3D Printing Drones Work Like Bees to Build and Repair Structures September 21, 2022
Introduction:
(EurekAlert) The technology, which has been tested in the lab, could ultimately be used for manufacturing and building in difficult-to-access or dangerous locations such as tall buildings or help with post-disaster relief construction, say the researchers.
3D printing is gaining momentum in the construction industry. Both on-site and in the factory, static and mobile robots print materials for use in construction projects, such as steel and concrete structures.
This new approach to 3D printing - led in its development by Imperial and Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories of Materials Science and Technology - uses flying robots, known as drones, that use collective building methods inspired by natural builders like bees and wasps who work together to create large, intricate structures.
The drones in the fleet, known collectively as Aerial Additive Manufacturing (Aerial-AM), work co-operatively from a single blueprint, adapting their techniques as they go. They are fully autonomous while flying but are monitored by a human controller who checks progress and intervenes if necessary, based on the information provided by the drones.
Lead author Professor Kovac, of Imperial’s Department of Aeronautics and Empa’s Materials and Technology Center of Robotics said: “We’ve proved that drones can work autonomously and in tandem to construct and repair buildings, at least in the lab. Our solution is scalable and could help us to construct and repair building in difficult-to-reach areas in the future.”
Russia’s Drone War Erupts Thanks To Iran by Emma Helfrich and Tyler Rogoway
September 23, 2022
Introduction:
(The Drive) Key areas in southern Ukraine came under attack from a number of Iran-supplied Shahed-136 'kamikaze' or 'suicide' drones today. It is by far the most high-profile and concentrated use of these types of weapons by Russian forces. Video evidence also emerged in recent hours showing an Iranian Mohajer-6 medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle being recovered from the water by Ukrainian forces, serving as the drone’s first recorded sighting on the Ukrainian battlefield.
The evidence of Mohajer-6’s presence was shared by the Southern Air Command of the Ukrainian Air Force. Up until now, only Shahed-136s had been spotted in Ukraine, making it so the recent Mohajer-6 retrieval would confirm that both Iranian drones were included in deliveries from Iran to Russia that had occurred earlier this month. This matches our report on what drones would likely end up being used by Russia in Ukraine as part of a deal between Iran and Russia that had been in the works since at least July. The employment of these Iranian drones has the potential to disrupt the conflict in multiple ways.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this year and the fighting that has followed has yielded some remarkable imagery, sometimes providing suggestions of what future warfare might look like, and other times seemingly recalling warfare of a previous age. Among the latest such video shows a close-quarters ‘duel’ fought between a pair of quadcopter unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, the kind that are familiar to hobbyists, but which now are also firmly established as critical capabilities in conflicts in all corners of the globe.
The video, just 16 seconds long, began to circulate widely on social media today and has attracted much commentary in the process. The footage is reportedly shot from a Ukrainian Armed Forces UAV, a Chinese-made DJI Mavic-type quadcopter, but no details about the type are discernable from the video. The camera aboard the drone observes what is purported to be a Russian (or pro-Russian) controlled quadcopter, which approaches the Ukrainian UAV before seemingly moving to collide with it, losing at least one rotor blade as a result, then plummeting toward the ground. The footage is undated but is said to have been taken in the skies over the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future
China’s Four-Engine ‘Scorpion D’ Cargo Drone Has Flown
by Emma Helfrich
October 26, 2022
Introduction:
(The Drive) A cargo drone dubbed TB0D Scorpion D and built by China’s Tengden Technology company completed its maiden flight in Sichuan on October 25. The company says Scorpion D will be able to carry payloads weighing up to 1.5 tons.
Scorpion D is equipped with four propellers driven by gas engines, two under each of its wings, which are fitted high atop the drone’s fuselage. The company has also shared the Scorpion D’s supposed technical specifications, which detail that the cargo drone clocks in at 34 feet (10.5 m) in length, stands at 10 feet (3.1 m) tall, and has a 65-foot (20 m) wingspan.
Along with its substantial payload capacity, reportedly up to 1.5 tons, Scorpion D’s maximum takeoff weight is 4.35 tons. Scorpion D’s cargo hold is said to measure out to about 31 square feet and about 5 cubic meters, which would leave ample room for a variety of equipment and supplies be it civilian or military depending on the use case.
It would also appear that the cargo drone will serve as another variant in a growing series of aircraft being produced by the company. This ‘family’ of Tengden drones began with a separate system designated as the TB-001 Scorpion medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) drone, which is also Tengden’s flagship aircraft. Considering that information about how exactly Scorpion D will be controlled and operated as well as the drone’s range doesn't appear readily available, its progenitor's specifications could be beneficial in better understanding how Scorpion D will perform once operational.
