Briefs

Robotics, Automation & Control

Can Multi-Fingered Robots Transform Shipboard Operations and Autonomous Maintenance?

In dynamic, unstructured environments like ship decks and even home kitchens, robots today still struggle to perform precision tasks such as tightening bolts or handling wires. This makes critical ship maintenance tasks difficult. USC researcher Erdem Bıyık aims to advance robots’ finger manipulation and integrate human feedback to enable realtime learning for robots in an upcoming three-year, $750,000 project. Read on to learn more.

Articles

Robotics, Automation & Control

Leonardo DRS Expands Production Capacity to Advance Naval Power, Sensors, and AI-Driven Mission Systems

Leonardo DRS has opened a new naval power and propulsion manufacturing and testing facility in Charleston, South Carolina, expanding its role in delivering next generation electric propulsion, integrated power systems, and high energy payload support for U.S. Navy surface and undersea platforms. Read on to learn all about it.

Articles

Defense

How Forterra Is Enabling Modular Military Vehicle Autonomy

What are autonomy-enabling modules, and what type of autonomous applications is Forterra enabling with these new modules? Check out some of our Q&A session with Patrick Acox, Forterra Vice President of Defense Growth, during his appearance on the Aerospace & Defense Technology podcast to answer these questions and more.

INSIDER

Defense

Meeting the Demands of Defense Production and Sustainment Through Additive Manufacturing

When a chilled water pump failed aboard a U.S. guided missile destroyer, maintainers ran into an all-too-familiar problem. The six-blade cooling rotor...

Podcasts of the Month

Robotics, Automation & Control

Aerospace & Defense Podcasts

Listen to four Aerospace & Defense Technology podcasts from the last month.

INSIDER

Robotics, Automation & Control

Algorithms for Autonomous Marine Vehicles

Autonomous cars have hit the roads, and drones fly in the skies. But what about the water? Marine vehicles have a host of challenges that make maritime autonomy extremely difficult. That’s why...

Podcasts

Aerospace

Autonomous Drones Harness Wind for ISR and Counter UAS

Rob Creighton, Windlift Founder & CEO, is the guest on this episode of the Aerospace & Defense Technology podcast to explain how Windlift's autonomous tethered drone system leverages wind to power a wide variety of defense applications.

Podcasts

Aerospace

Autonomous Targeting Systems for a New Autonomous Ground Vehicle

Bryan Bockmon, CEO of AimLock, is the guest on this episode of the Aerospace & Defense Technology podcast to discuss their new partnership with Overland AI and the future of autonomous targeting systems in modern warfare.

Podcasts

AR/AI

The Army's New Approach to Buying AI, Drones, and Robotics

Listen to this episode of the Aerospace & Defense Technology podcast to hear selected portions from Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll’s AUSA 2025 opening keynote. In it, he discusses the Army’s transition to a drone-centric future and an acquisition paradigm reshaped by Silicon Valley principles. Listen now!

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Test & Measurement

A New Quantum Materials Research System

Scientists at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) have a powerful new tool to accelerate discovery in quantum materials for advanced electronics. The laboratory recently completed installation of...

Articles

Aerospace

2025 RISING STAR AWARDS Aerospace and Defense Winner – Keshika Warnakula

Keshika Warnakula is a Senior Flight Mechanics Engineer at Syos Aerospace Limited and the winner of the 2025 Rising Stars Award Aerospace and Defense category. Read on to learn more about her via this interview.

INSIDER

Robotics, Automation & Control

Four New Military Ground Vehicles Unveiled at DSEI 2025

Several defense companies unveiled new military ground vehicles for a wide variety of international programs and applications during at the Defense & Security Equipment...

INSIDER

Defense

A New Depth Perception System for Explosive Ordinance Disposal Robots

What started as a school project has developed into a promising innovation for explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) operations across the Department of Defense (DoD).

INSIDER

Manufacturing & Prototyping

How the US Army is Advancing Research in Robotics, AI and Autonomy

U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory (DEVCOM ARL) researchers recently highlighted some of the groundbreaking work they're performing...

