Military tech

U.S. Navy submarine sonar tech targets strokes

Retired U.S. Navy sonar experts have helped create a novel portable device to detect, diagnose, and monitor strokes. The brain-imaging system uses a simple headset and laptop--and decades of submarine technology--to home in on brain activity that signifies trouble.

The headset is equipped with six highly sensitive accelerometers. Instead of peering out through the rounded bow of a submarine, they are oriented inward toward the brain.

The brain's machinations (veins expanding and contracting, aneurysms wobbling) each have their own unique vibrations that cause slight skull pulsations. The headset sensors measure these movements to look for irregular blood flow in much the same way submarines measure motion and generate signals that are processed, analyzed, and matched to objects.

Data on the type and location of brain vascular abnormalities is then rapidly sent to the PC.

"As sonar sorts out whales and other objects from vessels, the device sorts out cerebral abnormalities such as aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations (AVMs, an abnormal connection between veins and arteries), ischemic strokes, and traumatic brain injury from normal variations in physiology," said Dr. Kieran J. Murphy, director of research and deputy chief of radiology at the University of Toronto and University Health Network in Toronto, in a release (PDF).

Murphy is presenting trial data on the device--developed by Mountain View, Calif.-based Jan Medical--at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 36th Annual Scientific Meeting in Chicago this week. … Read more

GPS mortars make Army debut in Afghanistan

The average American uses GPS to navigate a road trip or find cheap gas on the way home from work. Meanwhile, the U.S. Army has long been busy coming up with ways to harness GPS for warfare. Soldiers in Afghanistan have a new, very dangerous GPS gadget in their arsenal: 120mm GPS-guided mortars.

The Army loves acronyms, of course, and as such the GPS shells are known as APMI, or Accelerated Precision Mortar Initiative cartridges. Translation: Fast Accurate Bombs, but FAB wasn't going to fly as a nickname for these weapons.

The usual method for using mortars is … Read more

Feel free to toss around FirstLook spy bot

iRobot is introducing a new pint-size spybot that users can throw or even submerge in water before it starts roving around and doing surveillance.

The 110 FirstLook is a rugged little remote-controlled machine that's 10 inches long and weighs less than 5 pounds. It has four cameras and IR lights for night work, as well as a pair of flippers to overcome obstacles and right itself (see vid below).

With a top speed of 3.5 mph, FirstLook can roll around for 6 hours per charge or operate for 10 hours while stationary. It's controlled from a wrist-mounted touch-screen remote, seen above. … Read more

Phoenix UAV can sense you breathing

Just when you thought you might be able to outrun the Cougar20-H surveillance robot that can detect human breathing, developer TiaLinx has launched a flying version that can do the same.

The Phoenix40-A is a mini-UAV with six rotors that can detect motion and breathing when searching for hidden people.

Like the Cougar20-H, it has an ultra-wideband radio frequency sensor array and can also detect motionless live objects. It also has video cameras for site surveillance.

Developed with U.S. Army funding, the Phoenix unmanned aerial vehicle can be remotely controlled from ground or air with a laptop or joystick, … Read more

U.S. troops getting wearable gunshot detectors

U.S. troops in Afghanistan will begin receiving wearable gunshot detector systems this month, allowing them to quickly grasp the approximate distance and direction of enemy fire.

The Individual Gunshot Detector (IGD) by Qinetiq consists of a shoulder-mounted unit with four acoustic sensors and a chest display that attaches to body armor.

Weighing less than 2 pounds, the IGD picks up supersonic waves produced by the blast and whiz of rounds and indicates where they're coming from in a fraction of a second.

An earpiece that was developed for the system provides audio warnings such as "Shot, 400 meters, 3 o'clock." It tracks the shooter and continues to provide audio updates.

Vehicle-mounted gunfire detectors have been used for some time in the field. The IGD should allow dismounted troops to quickly respond to an attack. … Read more

This week in Crave: The winning edition

In case you didn't hear, this week Apple announced the iPad 2, as we expected, and it shaped up to be just about what we thought it would be. More importantly, Steve Jobs (it was great see him) flouted the success of the original iPad--not just gloating that his company had single-handedly invented a market, but also bragging that the iPad's competitors were "flummoxed" (and saying it with a smile).