Crewless Black Hawk Helicopter Pulls Off Complex Mission Autonomously by Tom Hale
November 4, 2022
Introduction:
(IFL Science) An autonomous Black Hawk helicopter has cracked on with its latest test flight and shown it safely and reliably perform cargo resupply missions – all without the need for human pilots.
In mid-October, the helicopter managed to fly without any crew onboard for 133 kilometers (83 miles) around the Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona while carrying 400 units of real and simulated blood weighing 226 kilograms (500 pounds). Part of this journey even involved the helicopter descending into a valley as low as 61 meters (200 feet) above ground level.
In another flex last month, the crewless helicopter lifted off with a 1,179-kilogram (2,600-pound) load attached to a 12-meter (40-foot) sling and flew at 100 knots for 30 minutes toward a landing zone.
A training mission was also designed to simulate the evacuation of an injured soldier, in which a model of a causalty was loaded on the helicopter and flown to a field hospital.
“We showed how the optionally piloted Black Hawk helicopter can be flown by human pilots, who then land the aircraft and simply flip a switch to activate flight with zero pilots,” Igor Cherepinsky, Sikorsky Innovations director, said in a statement.
Iranian Mohajer-6 Drones Used by Russia Are Loaded With Western Parts by Emma Helfrich
November 16, 2022
Introduction:
(The Drive) Documentation obtained by the Wall Street Journal shows that a number of electronic components powering the Iranian-made Mohajer-6 drones used by Russian forces in Ukraine were actually produced in the United States and other allied nations. In order to make these discoveries, it is claimed that the Ukrainian military ‘hacked’ one of the drones while in flight and ‘landed’ it where it was then recovered and inspected by Ukrainian military intelligence officials. Other Iranian drones downed by Ukrainian forces have been and continue to be inspected, and the ongoing investigation points to serious vulnerabilities in the global supply chain that are allowing adversarial nations like Iran to gain from the West’s technological advancements.
Iran first began supplying Russian forces with combat drones early this fall. Just weeks after rumors suggested that the weapons transfer had begun, the drones started making their appearance in Ukraine in big ways. The first hard evidence that Iran’s Shahed-136 loitering munition, also referred to as a ‘kamikaze’ drone due to its dive-bomb attacks that destroy not only its target but the aircraft itself in the process, had begun striking targets in Ukraine emerged in September. At least one Mohajer-6 reconnaissance and attack drone was also downed and recovered by Ukrainian forces that month, which was later dissected for inspection, but is unclear if this is the same uncrewed aircraft at the center of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report.
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) piece, which is worth its own read, the recent findings gathered by Ukrainian intelligence reveal that approximately three-quarters of the electronics discovered inside captured Iranian drones employed against Ukraine were made in the United States. WSJ noted that each of the components identified by Ukrainian military intelligence was then verified by the Independent Anti-Corruption Commission (NAKO), which is a Kyiv-based nonprofit that seeks to reduce opportunities for corruption in the Ukrainian defense sector by reviewing military contracts and arms. These findings are especially noteworthy considering the strict international sanctions that have been imposed against Iran, as it suggests that either the proper sanctions aren’t being implemented or that Tehran is more than capable of skirting them, which in itself isn’t all that surprising.
Taiwan Shows Off Its Radar-Killing Kamikaze Drones by Emma Helfrich
November 16, 2022
Introduction:
(The Drive) Taiwan this Tuesday invited the media to an exhibition of various capabilities from its locally developed drone arsenal. Two specific systems that were pointedly highlighted in coverage of the event were the vehicle-launched Chien Hsiang loitering munition and the Teng Yun reconnaissance drone that is known for bearing a resemblance to the MQ-9 Reaper. The exhibition showcased diverse uncrewed developments in Taiwan, which could be a factor in a future conflict with the mainland as threats to the island's sovereignty grow.
The drone exhibition event was hosted by the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST), a Taiwanese government-owned military technology manufacturer that develops a wealth of the Republic of China Armed Forces’ weapons like the Hsiung Feng anti-ship missile and the Yun Feng supersonic cruise missile.
NCSIST provided an especially rare look at one weapon in particular: the truck-launched Chien Hsiang. These indigenous anti-radiation loitering munitions are designed to take out enemy radars positioned at sea, on the coast, or inland, according to NCSIST. The company also claimed that Chien Hsiang can strike other unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), but it wasn't made clear exactly how this is achieved. It's possible it could home in on the emissions of slower-moving drones and attack them, but that would be a relatively limited and questionable use case.
The Taiwan government-owned news outlet Focus Taiwan covered a press briefing held at the event during which Chi Li-ping, head of the NCSIST’s Aeronautical Systems Research Division, revealed that Chien Hsiang has a maximum flight time of five hours and can strike targets approximately 621 miles away (1,000 km).
Drones Have Become a Revolution in Military Affairs by Theodore Karasik
December 24, 2022
Introduction:
(Eurasia Review) Today’s use of drones and munitions is a revolution in military affairs, or RMA. Too many analyses suffer from misunderstandings that have been feeding into drone use, specifically Iran’s ability to create its doctrine and its exports.
