, AMC provides it. On September 23, 2010, Clark Gregg -- the actor known for his recurring role as Agent Phil Coulson in Marvel Studios' Iron Man movies -- visited the Raytheon Sarcos research lab in Salt Lake City, Utah, for the unveiling of the company's wearable XOS 2 robotics suit. Source: Nano nPatents And Innnovations

Read More........→August 06, 2013

The U.S. military want to control the thunder and lightning

U.S. intelligence agencies are interested in the possibility of controlling the Earth's climate. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has ordered the National Academy of Sciences of the United States to carry out the relevant research. This gave rise to fears that the Americans are hoping to get an offensive climatic weapon. Scientists have two years to study the possibilities of the influence of human activity on weather. This research itself seems to be quite harmless. However, the fact that it is being financed from the CIA suggests that in reality, the Americans expect to develop a climatic weapon. It is quite difficult to understand to what extent this idea is substantiated. However, the fact that the militaries of quite a few countries have long been dreaming of climatic weapon is well known. Commenting on the situation, the director of the Institute of Political and Military Analysis Alexander Sharavin said: “All leading countries of the world started developing climatic weapon more than 50 years ago. Some countries have made more progress than others. We know the cases of external influence on the climate. The problem is what will be the consequences, rather than whether we can change the climate or not. The most difficult thing in this area is to forecast the final result. And so, in view of this, it is impossible to consider all the activities in this area as attempts to develop weapons. Therefore, the sums of money which are now allocated by the American government for research in this field are very small. The sum is just a few hundred thousand dollars. This, of course, is a ridiculous amount for developing new weapons.” Meanwhile, an incident is known when the United States acted on weather for the sake of achieving military success. It happened during the Vietnamese campaign. At that time the Americans carried out the “Popeye” operation; in the rainy season they sprayed silver iodide from airplanes. As a result, the rainfall has increased threefold, while the duration of the rainy season increased 1.5 times. After such rains the roads and paths that the guerrillas used to supply weapons and ammunition turned into a continuous swamp. However, at that time it became clear that such methods of warfare are very expensive and produce short-term effect. Nevertheless, the belief that Americans are able to put “an evil climate curse" on its enemies is still alive. So, in September last year, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that the enemies of the Islamic republic were causing drought. And before that, the now deceased Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez accused the United States of being involved in triggering the earthquakes in China and Haiti in 2010. “In Russia, the blame for the anomalous heat at one time was pinned on the American HAARP (High-Frequency Active Auroral Research Programme) station,” recalls the head of climate programmes of Wildlife Fund (WWF) Alexei Kokorin: “The long-distance communications station, roughly speaking, a giant microwave oven, called the HAARP station in Alaska, is well known. And when there was a terrible heat in Moscow in the summer of 2010, there were rumors that it was caused by the activity of the station. In principle, such a station is able to punch a hole in the clouds, even at a great distance. It is a different matter that during the Moscow heat the hole was just not discovered. The HAARP station is not a unique project. Similar stations are functioning in other countries, including Russia, in the Nizhny Novgorod region. The only difference is that most of the data obtained by HAARP is classified and the U.S. Navy took part in it. Perhaps this fact contributed to the demonization of the image of the HAARP station. Be that as it may, the station was closed recently due to the lack of funds in the budget to maintain its operation. Source: Article

Read More........→July 30, 2013

SAFFiR: The Autonomous, Fire-Fighting Humanoid Robot

It took six years, but at long last, Anna Konda has a formidable firefighting partner. SAFFiR, also known

as the Shipboard Autonomous Firefighting Robot, is being shaped by scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory. As the story goes, it's a humanoid robot that's being engineered to "move autonomously throughout the ship, interact with people, and fight fires, handling many of the dangerous firefighting tasks that are normally performed by humans." Outside of being stoic (and brawny) from tip to tip, it's also outfitted with multi-modal sensor technology for advanced navigation and a sensor suite that includes a camera, gas sensor, and stereo IR camera to enable it to see through smoke. We're told that its internal batteries can keep it cranking for a solid half-hour, while being capable of manipulating fire suppressors and throwing propelled extinguishing agent technology (PEAT) grenades. Wilder still, it'll be able to balance in "sea conditions," making it perfect for killing flames while onboard a ship. Of course, it's also being tweaked to work with a robotic team, giving it undercover powers to eventually turn the flames on the folks that created it. Paranoid? Maybe. But who are we to be too careful? Update: Turns out, the same Dr. Hong that we had on The Engadget Show is responsible for this guy as well. It's the next step in evolution of the CHARLI humanoid, and the two photos seen after the break are credited to RoMeLa: Robotics & Mechanisms Laboratory, Virginia Tech. Source: The ultimate tech

Read More........→April 08, 2013

Eaton Announces utility-scale underwater energy generation for US Navy

The Eaton Corporation of Pittsburgh, Pa., is developing an underwater, utility-scale energy generation system for the US Navy. Eaton has been contracted to support the project’s land-based engineering, and will develop high-voltage electrical distribution equipment to efficiently convert and transmit safe, reliable alternative energy from the depths of the ocean to Navy shore facilities. Eaton’s participation in the project is in collaboration with privately held marine service providers Eclipse Group Inc., leading underwater construction efforts, and Triton Energy Systems, LLC, leading underwater generation engineering efforts. “Eaton provides an extensive operational footprint across the globe with the ability to rapidly respond to any electrical supply, provisioning, engineering and installation challenge across the full spectrum of the project,” said Joan Saint Amour, chief executive officer, Eclipse Group. “This will be crucial for our collaborative effort as our innovational, alternative energy generation model develops within challenging underwater environments.” The system will enable the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) to utilize underwater turbine electricity production technology to provide a sustainable source of utility-scale power by capturing power from ocean currents. NAVFAC is the U.S. Navy's engineering command committed to the procurement and maintenance of the Navy’s land-based and port facilities. “This collaboration will help meet the technical challenges associated with high-voltage generation in a saltwater environment, “ said Jim Dankowski, manager, Marketing and Business Development, Government Sales and Solutions, Eaton. “It will also promote the commercial viability of deep ocean current alternative energy, which has vast potential to become an established, highly-reliable and efficient source of energy.” The Eaton Electrical Service and Systems (EESS) division will provide land-based engineering service support as well as coordination of long-term operational land-based maintenance. The EESS division will also thoroughly document the project to create a model for future applications of this developing alternative energy model. The division is one of the largest and most experienced teams of power system engineers in the industry with dedicated facilities across the world. Eaton will also dedicate a safety support team to accommodate all aspects of safety system engineering and installation. Source: Renewable Energy Magazine

Read More........→February 14, 2013