Keeping Afghanistan’s roads free of improvised explosive devices is no easy feat when important routes are re-mined within hours of EOD teams clearing them. That’s why US Army has deployed the Buffalo: a six-wheeled, 38-ton, armor-plated supertruck designed to demolish roadside bombs with abandon.
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The Iowa Army Ammunition Plant (IAAAP) in Middletown, Iowa has an overabundance of two things: corn waste and excess energetics—leftover explosives, propellants, pyrotechnics and such. But using a new ethanol-based fuel cell developed by nanoMaterials Discovery Corp (nMDC) will transform these waste materials into clean, cheap, electricity. Two birds, one catalytic reaction.
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The US military’s dabbled with full-on robotic suits in the past, but it’s now looking at a less convoluted, more energy-efficient approach. A project called Warrior Web from DARPA aims to enhance soldier carrying capacity and minimize injuries by distributing loads better, providing better joint support and “reapply(ing) energy to enhance motion.” Such a suit would be equipped with sensors to detect forces, and be able to fit beneath existing uniforms while consuming only 100W of juice. The US Army has nearly completed five months of prototype testing using a multi-camera motion capture system (see the video after the break) to develop critical tech. The next step will be to design and fabricate a suit ready for real-world testing, which should happen in the fall — assuming the program keeps its footing.
Filed under: Wearables, Science
Source: DARPA
The Army certainly wants to get ahead of the competition where cool devices are concerned, and this time around, they will continue to use nature as their source of inspiration, creating self-sealing suction cups for robots that are similar in nature to those you find on an octopus. This unique design hails from the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Edgewood Chemical Biological Center and University of Maryland scientists, where it boasts of a self-sealing component as well as the ability to activate suction cups in reaction to the size and shape of the object that the robot intends to pick up.
I sure hope as heck that it works reliably at all times and circumstances, otherwise carrying some weighty items over the heads of soldiers who are bunked in their respective foxholes would have a bloody and sad ending should the suction cups fail halfway through the task. Good to know that these suction cups are said to carry the potential of working even more efficiently when underwater, similar to an actual octopus, as additional pressure from the water depth will add force, while enhancing the efficacy of the technology.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Human Rights Watch hopes to ban the creation of autonomous weapons, DARPA’s Cheetah Robot outruns Usain Bolt,
UAVs, or better known as Unmanned Air Vehicles, have become an indispensable part of modern day warfare. Basically, the chances of you wiping out an enemy is far higher if you happen to possess weapons of mass destruction as well as sport the latest that technology can offer. Well, folks in the British Army have a new “toy”, so to speak, to play around with, and that would be the Black Hornet Nano Unmanned Air Vehicle which will measure approximately 4” x 1”, and will offer troops who are on the ground the kind of situational awareness which is all too vital in sensitive missions.
The Black Hornet will come with a small camera that offers troops reliable full-motion video and still images. Instead of using one of those fiber optic cables which can be bent, soldiers can instead use it to peer around corners, or check out what lies on the other side of the wall, as well as over other obstacles in order to identify any hidden dangers as all the images captured by it will be shown off on a handheld terminal.
The Black Hornet Nano Unmanned Air Vehicle will come in the size of a child’s toy, while carrying a revolutionary new system that is easy to tote around whenever you are on patrol, where it can also perform in harsh environments and windy conditions to boot. Tipping the scales for as little as 16 grams a pop, and it has been developed by Prox Dynamics AS of Norway as part of a £20 million contract, where 160 units will be developed alongside Marlborough Communications Ltd in Surrey.
Sergeant Christopher Petherbridge of the Brigade Reconnaissance Force in Afghanistan, said, “Black Hornet is definitely adding value, especially considering the lightweight nature of it. We use it to look for insurgent firing points and check out exposed areas of the ground before crossing, which is a real asset. It is very easy to operate and offers amazing capability to the guys on the ground.”
Military Page
[ Black Hornet Nano Unmanned Air Vehicle copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Snipers are among the most valuable assets a military can deploy in battle and have become a pillar of modern US counterinsurgency tactics. While mile-and-a-half-long shots are possible, they’re not all that common. But with DARPA’s new One Shot XG scope system, any ol’ Killroy will be able to accurately fire an M24 up to a mile. More »
We’ve all seen the destruction that tsunamis can cause. It doesn’t play around. But back in 1944, the US military wanted to play around with tsunamis in hope of creating a man made tsunami bomb—basically setting off 10 large blasts in the ocean to create a 33-foot tsunami that would pulverize and drown a city. More »
It’s been 114 years since HG Wells first described the nefarious “Heat Ray” in The War of the Worlds. And finally—finally—the US military is on the cusp of deploying a mobile high energy weapon of its very own. Luckily, ours is designed to fry incoming artillery and mortar threats, not the whole of a freshly-conquered civilization. More »
Remember an episode of the cartoon Pokemon which caused seizures in over 600 Japanese children back in 1997? Well, it seems that the US Army was inspired by that particular “episode”, pardon the pun, and intend to harness the phenomenon of seizures for a new, non-lethal weapon. The kind of gun that the US Army intends to develop would be one that is capable of triggering a seizure in “100 percent of the population” across long distances – we are talking about possibly hundreds of miles here, at least that is what Wired’s Danger Room reported. According to a document that was obtained by Wired, it specifically mentioned the Pokemon seizure incident which happened on December 16th, a good 15 years ago, when flashing lights actually resulted in symptoms of epilepsy in hundreds of the Japanese viewers.
The idea of using an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) to disrupt the electrochemical pathways in the human brain results in the brain being forced to fire off wildly in a pattern that is not too different from that of an epileptic seizure. The thing is, this idea is not even remotely close to being realized in its final form, but imagine the possibilities if it were to be developed. Definitely not the kind of weapon you would want the bad guys to own, would it?
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: US Army tests female body armor in Afghanistan, The U.S Army $5B pixel pattern is a FAIL,
Sometime in July earlier this year, we ran a story on how the US Army was working on a new body armor that was specially developed to fit the female body, which is definitely a good idea since the male and female physiological make-up are different in their own unique ways. Having said that, female soldiers from Fort Campbell who are deploying to Afghanistan will have the honor of field testing the first Army body armor which was specially tailored to fit women’s physiques, being shorter in nature.
The latest generation of female-centric Army tactical vests is shorter in length so that it can accommodate smaller torsos, while being tailored to fit closer to women’s chests. It will also do away with the gaps between the material and the body, where it can be fitted with smaller side ballistic inserts for small waist sizes. Not only that, it feels lighter since it will not rest on the female soldier’s shoulders, unlike the male counterpart. In fact, one is able to perform a cartwheel in this without having the body armor fall right off, which is something that could happen if a female were to wear the old armor.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: The U.S Army $5B pixel pattern is a FAIL, i-Tactical Wheeled Vehicle inspired by iPhone,
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