Research shows that advances in technology can bring about dramatic changes in military operations, often termed RMAs. Such technology-driven changes in military operations are not merely a recent phenomenon — they have been occurring since the dawn of history and will continue to occur in the future. And they will continue to bestow a military advantage on the first nation to develop and use them.
Studies reveal that militaries being willing to conduct operations in new ways and establish new promotion pathways for trainees who practice a new way of war, with mechanisms for experimentation so they can discover, learn, test and demonstrate new ideas, can be seen from Ukraine to Yemen. It is important to note that some scholars argue that RMAs have little to no influence beyond the tactical and operational levels of confrontation and war. This approach is mistaken, as there has been an evolution in thought.
Learning lessons from watching the use of drones in various theaters of war over time reveals that sophistication requires supply. The off-the-shelf aspect to drone use — as represented by Chinese DJI drones, Turkey’s Bayraktar TB2 and Russia’s Orion drones — delivers results of varying degrees. For example, using drones to drop mortars on Russian supply lines is a major advancement in tactics and likely leads next to swarming techniques with multiple drone systems. It is important to actively watch and learn from what is developing from a technological perspective globally with drone use, and how those evolutions and maturity models are shaping the security environment as part of the drone RMA.
Given that drones are now ubiquitous, they are likely to play a key role in the way Al-Shabab conducts its operations, just as other terrorist groups that are looking for more effective methods to spread their chaotic message have begun to do the same. This fact is an inevitable part of the drone RMA.
Amazon has begun delivering orders by drone. Amazon Prime Air is now operating in Lockeford, Calif. and College Station, Texas, delivering a small number of packages just in time for Christmas.
In August of this year, the retail giant received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to use drones for package deliveries. The maximum payload for Prime Air is 5 lb, and Amazon says that 85 percent of its shipments fall under that weight.
Residents of both towns can sign up for the service, and Amazon will then confirm that the company can deliver safely to the customer's address. Once an order is placed, the customer gets an estimated delivery time and tracking info.
"The drone will fly to the designated delivery location, descend to the customer's backyard, and hover at a safe height," Amazon said. "It will then safely release the package and rise back up to altitude."
Lockeford is a small, rural town of about 3,500 residents located about 50 miles southeast of Sacramento and just northwest of Stockton, making it an ideal location to pilot drone delivery. College Station is roughly 100 miles northwest of Houston and is the home of Texas A&M University.
MIT Devises Algorithm That Keeps Drones From Colliding
Robust MADER requires all drones in a flock to agree on non-intersecting paths, but they don't all have to agree at the same time.
By Ryan Whitwam March 30, 2023 https://www.extremetech.com/science/mit ... -colliding
Today's drone aircraft are capable of impressive feats of aerial acrobatics, but a single drone can't do much. Most proposed applications for drone aircraft call for a flock of them, but the risk of collision is omnipresent. A new trajectory planning algorithm devised by MIT researchers might be able to prevent that.
MIT researchers first tackled this problem in 2020 with the development of MADER. This multiagent trajectory planner allows a group of drones to choose paths and share data so they don't run into each other. While each agent in the MADER cluster is supposed to take the trajectory of others into account, the team found it failed to prevent all collisions in real-world testing. "The drones need to talk to each other to share trajectories, but once you start flying, you realize pretty quickly that there are always communication delays that introduce some failures," says Kota Kondo, the lead author of the study (which has not yet been peer-reviewed).
The issue, it turns out, is that if trajectory data isn't up-to-date when an agent chooses its flight path, it could end up on a course that smacks right into one of its companions. The team is now back with Robust MADER, which addresses that shortcoming by ensuring each drone chooses a collision-free course even when communication is delayed.
The US Army has chosen the enhanced vertical liftoff V-BAT UAS developed by Northrop Grumman and Shield AI to take part in the Army's Future Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (FTUAS) competition, Increment 2, to find a replacement for the venerable RQ-7B Shadow tactical drone.
First flown in 1991, the RQ-7B Shadow has racked up an impressive operational record since it first entered service in 2001. However, its catapult launch system, arrestor wire landings, and inability to operate in all weather means its days are numbered and the US Army is seeking a simpler and more effective replacement.
One formal candidate is an enhanced version of the V-BAT drone platform originally developed by Martin UAV, which finished flight testing in 2021. Unlike the Shadow, the V-BAT is designed to be transported and operated by a team of two soldiers, lifts off and lands resting on its tail, flies horizontally, and is equipped with a ducted fan to provide better performance while protecting the operators from exposed blades.