But that's not all! It's a big, bad technology world, you know?

Jobs also introduced new apps for the iPad, like iMovie and Garage Band

Apple still has original iPads for as little as $350.

More movement from Motorola's Xoom tablet, with new pricing that makes it a little more competitive.

The Navy is looking at creating swarms of robots that repair themselves, search for Sarah Connor.

Turn your watch into a tablet or cell phone--by stretching it.

Another week, another creepy baby robot from Japan.

Happy birthday, Dr. Seuss! … Read more

Navy eyes swarms of robot-building microbots

The robo-pocalypse concept is still good for a laugh, as the toughest autonomous robots out there are shaped like Frisbees and suck the dust off your floor for a living. But deep in the bowels of the military research complex, scientists are working hard to wipe that grin off your face.

The latest sign is a Navy plan to develop swarms of micro-robots that can build things all on their own, including other robots. Yes, we're talking about the tipping point when robots don't need us anymore.

The Navy is looking to leverage desktop manufacturing technology--think 3D printing--to make swarms of tiny, efficient factories that create new materials and can be choreographed to build and assemble "high-value components."

From the proposal:

Each micro-robot would perform a specific task, often a single rudimentary task, repeatedly. Collectively, these tasks would be choreographed in purposeful activities for manufacturing. A micro-robot swarm should be able to perform material synthesis and component assembly, concurrently. The micro-robots could be designed to perform basic operations such as pick and place, dispense liquids, print inks, remove material, join components, etc. These micro-robots should be able to move cooperatively within a workspace to achieve highly efficient synthesis and assembly.

Backpack radar lets you sense through walls

See that kid slouching against the wall? He might be "sensing" through it with his backpack.

Cambridge Consultants has a new through-wall radar that's compact and inconspicuous. The Prism 200c can fit in a backpack and still tell you if there are people on the other side of a wall.

Users simply lean against a wall with the backpack and monitor the room on the other side with any portable electronic device linked to the backpack.

The device has batteries that can last up to eight hours. It can sense through brick as well as concrete walls.

Radar sensing through walls is a technology that's been around for some time (including in handheld formats), and even mobile robots are touting the sensor arrays that can see through concrete walls for military applications.

Targets generally have to move or breathe to be detected. The technology can't discriminate between humans and animals or other moving objects.

Cambridge's latest radar follows the arm-operated Prism 200, which is being used by police and military personnel around the world. There's a video of it here.

The company plans to show off the Prism 200c at Global Security Asia 2011 in Singapore this month. … Read more

Military commissions cheetah, humanoid robots

Don't believe in Skynet? Well, the U.S. military has reportedly commissioned the production of bipedal soldiers and quadruped robots that can outrun human beings.

Boston Dynamics, known for its BigDog canine bot, is working to develop a humanoid robot called Atlas and an animal-like running robot called Cheetah. The robo-cat is due to arrive in 20 months.

The company's efforts are part of multimillion-dollar contracts with DARPA over a four-year period, according to a Boston Herald report.

Initially, Cheetah is supposed to achieve speeds of up to 30 mph. Presumably it will be a lot stealthier than the noisy BigDog, seen in the vid below. No word yet on whether it will fold into a cassette tape like the old-school Decepticon Ravage of Transformers fame.

"There's no fundamental reason why it can't go as fast as the animals (60 to 70 mph), but it will take a while to get there," Boston Dynamics President Marc Raibert was quoted as saying in Boston Herald report. … Read more

Soldiers want more 'Punisher' smart weapons

Soldiers who have used the Army's XM-25 grenade launcher in Afghanistan want more of the futuristic weapon, which can fire rounds that explode at a predetermined distance, defeating barriers that protect enemies.

The Army wants to acquire 36 more XM-25s, according to a report on army.mil. The first batch might be deployed in a year, but funding has to be secured and the weapons and rounds, which apparently cost some $25,000 and $1,000 apiece, respectively, are still being made by hand.

Mass production won't happen until 2013 at the earliest, according to the report. The … Read more