Articles

Robotics, Automation & Control

Swarm Robotics: A Requiem for the Assembly Line

Aircraft manufacturing is on the cusp of its most profound transformation since the dawn of powered flight. The assembly line — a staple of industrial production for over a century — is about to be replaced by a far more efficient and cost-effective alternative: Swarm Robotics. Read on to learn more about it.

Application Briefs

Robotics, Automation & Control

The Marines New Installation Counter UAS System

The U.S. Marine Corps awarded a 10-year, $642 million program of record to Anduril Industries to develop and sustain their new Installation-Counter small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (I-CsUAS) technology. I-CsUAS is a platform powered by machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) to protect Marine Corps installations globally by detecting, identifying, tracking and defeating small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). Read on to learn more.

Podcasts

Robotics, Automation & Control

How Pratt & Whitney Uses a Robot to Help Build Jet Engines

Kevin Kirkpatrick, Vice President of Aftermarket Global Operations, Pratt & Whitney, is the guest on this episode of the Aerospace & Defense Technology podcast.

Briefs

Manned Systems

AI-Trained Vehicles Can Adjust to Extreme Turbulence on the Fly

Researchers at Caltech took an important step toward using reinforcement learning to adaptively learn how turbulent wind can change over time, and then uses that knowledge to control a UAV based on what it is experiencing in real time.

INSIDER

Defense

This Robot Dog Detects Nuclear Material and Chemical Weapons

Buckley Space Force Base is home to one of the Department of Defense’s (DoD) only two chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear quadrupedal unmanned ground vehicles (QUGV).

INSIDER

Manned Systems

Army Receives New Robot Combat Vehicle Prototypes

Three of the four defense industry teams selected to submit test vehicles for the U.S. Army's Robotic Combat Vehicle competition have completed deliveries of their prototypes since August,...

INSIDER

Manned Systems

Army Evaluates 3D Printing for Bradley Fighting Vehicle's Transmission Mount

SPEE3D, an Melbourne, Australia-based supplier of additive manufacturing technology successfully participated in the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development...

Briefs

Unmanned Systems

Creating and Verifying Stable AI-Controlled Systems in a Rigorous, Flexible Way

Researchers have developed new techniques that rigorously certify Lyapunov calculations in more elaborate systems. Their algorithm efficiently searches for and verifies a Lyapunov function, providing a stability guarantee for the system. Read on to learn more.

Briefs

Robotics, Automation & Control

Will Generative AI Transform Robotics?

In the current wave of excitement about applying large vision–language models and generative AI to robotics, expectations are running high, but conquering real-world complexities remains challenging for robots. Read on to learn more about the matter.

INSIDER

Robotics, Automation & Control

How AR, Robotics are Increasing Speed of Space Payload Manufacturing at Northrop

The speed of getting to space relies on more than just the thrust of a rocket. Before any countdown begins, satellite systems must be designed, manufactured...

Articles

Electronics & Computers

Digital Twinning and Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information

Creating a digital twin is not just a technical feat; it is a strategic imperative that touches every facet of modern business. From security to sovereignty and from trust to ethics, the decisions made today about digital twin architecture will reverberate long into the future. Read on to learn more.

Briefs

Materials

A New Approach to Assessing the Quality of Aerospace Components

In a study, published in the Journal Waves in Random and Complex Media, researchers from the University of Bristol have derived a formula that can inform the design boundaries for a given component’s geometry and material microstructure.

Briefs

Electronics & Computers

Researchers Help Robots Navigate Efficiently in Uncertain Environments

MIT researchers developed a method that could help this robot efficiently reason about the best routes to its destination.

Articles

Unmanned Systems

10 Unmanned Ground Vehicles Being Developed and Tested Around the World

Unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), robot combat vehicles or autonomous vehicles, no matter what you call them, are increasingly being developed, prototyped and tested for future use in autonomous and teaming operations or scenarios with manned vehicles. This article provides updates on some of the latest prototyping, development, purchasing and deployment of 10 new military UGVs.

Application Briefs

Electronics & Computers

Grip Tab Active Controllers

Advanced Technology International has issued a $2.67 million contract to AeroVironment for the production of its Tomahawk Grip Tab Active (Grip TA) controllers, that will be managed by the U.S. Marine Corps Warfighting Lab (MCWL).