V-BAT is designed to be transported and launched by two soldiers
Turkey’s ‘Drone Carrier’ Amphibious Assault Ship Enters Service by Emma Helfrich
April 11, 2023
Introduction:
(The Drive) The Turkish Navy on Monday celebrated the entry into service of its new flagship, the TCG Anadolu, now the country’s largest warship, with an inauguration ceremony held about three months after the ship’s actual delivery due to scheduling conflicts. The Anadolu is classed as an amphibious assault ship, but officials in Turkey say they have big plans to also use the vessel as a carrier for different tiers of armed drones.
Based on the design of Spain’s Juan Carlos I amphibious assault ship, Anadolu was laid down at the Sedef Shipyard in the city of Istanbul beginning in 2018. The vessel was launched just one year later and preliminary trials were completed in 2022. Speaking at the delivery ceremony also held at Sedef, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan noted that 70% of Anadolu was built using only parts and components made in Turkey, including its weapons, combat systems, radars, infrared search-and-track capability, and electronic warfare suite.
(See linked article for Twitter feed).
This vessel will allow us to conduct military and humanitarian operations in every corner of the world when needed," said Erdogan. "We see this vessel as a symbol that will consolidate Turkey's regional leadership position."
Anadolu has a typical landing helicopter dock (LHD) configuration, with a large flight deck on top and a well deck at the rear. It's intended to project forces ashore during an amphibious assault using helicopters, landing craft, and both light and heavy armored vehicles. Erdogan went on to speak about the range of additional capabilities Anadolu could provide as well, which include command and control, medical support, and humanitarian relief.
Erdogan also prominently highlighted Anadolu’s ability to carry and deploy a variety of armed drones, which is a concept that Turkey has been envisioning for the vessel for some time now. Since the ship was initially ordered back in 2015, Anadolu has evolved to become a unique multipurpose vessel that also can focus on unmanned aircraft operations. In this way, it should move beyond traditional manned rotary-wing capabilities, basically acting as a light aircraft carrier for combat drones.
The age of uncrewed air combat took a step forward as two Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) JACKAL drones developed by Flyby Technology successfully fired a Thales Lightweight Multirole Missiles (LMM) in tests sponsored by the Rapid Capabilities Office (RCO) of the Royal Air Force.
Ever since it was realized that a reconnaissance drone could be armed with bombs or missiles, Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles (UCAV) have become a standard part of many nation's air wings. However, simply bolting a weapon to a wing or sticking a warhead in a suicide drone is still a very long way from a true air combat vehicle.
Working with Turkish partners FlyBVLOS Technology and Maxwell Innovations, UK-based Flyby Technology is developing its JACKAL UCAV, which is aimed at countries that cannot afford to field attack helicopters or light fighter aircraft. By being able to take off and land vertically, it doesn't require vulnerable runways or roads and it can carry out battlefield air interdiction, close air support, anti-helicopter, and anti-armor missions.
caltrek wrote: ↑Sat Dec 24, 2022 9:30 pm Drones Have Become a Revolution in Military Affairs by Theodore Karasik
December 24, 2022
Introduction:
(Eurasia Review) Today’s use of drones and munitions is a revolution in military affairs, or RMA. Too many analyses suffer from misunderstandings that have been feeding into drone use, specifically Iran’s ability to create its doctrine and its exports.
Research shows that advances in technology can bring about dramatic changes in military operations, often termed RMAs. Such technology-driven changes in military operations are not merely a recent phenomenon — they have been occurring since the dawn of history and will continue to occur in the future. And they will continue to bestow a military advantage on the first nation to develop and use them.
Studies reveal that militaries being willing to conduct operations in new ways and establish new promotion pathways for trainees who practice a new way of war, with mechanisms for experimentation so they can discover, learn, test and demonstrate new ideas, can be seen from Ukraine to Yemen. It is important to note that some scholars argue that RMAs have little to no influence beyond the tactical and operational levels of confrontation and war. This approach is mistaken, as there has been an evolution in thought.
Learning lessons from watching the use of drones in various theaters of war over time reveals that sophistication requires supply. The off-the-shelf aspect to drone use — as represented by Chinese DJI drones, Turkey’s Bayraktar TB2 and Russia’s Orion drones — delivers results of varying degrees. For example, using drones to drop mortars on Russian supply lines is a major advancement in tactics and likely leads next to swarming techniques with multiple drone systems. It is important to actively watch and learn from what is developing from a technological perspective globally with drone use, and how those evolutions and maturity models are shaping the security environment as part of the drone RMA.
Given that drones are now ubiquitous, they are likely to play a key role in the way Al-Shabab conducts its operations, just as other terrorist groups that are looking for more effective methods to spread their chaotic message have begun to do the same. This fact is an inevitable part of the drone RMA.
The one and only problem with A.i within my opinion is connecting these drones and robots to it and training it to kill. That could turn very ugly fast. We're dumb enough as a species to do such an idiotic thing too. North Korea or Russia may do it.
