Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has unveiled the Drone Guard, a new system for UAV detection, identification and flight disruption.
Basically, the systems acts disrupting the UAV's flight and can either cause it to return to its point-of-origin (‘Return Home' function) or to shut down and make a crash landing.
The new system has been extensively and successfully tested against a variety of different UAVs and scenarios, including simultaneous multiple UAV penetrations or attacks.
Boeing’s Compact Laser Weapons System is portable and sets up quickly to harness directed energy on its targets.
The system recently reached a milestone at an exercise at Point Mugu, California, by tracking and disabling a moving, untethered unmanned aerial vehicle.
La empresa Integral PLM Experts ofrecerá el próximo viernes 9 un Webcast sobre fabricación digital directa de utillaje industrial. Esta presentación está dirigida a todas aquellas personas que estén interesadas en descubrir cómo la fabricación aditiva aplicada a la producción de utillajes les puede ayudar a reducir costes y tiempos y a maximizar la ergonomía en el proceso de montaje y fabricación.
As consumer UAVs are becoming more and more popular, we are starting to see more options. In this case we are talking about DreamQii's PlexiDrone.
Designed for aerial photography and videography, the PlexiDrone was born out of feedback from filmmakers and photographers who wanted a portable drone for aerial footage capture.
The four propellers and landing gear can be attached to the main body in about a minute – less than that if you work fast enough. The components are designed to snap in and lock on without any tools, and can be disassembled just as quickly for portability; DreamQii also cleverly designed them so that you can’t accidentally attach a propeller in the wrong section, making assemble foolproof (DreamQii says it’s impossible to put together wrongly).
Attach the proprietary Bluetooth wireless router that communicates with your smartphone or tablet – up to 1 mile – and you’re ready to go. The battery only lasts between 15-35 minutes, so you may need to keep a charger or extra battery handy if you plan to use it for longer than that. For the camera, the PlexiDrone doesn’t come with one built in; instead, the user supplies one. It is compatible with most cameras weighing less than 1 kilogram, or 2.2 pounds. It’ll handle small action cams like those from GoPro and Sony, as well as compact mirrorless cameras, 360-degree panorama cameras, thermal cameras, and LIDAR scanners; you can even attach a claw to use it to hold something light. And unlike other drones, DreamQii says the retractable landing gear and camera’s positioning allow for an unobstructed 360-degree field of view; you won’t have to crop out anything from a scene later. Also, you will not be worried about trespassing onto drone-prohibited territory, as the PlexiDrone has geofencing built in: Without the user input, the PlexiDrone’s software uses known data of where it can and cannot fly, and will avoid (or prohibit you, rather) from flying in those areas.
Klever Freire, DreamQii’s CEO and cofounder, tells that PlexiDrone is designed to be flexible. Want a larger payload? In the near future, you could swap in more powerful propellers and attach a camera gimbal for a DSLR or cinema camcorder. Accidentally crash and break one of the propellers? Instead of replacing the whole unit, you can just replace the part you need. The PlexiDrone is easily controlled through the PlexiGCS software for iOS and Android. You don’t need any expertise to control it. Through GPS and the 3D map on the app, you simply draw a flight path for the drone, and tell it what to do. There’s also a “GPS follow me” feature, where you can have the PlexiDrone automatically follow and film you, without you having to manually control it. The wireless router, called the PlexiHub, also lets you create and control a swarm of PlexiDrones. A single pilot can capture multiple footages. DreamQii says swarm technology also lets you “accomplish goals like following search grid patterns or surveying larger surface areas.”
You can also control the attached camera via the app, so you won’t need to switch between apps or have a second pilot. Ultrasonic on the PlexiDrone will alert the unit if there’s an obstacle in its path while in flight. Users can also pilot the PlexiDrone with remote control unit, if they wish. Instead of LED lights, the PlexiDrone uses customizable voice prompts to give you status reports (you can even add theme music, let you personalize your drone).
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems has introduced a new sonobuoy capability for its MQ-9 Guardian maritime UAV which, alongside a number of other developing technologies, could make it a contender to help fill the UK’s maritime patrol gap.
While a requirement for a Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) acquisition has yet to be released from the UK government, the developments that General Atomics is incorporating into the MQ-9 suggests that it will look to offer a modified Guardian to complement a manned MPA that is expected to be procured.
Other technology developments that the company is advancing include extended-range wings with external fuel tanks – something that has just been fielded with the US Air Force for the first time. The Guardian has a 1,000nm (1,850km) range and can stay on station for a further 10h, while the extended range variant has a 1,900nm range plus 10h on station.
Meanwhile, the company is developing a certifiable variant of the MQ-9 that will be able to fly in national airspace. This includes integration of the company’s detect and avoid Due Regard Radar system – for which it has been working with NASA and the US Federal Aviation Administration – into a modified MQ-9 nose, plus de-icing, lightning protection and a composite make-up similar to that on a Boeing 787.
