Hasta La Gadget!

Aerial drone designers have been pushing hard to get devices that can stay airborne for days. After all, what’s the point of having an observer that routinely lets its guard down? Lockheed Martin must have this question forever etched in its collective mind, as it just completed tests of a modified Stalker drone that was continually charged by laser power beamed from a ground-based source. The LaserMotive-built test was admittedly conducted in a wind tunnel, not a wind-swept battlefield, but it kept the drone aloft for more than 48 hours and was so efficient that it might even have gone indefinitely, if it weren’t for staff intentionally bringing the trial to a halt. The true test is coming next, when Lockheed Martin and LaserMotive fly the drone on laser power outdoors. Should the Stalker sail the friendly skies for long enough, it could help usher in an era of UAVs that can spot intruders at all hours — a little too close to the aircraft’s name for comfort, perhaps, but potentially vital for Special Operations troops that might not have to put themselves in danger. You can check the underpinnings of both the laser power system and the Stalker in videos after the break.

Continue reading Lockheed Martin Stalker drone stays airborne 48 hours using laser power, all-seeing eye gets literal (video)

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Lockheed Martin Stalker drone stays airborne 48 hours using laser power, all-seeing eye gets literal (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Jul 2012 02:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I’m a sucker for remote-controlled toys, especially flying toys. Sadly I’m not qualified to fly any of the airplanes or helicopters I’ve ever tried. Generally I get to fly once and then crash during landing, destroying any chance at a second flight. RC geeks in the UK will soon be able to get a cool spy plane called the Spy Hawk, which to let you record your landing disasters – or the pool party your hot neighbor is throwing.

Spy Hawk is a three-channel mini glider that comes with an integrated first-person video system able to send five-megapixel live video feeds back to a 3.5-inch LCD on the remote control. The plane even has an autopilot mode with gyro stabilization that lets you get it to altitude, and then watch the video without having to worry about actually flying. The toy has a range of up to 600 m with an average flight time of 15 minutes on a single charge.

The system has an integrated four gigabyte memory card to store the video. It also uses intelligent signaling so you can fly more than one Spy Hawk at the same time. The Spy Hawk will sell for £249.95 (~$386 USD) when it lands next month over at Red5.

If you’ve seen the action flick Act of Valor, you may remember the small handheld UAV that was used to keep an eye on enemy placement. Lockheed Martin makes a little UAV called the Stalker Unmanned Ariel System that is similar to the UAV used in that movie. Typically, the little Stalker is powered by a battery and has a relatively short usable time before the battery runs out of power.

Lockheed Martin has announced that in cooperation with a company called LaserMotive, the Stalker has been able to fly with no stops for over 48 hours. The way Lockheed Martin and LaserMotive pulled this off is very cool. The Stalker was fitted with proprietary equipment to be able to gather power from a laser beam as it flew.

The test was conducted indoors in a wind tunnel and the Stalker flew him for over 48 hours. Lockheed says that the test could have continued and was only stopped because the aircraft had passed the endurance goals the team set. In fact, at the end of the test, the little aerial vehicle had more power in its battery than it did when the test started.

Missile developer and manufacturer MBDA introduced an entirely different UAV missile system concept this week at the 2012 Farnborough International Airshow. It is called Vigilus, and MBDA  hopes to have the system ready and working by 2030. Vigilus is a promising scout missile system that could very well pave the way for future strike weapons. The system hopes to provide UAVs with a close air support capability in the battlefield.

Basically, Vigilus is made up of an integrated launcher and communications unit, a scout missile, and an integrated weapon command system. It’s scout missile, known as Caelus, operates at low altitudes and it gives the operator permanent real-time visual contact with the target. On the other hand, the weapon command system can be operated by military troops on the ground, giving them the advantage of engaging targets beyond the line of sight. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Pilotless robot plane smart enough to navigate through bad weather, AggieAir Flying Circus is a slingshot UAV,

Just in case GPS and GLONASS didn’t make for enough of an acronym soup, BAE Systems wants to add one more to the navigation broth. NAVSOP (Navigation via Signals of Opportunity) uses some of the basic concepts we know from cell tower triangulation and WiFi location-finding to lock down a position, but goes much further to geolocate from nearly anything that pushes out a signal, such as nearby radios and TVs. It doesn’t even need to know what kind of signal it’s looking at, and it can get its position in places there’s no GPS to work from, whether it’s in an urban canyon or the natural kind. BAE is most excited about the prospects of ending GPS jamming against soldiers and UAVs, once and for all: not only is the new technology mostly impervious to attempts to block its signal, it can use the jamming attempt itself to get the position fix. Thankfully, the company’s roots in defense aren’t precluding use for civilians, so there’s a chance that future smartphones might never have to use guesswork to get their bearings — provided that governments around the world sign off on the idea, that is.

BAE Systems’ NAVSOP does positioning without GPS, makes sure the only jammin’ going on is yours originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Jun 2012 10:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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