Del 6 al 8 de Junio se va a celebrar la feria Addit 3D, que está dedicada exclusivamente a tecnologías de Impresión 3D.
Creo que puede ser una buena oportunidad de conocer en vivo y en directo las últimas novedades en soluciones de Manufactura Aditiva orientadas a la fabricación de UAVs, y por tanto les copio el enlace a una página web donde conseguir una invitación gratuita:
As the affordability, reliability and ease-of-use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) advances, the use of aerial surveying for cultural heritage purposes becomes a popular choice, yielding an unprecedented volume of high-resolution, geo-tagged image-sets of historical sites from above.
As well, recent developments in photogrammetry technology provide a simple and cost-effective method of generating relatively accurate 3D Models from 2D Images. These techniques provide a set of new tools for archaeologists and cultural heritage experts to capture, store, process, share, visualise and annotate 3D Models in the field.
This paper focuses on the methodology used to document the cultural heritage site of Asinou Church in Cyprus using various state of the art techniques, such as UAV, photogrammetry and 3D Printing. Hundreds of images of the Asinou Church were taken by a UAV with an attached high resolution, low cost camera.
These photographic images were then used to create a digital 3D model and a 3D printer was used to create a physical model of the church. Such a methodology provides archaeologists and cultural heritage experts a simple and cost-effective method of generating relatively accurate 3D models from 2D images of cultural heritage sites.
The China Foreign Air Reconnaissance Force has gained rapid development in the past ten years, counting actually with 154 aircrafts for electronic reconnaissance, maritime security, new series of electronic reconnaissance aircraft, AWACS air marshals series, and various types of remote long endurance UAVs.
Regarding the United States, in the Asia Pacific area they have a strong forward deployed air reconnaissance force with more than 100 ISR manned aircrafts, and about 250 different types of high-end ISR UAVs. Also, they have E-3 AWACS, E-8 joint stars and joint surveillance target attack radar systems, RC-135 electronic reconnaissance aircrafts, RC-12 series aircrafts, P-3C and P8 anti submarine patrol aircrafts, U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircrafts and 21 RQ-4A aircrafts.
Also, both powers have command and reconnaissance systems that can meet operational requirements: optical and radar survey and reconnaissance satellites, electronic reconnaissance and high speed photographic reconnaissance systems, mapping systems, database systems, command and combat mission planning systems, and many other systems. Therefore, it is evident there are fierce reconnaissance and anti reconnaissance confrontation between both potential enemy countries.
¿Why are both superpowers investing so much in reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance systems? ¿May be certain the hypothesis of a future war between United States and China? The time will say it.
An official from the South Korean military has dismissed the reporting from KCNA regarding that a South Korean HeronUAV had entered its airspace on four occasions this week, qualifying it as "untrue".
The NK claim is really laughly, bearing in mind that in recent weeks Pyongyang has ratcheted up military tension through a series of ballistic missile tests, which many observers qualify them as an evidence that NK is on course to develop a longer-range missile capable of perform a nuclear hit not only on SK but even the U.S. mainland.
Of course, again NK blamed the South for escalating military tensions, warning of a "merciless retaliatory response." ¿Should SK be worried about that threat? Well, NK month after month is firing missiles, so it is really stupid qualify the alleged violation as "grave", even more bearing in mind that in last 14th May NK has fired-tested a missile which experts think could have a range of 5.000 kilometers.
Last, but not least: If that claim is certain... and both countries are officially in war state... ¿Why NK did not shoot it down?
The US Navy's MQ-8BFire Scout VTUAV will soon operate an advanced sensor named Coastal Battlefield Reconnaissance and Analysis (COBRA), that will give it increased ability to detect and destroy enemy mines and submarines from LCSs (Littoral Combat Ships).
In words of Capt. Jeff Dodge, Fire Scout program manager, “COBRA is currently in Initial Operational Test and Evaluation on the MQ-8B and is projected to reach Initial Operational Capability this year.”COBRA’s primary function will be detecting mines and submarines while keeping the LCS and its crew at a safe distance: Given that the Littoral Combat Ships are engineered to use its shallow draft, speed and maneuverability to conduct combat operations in littoral waters near enemy coastlines, an improved technological capacity to find and detect enemy mines and submarines near the surface will expand its mission envelope and provide an extra protection for offensive ship operations.
The Navy is also integrating a new maritime search radar to its larger Fire Scout variant MQ-8C in order to extend its ISR capacity and provide better targeting support to nearby offensive operations. For this purpose, recently awarded Northrop Grumman a $32 million contract modification to conduct systems engineering, technical review and extensive testing of that new radar. ¿Return of Investment? Bearing in mind the existing EO/IR sensors on the MQ-8C have a range of 6-10 miles, and considering that the new maritime radar will find targets at ranges out to 80 miles, the ROI is undoubt.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have been developed to perform various military and civilian applications, such as reconnaissance, attack missions, surveillance of pipelines, and interplanetary exploration.
