defense
Latest
Army proposes cutbacks, Land Warrior not spared
Just a few weeks after the Army announced that the first battalion equipped with its high tech Land Warrior gear would be shipping out, it now looks to suddenly be putting the brakes on the program, proposing a $3.3 billion cut to its massive Future Combat Systems initiative. That cost cutting measure would not only take out the entire Land Warrior program, but a number of other futuristic weapons systems as well, and see other projects cut back or shifted to other areas. Of course, as Defense Tech points out, this is just a proposed cut, and given the recent changes at the Defense Department and in Congress, it's entirely possible that the Army will get the funding they want in the end. If not, us humans will have a few less tools at our disposal in our attempts to ward off the inevitable robot uprising.[Via docinthemachine]
Serious Games Summit: Defense dept. games
While high-profile games like America's Army and Full Spectrum Warrior show the potential of collaboration between the game industry and the defense industry, there can be some friction when these two very different worlds collide. Department of Defense (DoD) analyst Brian Williams and game designer Bob Bates have been researching this very issue, and discussed some of the their findings during a session at today's Serious Games Summit.Among the problems they discussed: While there are hundreds of games being developed by various parts of the DoD, there is no centralized area of the department governing all these projects. Despite hundreds of studies that prove the efficacy of games for education and training, the defense department is still wary to put them forth as a solution to a problem. When they do use games, they are often portrayed as a panacea solution to every problem. There is no organized repository where buyers in defense and sellers in game development can connect easily. The DoD has no rigorous evaluation process to determine whether a game actually succeeds at its goals. Many game projects go forward based on how cool they look rather than how good they are. The game industry has problem working through the mess of contracting regulations and acronyms DoD requires. Small companies don't have the resources to handle the accountability load the military places on them. While military officers are used to having their orders followed to the letter, game developers are used to questioning directions and looking for different ways to do things. Despite all these problems, Williams and Bates agreed that games would be an increasingly important part of the way the defense department does training in the future. "Games are a part of the common language these soldiers speak, and that language can be used to teach," Bates said.
Sarcos to produce US Army's exoskeletons in 2008
While Cyberdyne is off ramping up production for its own superhuman suit, it looks like Sarcos has been tasked with eventually producing an army's worth of exoskeletons here in the US. While armies across the globe have been scouting out robotic enhancements for front line GIs, the head honcho for DARPA's exoskelton program says that units enabling soldiers to "run faster, leap further and carry more will be delivered for Army testing in 2008." Sarcos bested 13 other firms seeking the presumably lucrative contract, primarily because its "system uses just one engine instead of many," and amps up the lucky (or not) individual strapped in by "driving hydraulic fluid via high pressure lines to servo valves on each joint." Of course, OSHA regulations won't allow these combustion engine-equipped suits to operate "inside of buildings," but bionic men / women shouldn't have any qualms busting out a bit of drywall to exploit that loophole anyway.
Boeing's laser-equipped 747-400F ready for testing
It looks like scenes from Independence Day and Star Wars may not be so futuristic after all, especially considering Boeing's recent unveiling of its heavily modified (and laser-equipped) 747-400F. Following the recent "first light" phase on its ATL-packin' C-130H, the "airborne laser (ABL) aircraft" was officially introduced at a ceremony in the firm's integrated defense systems facility in Wichita, and it was announced that all systems were go for "testing." Even the branch's director, General Henry Obering III, threw in a Skywalker reference as he insinuated that the forthcoming plane represented "the forces of good," and unleashing it was akin to "giving the American people their first light saber." Just be careful where you bust that bad boy out, Mr. Obering. [Via FARK]
IBM's speech recognition technology headed for trial use in Iraq
Being frequent users of machine translation ourselves, we're fully aware of the difficulties present in its execution, but IBM seems to think they've got it worked out well enough for some real-life use in Iraq. Their "Multilingual Automatic Speech-to-Speech Translator," AKA Mastor combines speech recognition, machine translation, and text-to-speech technologies to create a common translation engine that is apparently independent of languages. The system develops translation patterns off of regular conversational use of the languages, and is purportedly as speedy as a human translator -- and provides a text read-out of the conversation to boot. DARPA has had similar tech in the works for a while, but now IBM's Mastor is apparently ready enough for actual use, since they're shipping 35 Mastor-equipped ruggedized laptops to Iraq as a trial run, and will consider even more depending on how these work out. So far Mastor works for translation between English and Iraqi Arabic, standard Arabic or Mandarin. The system can run on a laptop or PDA, and should be making its way to commercial channels such as medicine before long.