A prototype of the detect and avoid system has just completed the third round of testing with NASA’s MQ-9-based Ikhana UAV, and testing using a certifiable system is expected to take place next year and be ready for certification in 2017.
SmarTech Markets Publishing has released its new study "Additive Manufacturing in Space and Defense Aerospace Markets".
The report explores the entire value chain of Additive Manufacturing in space/defense aerospace markets, providing analysis of its benefits in the manufacture of space vehicles, satellites, military aircraft, missile systems, and, of course, UAVs. After an initial reading, we would like to share up with you some key facts and figures that we have found:
Figures:
Additive Manufacturing comprehensive revenues (including hardware, software, materials and services) for defense aerospace and space companies will reach around $140 million in 2016, rising to $600 million in 2022. Service revenues will exceed $325 million by 2022, and material revenues by the space and defense aerospace will reach $120 million by 2022.
Materials:
Polymers will have a growing presence in some areas of space/defense aerospace, but there is also a high degree of potential metal component demand for very large structural components associated with space vehicles, satellites, and some military aircraft.
Soon both plastic and metal systems will prove to be ideal technologies for replacement parts in aging military aircraft.
There is a high degree of potential metal component demand for very large structural components associated with space vehicles, satellites, and some military aircraft.
Services:
There is a growing need for Additive Manufacturing specialists with know-how in space and defense applications.
Use of additive manufacturing in space and defense aerospace is still in the development phase, favoring the use of service providers to print low-volume parts.
"Manufactura Aditiva" es hoy día el término más comunmente aceptado en entornos profesionales para referirse al conjunto de tecnologías de fabricación basadas en la disposición sucesiva de capas de material.
Un conjunto de tecnologías en pleno desarrollo que está permitiendo obtener nuevos diseños de UAVs a unos costes y en unos plazos de tiempo imposibles de obtener mediante la manufactura tradicional. Vamos a ver en este post las tecnologías más significativas que existen a día de hoy.
A grandes rasgos, existen tres tecnologías que dominan el mercado:
FDM (Acrónimo de Fused Deposition Modeling o Modelado por Deposición de material Fundido)
SLA (Acronimo de Stereolitography o Estereolitografía)
SLS (Acrónimo de Selective Laser Sintering o Sinterizado Selectivo por Laser)
La tecnología FDM utiliza un cabezal de extrusión para depositar filamentos de plástico en estado de cuasi-fusion. Es la tecnología más extendida a escala mundial, y su rango de precios para aplicaciones profesionales empieza en torno a 15.000 Euros, pudiendo alcanzar hasta 300.000 en función de las capacidades de la máquina.
La tecnología SLA utiliza un láser UV para polimerizar en determinadas zonas una fina capa de un monomero fotosensible.
La tecnología SLS utiliza un láser infrarrojo para sinterizar en determinadas zonas una fina capa de polvo termoplástico.
Cada tecnología tiene sus propias ventajas y desventajas respecto de las otras, y elegir una u otra es el resultado de una ecuación que puede contener muchas variables: Para fabricar una sola pieza indudablemente la opción más económica será la FDM, pero si necesitamos fabricar grandes cantidades de piezas todos los días quizá sea mejor optar por la tecnología SLS.
En lo referente a la libertad de diseño, es cierto que la Manufactura Aditiva permite obtener diseños imposibles de fabricar mediante las tecnicas de mecanizado tradicional. Pero existen algunas limitaciones a tener en cuenta. Por ejemplo, tanto la FDM como la SLA requieren el uso de estructuras de soporte para construir superficies por debajo de un angulo crítico relativo a la superficie de fabricación (normalmente 45º) y esas estructuras de soporte deben ser eliminadas tras la fabricación, lo cual requiere sumergir durante unas horas la pieza en un baño de disolución (caso de FDM) o someterla a otro tipo de procesos (caso de SLA).
Si optamos por la SLS no tendremos que esperar a que se disuelva el material de soporte pero necesitaremos eliminar a mano el polvo sobrante, además de que tendremos que esperar varias horas de enfriamiento antes de abrir el horno para retirar la pieza, ya que de lo contrario ésta podría sufrir deformaciones por el cambio brusco de temperatura.
Los materiales disponibles tambien difieren para cada proceso, aunque los fabricantes de UAVs optan preferentemente por el FDM ya que ofrece la posibilidad de trabajar con diferentes termoplásticos, entre los que se incluyen el ABS, el Policarbonato, el Nylon, la Polifenilsulfona y la Polieterimida, lo cual les proporciona un amplio abanico de aplicaciones que pueden ir desde el modelado conceptual y el prototipado funcional, hasta la fabricación digital directa de piezas aptas para uso final.
En particular, los materiales basados en Polieterimidas ofrecen una alta resistencia térmica y química, lo cual los convierte en los favoritos para la fabricación de piezas que deban resistir el contacto con el fuego.