There is a need to develop a fast adaptable UAV design technologies for agile, fuel efficient, and flexible structures that are capable of adapting and operating in any environments. For this purpose, the engineers Seung Ki Moon, Yu En Tan, Jihong Hwang and Yong-Jin Yoon are improving current design methods and knowledge of deployable technologies in the area of engineering design and manufacturing.
More specifically, they seeks to identify one truss lattice with the optimal elastic performance for deployable UAV wing design according to the Hashin & Shtrikman theoretical bounds. They propose three lattice designs (3D Kagome structure, 3D pyramidal structure and the hexagonal diamond structure) to be fabricated using an Objet 350 3D printer while the material chosen is a polypropylene-like photopolymer called Objet DurusWhite RGD430.
For the past 14 years the United States Marine Corps has been engulfed in land-locked engagements in the Middle East.
The message from the highest levels of Marine Corps leadership is it's time to get back to the Corps' maritime roots with the assistance of industry, academia, and Naval Research and Development Establishment partners, including the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific (SSC Pacific).
The Ship-to-Shore Maneuver Exploration and Experimentation (S2ME2) Advanced Naval Technology Exercise (ANTX) 2017, a first-of-its-kind opportunity for Marine Corps operators to test rapidly prototyped technologies meant to provide dominance in littoral zones, took place at Camp Pendleton from April 17-28.
"Why are we doing this? Because we want to get better, and the world has changed-our adversaries are gaining capability and we don't want a fair fight so we're always looking for an edge," said Gen. Robert Neller, Commandant of the Marine Corps. "Right now we're just looking for ways to take advantage of technology, manufacturing, the things that are out there -artificial intelligence, additive manufacturing- to try to create capabilities that are going to make us as individual Marines and our organizational units better."
More than 50 different technologies were tested or on display at the exercise, which culminated with a demonstration of what a future amphibious assault of the beach may look like-unmanned air, land and maritime vehicles surveyed the area before Marines ever stepped foot on the beach; advanced antenna systems provided more secure and robust communications links; Marines harvested kinetic energy from their own footsteps to power their devices providing near real time situational awareness data; and additive manufacturing allowed the troops to be more self-sufficient: "With industry moving out very fast, how do we leverage what industry's doing across the commercial world?" asked Lt. General Robert Walsh, commanding general of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command and Deputy Commandant, Combat Development and Integration. "Bringing in operators, laboratory capability developers, technologists, our warfare center engineers who are the key to all this, along with the industry piece of it, into a sandbox and letting everybody play in the sandbox and help us figure out where we're going to go."
SSC Pacific brought 12 of these rapidly developed technologies to S2ME2 ANTX 2017 to get feedback from Marine Corps operators and potentially fast track the capabilities to the fleet, including advanced antennas and communications systems, additive manufacturing on-the-move, networking capability for unmanned air and maritime vehicles, and positioning systems for a GPS-denied environment. "Our role is to accelerate the fielding of critical capability to our Marines and Sailors," said Dr. John Burrow, deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, Test and Evaluation. "That's what we do-it's all about speed."
Randall Olsen, an SSC Pacific scientist whose Directional Ad hoc Networking Technology (DANTE) antenna was demonstrated at S2ME2, said while speed to capability is key, he and his cohorts have their eye on the long term. "DANTE is an antenna, and sort of a breakthrough both in cost and in weight: it's 10- to 100-times lighter and 10- to 100-times less expensive than existing technology for this antenna,"Olsen explained. "We're with this for the long haul to see it transition through, so we're working with all sorts of organizations to make sure it happens. As a civilian contributor to support the warfighter, that's what we're here for- to make their life better."
Carly Jackson, SSC Pacific's director of prototyping for information warfare and one of the main organizers of the event, explained the key differentiating element of the exercise was to demonstrate new technology developed in rapid response to real world problems facing the fleet. "This is a relatively new construct where we use the Navy's organic labs and warfare centers to bring together emerging technologies and innovation to solve a very specific fleet force fighting problem. It's focused on first wave and mainly focused on unmanned systems with a big emphasis on intelligence gathering, surveillance, and reconnaissance," she said. "We've seen tremendous development and integration happening here... not only among our government teams and across the various system commands, but also with our industry partners and industry-to-industry collaborations as well."
In recent years, Hybrid Warfare has become increasingly widespread, comprising various conventional and nonconventional means of warfare, as well as non-military options. While technological progress will generate more opportunities, it can also bring about new threats. Advancements in the fields of robotics, artificial intelligence, additive manufacturing and nano-materials have not only shortened the product development cycle but have also given rise to a whole range of low-cost, yet effective military options. For example: In the past, skilled machinists with high-quality machine tools were required to manufacture Explosively Formed Penetrators (EFPs). However, in the last few years, Additive Manufacturing has advanced to the point where such EFPs could be ‘printed’.