2006 DARPA Grand Challenge teams announced, prize plummets to zero dollars
If there's one event we look forward to even more than the annual Robocup competition, it's DARPA's Grand Challenge, where teams from academia and corporate America butt heads to see whose autonomous vehicle can complete a previously-unknown course in the shortest amount of time. Since the 2004 Challenge ended in utter disaster (no one even came close to finishing the entire course, and most competitors barely made it past the starting line), DARPA ran the same race in 2005 with much better results: several teams succeeded in crossing the finish line, with Stanford's VW Touareg leading the pack and taking home the two million dollar bounty. Well DARPA must have figured that it had a great source of cheap R&D at its disposal with these Challenges, so this year will see a total of two events -- one up Pike's Peak (already completed) and an urban version of the original scheduled for November 3rd. To that end, the so-called Team A participants for the Urban Challenge have just been announced (including most of the usual suspects) -- these groups will get up to $1 million in development funds before the race even begins -- while the unfunded (and therefore dark horse) Team B applicants will be revealed on October 18th. Although we doubt that most of these competitors are in it for the money, a recent Congressional ruling now prohibits DARPA from offering up cash prizes, so instead, the top three teams this year will all take home shiny new...trophies. Team B wanna-bes have up until the 13th to submit their applications, but now that you know there's no riches or funding involved, you really gotta have a love of the game to participate -- unless those trophies happen to be 24-karat gold and studded with diamonds, that is, in which case they should fetch even more on eBay than Team Buffalo's losing Yamaha ATV from 2005. [Warning: PDF link] [Via GoRobotics]
An absolutely mammoth Madden interview [update 1]
IGN's got the goods, folks: this seven-page interview reveals more about Madden Wii than every past publication on the game combined. The interview covers the exact passing controls, special moves with the Wiimote, defensive manuevers, graphical capabilities, the kicking game...it's quite a read. Of note is that the Wii version won't be "dumbed down" as the initial 360 version was; it contains every single mode and feature that long-time fans of the franchise have come to expect. It also contains some new features, such as the "two-on-two" minigame, which re-enacts the classic quarterback/receiver vs. rusher/safety playground game complete with "Mississippi" counting. It truly is a goldmine of information on the game, and the interviewee is extremely candid on most everything...except, strangely enough, online play. He absolutely refused to speak a word about it. Hmmmm.[Update 1: Fixed a small typo.]
DARPA to Lockheed: Build us a maple seed-shaped UAV
Perhaps worried that their bid proposal for insect cyborgs will never pan out, the wacky minds at DARPA are now looking at the humble maple tree to provide inspiration for their future fleet of tiny surveillance drones. The agency has just awarded Lockheed Martin a 10-month contract to develop maple seed-shaped UAVs known as remote-controlled nano air vehicles (or NAVs, for short) that can be deployed from a hovercraft and whirl around urban battlefields snapping pictures and confusing enemies who have never seen a maple tree. DARPA is stipulating that the single-blade NAVs be equipped with a self-stabilizing wireless camera, yet weigh only 0.07 ounces and be capable of traveling 1,100 feet with the help of an onboard chemical rocket. Seems like a lot to ask from such a minuscule device, but the $1.7 million DARPA is shelling out will probably be enough of an incentive for Lockheed to get the job done.[Via Boing Boing]
Skyguard defense laser protects humans, kills missiles
Always one to ensure that our soldiers are equipped with the latest and greatest killing tools battlefield technology, military contractor Northrop Grumman has just unveiled a mobile defense system that creates a virtual bubble of protection against flying artillery over anything located within a five kilometer radius. Based on the Tactical High Energy Laser testbed that's been in development since 1996, the so-called Skyguard system employs target-acquisition radar and a deuterium fluoride laser to detect and shoot down a variety of airborne projectiles, including rockets, mortars, and short-range munitions. Northrop is promoting the weapon as a way for countries to defend deployed troops or critical infrastructure such as airports, and not surprisingly, Israel was one of the first foreign nations given a product pitch. Initially the system is said to cost between $150 and $200 million per installation, though mass adoption could see prices plummet to less than $30 million- and someday it may even be affordable enough to install at your very own house, providing the neighborhood kids with some not-so-subtle encouragement to keep their baseballs and frisbees out of your damn yard.[Via Gizmag and Laser Focus World]
CMU's Crusher military bot rumbles onto the scene
Although not quite as stealthy as some of the other spybots that we've seen, the 6.5-ton Crusher UGCV (Unmanned Ground Combat Vehicle), with its 8,000-pound payload and one-kilometer range, is certainly more versatile than your typical robosnake or Packbot. Unveiled today by the National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC) at Carnegie Mellon's School of Computer Science's Robotics Institute, Crusher, like its predecessor Spinner, was commissioned by DARPA to provide combat troops with a durable cargo and surveillance option that can operate mostly autonomously even in rough terrain. Crusher is powered by a series of electric motors whose batteries are charged with a turbo diesel generator -- giving it a top speed of 26 miles-per-hour -- and manages to avoid obstacles using an array of cameras and ladar lidar. Although its first two years of service will be restricted to support role duties, Army and DARPA officials will use Crusher's performance during the probationary period to evaluate its potential use in combat as well. [Warning: PDF link]
Bush: government research developed iPod
Apple has long boasted of its culture of innovation, and how this led to such products as the original Mac and the iPod. However, it turns out that, at least in the case of the iPod, Apple had a hidden ally: the US government. During a speech at Tuskegee University, President (and iPod user) George W. Bush told his audience, "the government funded research in microdrive storage, electrochemistry and signal compression. They did so for one reason: It turned out that those were the key ingredients for the development of the iPod." While we have to gratefully acknowledge the efforts of government agencies such as DARPA in some of the fields mentioned by the President, we also feel obligated to point out the accomplishments of private companies in the US and abroad, including IBM, Hitachi and Toshiba -- not to mention the Fraunhofer Institute, which developed the original MP3 codec, and codeveloped (with Sony, AT&T and others) the AAC format used by Apple in the iPod. Still, we have to bow down before his Steveness; we knew he was well-connected, but until now we had no idea of his level of influence in the area of government research. Hey, Steve, while you're at it, why not get the government to resolve the display problems plaguing the next-gen video iPod? We're sure they'll get their best minds on it and fix it in no time.
