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Manufacturing & Prototyping

Thermal Management for Fuel-Cell Systems Studied

Reducing the environmental impact of aircraft in terms of carbon dioxide, noise, and pollutant emissions is an important objective. Fuel-cell systems deliver electrical energy with high...

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Application Briefs
Defense

Armor Kits for Heavy Trucks

Over the last several years, the Army has initiated and implemented a Long Term Armor Strategy (LTAS). The LTAS provides modular armor protection for vehicles that vary dependent upon threat levels. The B-Kit...

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Articles
Aerospace

Modeling and Simulation Techniques for Unmanned Vehicle Systems

Unmanned Autonomous Vehicle (UAV) systems have become possible in recent history thanks primarily to the effects of Moore’s Law — the doubling of processing power every 18...

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INSIDER
Robotics, Automation & Control

Researchers Aim to Create ‘MacGyver’ Robot

Robots are increasingly being used in place of humans to explore hazardous and difficult-to-access environments, but they aren’t yet able to interact with their environments as well as...

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Application Briefs
Aerospace

Vertical Take-Off and Landing UAV

The Air Force has announced that the MLB V-Bat Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) UAV from the MLB Company (Sunnyvale, CA) has been selected for a Phase II SBIR award. The military branch seeks a vehicle...

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Articles
Unmanned Systems

Airflow and Thermal Analysis of UAV De-Icing Systems

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has been increasing around the world as many countries have been rapidly adding UAVs to their arsenals during the past decade. One of the most...

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Articles
Unmanned Systems

UAV Applications Challenge the Limits of Embedded Computing Technologies

Unmanned Vehicles (UAV/UAS) have proven to be vital, strategic new weapons in the military’s arsenal by providing needed critical intelligence, surveillance and...

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Application Briefs
Aerospace

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Engine

Schiebel Technology, Inc.
Manassas, VA
(540) 351-1736
www.schiebel.net

Schiebel recently conducted the successful first flight of a heavy-fuel-powered CAMCOPTER® S-100 UAS (Unmanned Air...

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INSIDER
Robotics, Automation & Control

Researchers Build Robot Jellyfish

Researchers at The University of Texas at Dallas and Virginia Tech have created an undersea vehicle inspired by the common jellyfish that runs on renewable energy and could be used in ocean rescue and...

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Application Briefs
Robotics, Automation & Control

Silicone Cables: Silicone Encased Cables Make Military Robots More Reliable

Cicoil’s highly flexible and durable flat silicone cables are being used on unmanned ground based military robotic vehicles that require absolute reliability in mission critical and extreme environment conditions. Unlike bulky and stiffer round cables, flat silicone...

INSIDER
Sensors/Data Acquisition

Navy Tests Sensor-Equipped UAVs

The Naval Research Laboratory Vehicle Research Section has successfully completed flight tests for the Autonomous Deployment Demonstration (ADD) program. The final demonstration took place at the Yuma Proving...

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Articles
Aerospace

Making Unmanned Ground Vehicles Operate More Autonomously

The US Army has announced plans to increase the autonomy of its Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs). “We are moving along that spectrum from tele-operating to semi-autonomy where you...

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Articles
Aerospace

Using Java in Avionics and UAV Applications

Though developers of avionics software are among the most conservative in the software engineering community, and rightly so, Java is beginning to penetrate even this very specialized industry. The...

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Articles
Robotics, Automation & Control

Designing Future Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

So far, defense companies have done a credible job fielding Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs), Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), or other water-borne robots to address critical...

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Articles
Defense

Multi-Robot Operator Control Unit for Unmanned Systems

The U.S. military has incorporated many robotic systems into battlefield scenarios over the past several years, ranging from a single vehicle or unattended sensor to multiple vehicles...

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Briefs
Information Technology

Planning Observations by Unmanned Surface Vessels

Three algorithms, and software that implements the algorithms, have been conceived and analyzed as means of effecting automated planning of scientific observations by a fleet of unmanned...

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Articles
Aerospace

Micro Air Vehicles Serve as Eyes in the Sky for Ground Troops

Honeywell Aerospace has developed the Micro Air Vehicle (MAV), an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) based on ducted-fan technology that recently was deployed in Iraq to identify...

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Articles
Robotics, Automation & Control

Data-Centric Distributed Application Architecture for Shipboard Systems

System architects design distributed applications leveraging computer resources connected by a network infrastructure: CPU-intensive tasks may be located on powerful...

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Articles
Aerospace

Update on NASA’s Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

In the August issue of Defense Tech Briefs, we highlighted NASA’s Altair/Predator B unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for Earth science missions. A lot has happened in the past two months, so we’re...

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Briefs
Materials

Corrosion Suppression Technologies and Techniques

Members of AFRL's Air Force Corrosion Prevention and Control Office (AFCPCO) teamed with corrosion experts from Warner Robins Air Logistics Center to assess environmentally induced damage to...

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Briefs
RF & Microwave Electronics

Unmanned SkyTote Demonstrates Capabilities

AFRL scientists are working on SkyTote, a novel unmanned air vehicle (UAV) that will take off and land vertically like a helicopter (see figure) but also transition into horizontal flight like a...

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Briefs
Unmanned Systems

AFRL Supports Desert Hawk Program

AFRL aeronautical engineers collaborated with the Electronic Systems Center's (ESC) Force Protection Program Office, Hanscom Air Force Base (AFB), Massachusetts, to conduct an in-house effort assessing the...

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Briefs
Information Technology

Coordination of Autonomous Unmanned Air Vehicles

Future autonomous unmanned air vehicles (UAV) will need to work in teams to share information and coordinate activities in much the same way as current manned air systems. Funded by AFRL,...

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