Hasta La Gadget!

Creating a mobile ad hoc network is tricky when rounding people up for a game or two, let alone when linking thousands of soldiers whose lives are at stake. DARPA has had enough trouble getting such large-scale networks off the ground that it just put out an official request for solutions. The agency wants ad hoc technology that grows both elegantly and automatically, and it’s prepared to ditch legacies like internet-based networking to get there — in fact, it would rather not rely on IP technology when 20 years of research in that area hasn’t panned out. Anyone sitting on a brilliant solution has until May 24th to submit an abstract for consideration ahead of an August 7th symposium. We hope at least a few people answer the call, if just for the possibilities that breakthroughs spill over to civilian life — DARPA helped build the networking we’re using right now, after all.

Filed under: Networking, Alt

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Via: DARPA

Source: Federal Business Opportunities

When we think about GPS satellites, most of us think about how the typical consumer uses GPS in their vehicle to get from one place to another. In fact, many people rely so heavily on GPS that in the event of a map problem, some people have literally driven right off the road because they depend so heavily on GPS. While a significant GPS outage for your average consumer might be an annoyance, an outage for the military could be catastrophic.

The military uses a number of different types of weapons that rely on GPS signals to accurately track and destroy enemy targets. If the GPS satellite system were to go down due to accident or a military strike, GPS guided missiles, and bombs could be rendered ineffective. DARPA doesn’t like the thought of military weapons rendered ineffective by taking down a few satellites that orbit unprotected in space.

Therefore, researchers at DARPA have been working on creating something called the TIMU, or Timing and Inertial Measurement Unit. This tiny chip has everything it needs on the single piece of silicon to navigate around the globe without relying on GPS satellites. The sensor has a six-axis IMU including three accelerometers and three gyroscopes. It also has a highly accurate master clock all packed into a space measuring only 10 mm.

DARPA says that the tiny piece of silicon can give hardware using it a near precise location. DARPA says that the little sensor works because it provides three pieces of information that are required to accurately guide anything to a desired destination. The three pieces of information are orientation, acceleration, and time. The chip DARPA designed uses six layers of silica and is only 50 microns thick. That is about thickness of a human hair with each of the six layers providing a different function depending on the sensor embedded there. The TIMU does have applications outside of military use and could allow for civilian GPS devices offering improved navigation indoors or underground where GPS satellites can’t be used.

[via Element 14]

DARPA divorces satellites for GPS-free tracking chip is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
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DARPA-funded DRS Technologies, Inc has developed a new 1280 x 720 night vision camera with pixels just five microns across—that’s reportedly just one-twelfth the size of a human hair. So. Small. The new tech isn’t just way more practical, it could save the government a bundle of money, too. More »

If there’s one company that has the best chance of bringing the robopocalypse to reality, it has to be Boston Dynamics. Between BigDog, AlphaDog, Cheetah and Sand Flea, they’re building a veritable army of robo-animals on behalf of DARPA. One of the more interesting projects to come out of Boston Dynamics is Petman, a humanoid robot, capable of walking and climbing stairs.

Now, the company has just released a new video of the robot taking its first steps while wearing human clothing.

In the video clip below, you’ll see Petman stomp around on a moving platform, as he shows off his finest camouflage wear.

While its moves are still overwhelmingly robotic, Petman is still an incredibly impressive, if intimidating marvel of engineering. And I certainly wouldn’t want to run into him on a bad day.

You might wonder why a robot needs to wear clothing, but this test was designed could put protective suits humans would wear in a hazardous environment to the test, and to use its built in skin sensors to detect any chemicals that leak into the suit.

In a bid to crush those typically high robot-making costs, DARPA and its business partners (including iRobot) reckon they can now build high-end robot hands for under $3,000, down from what was once a $10,000 premium. According to The New York Times, the government, specifically the Pentagon, is looking to craft robot mitts that are able to detect improvised explosive devices by touch alone — something that DARPA’s worked on before. To demonstrate the progress it’s made so far, the department’s released a clip of one of its robots (update: featuring Barrett’s WAM arms) stripping a car tire — you’ll find it after the break. Now it just needs to figure out how to get it back on to the wheel.

Filed under: Robots, Alt

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Via: The Verge

Source: The New York Times