military

MENLO PARK, Calif.--If you've seen the Oscar-winning film "The Hurt Locker," you know how dangerous bomb dismantling can be. But researchers have developed a system that they say can allow military and police to disarm explosives without risking anyone's life.

The system, developed by scientists at SRI International, is known as Taurus, and it is a miniature robot that can allow a trained dismantler to remotely do the work that used to require getting up close and personal, often too close for comfort, to a bomb.

According to Tom Low, SRI's director of medical systems and telerobotics, Taurus will be in field trials this summer and is expected to be commercially available by early 2012. While he would not say specifically what the 14-inch wide robot would cost, SRI's goal is to sell it for "less than the price of a squad car," meaning that many police departments, as well as military agencies, could conceivably buy it.

I got a presentation on Taurus from Low yesterday during a visit to SRI as part of my Road Trip at Home series. I've been to SRI before and seen things like wall-climbing robots, but seeing the way that Taurus could potentially help save lives was a much starker reminder of the ways that robots can make a real difference.

Taurus is a cousin of some of SRI's previous efforts into remote-controlled telemanipulation robotics. For years, the institution has worked on systems designed to allow remote surgical procedures, such as a military doctor being able to operate from afar on a wounded soldier. Low explained that this work began in the mid-to-late 1980s, and was intended to allow highly-trained surgeons to work on such soldiers within minutes of them sustaining injuries.

Over the years, this technology led to the creation of more general-purpose robots, such as the M7 system, which could allow security personnel to remotely explore, say, an abandoned bag at an airport. Low explained that it was crucial that the system be easy to use and quick to learn. … Read more

I recently got my hands on two military-grade iPhone 4 cases--the Ballistic HC and the Griffin Survivor.

One of my first thoughts was: could either survive the extreme tests that manufacturers and consumer sites love to throw at such products? Could you drive your car over one and still make a phone call? Could either absorb a smash from a 10-pound sledgehammer and still offer up Angry Birds?

But I'm not going for silly--or for hype.

These cases are actually designed to offer elite protection in everyday use. They give you peace of mind if you drop your iPhone, expose its surface to liquid, fall and land on it, etc. They're not for use in strong-man tests at your county fair.

For sensible uses, both the Ballistic HC and the Griffin Survivor more than suffice.

That said, which do I prefer? Both offer multiple levels of protection, including a main plastic case, a protective screen, a rubberized outer covering and a carrying clip. Both are impact ready and wrap the phone up tight. They cover all ports and connectors. They're similarly priced. … Read more

You're one-half the brains behind a hit TV show, you've developed special effects for Hollywood for years, and you appear on T-shirts and are known as a positive nerd role model. Great, but what do you do with your spare time?

If you're Jamie Hyneman of the show "Mythbusters," you put your formidable brain power to use helping the U.S. military come up with next-generation lightweight vehicle armor, that's what.

And he's doing just that, reportedly coordinating with the Office of Naval Research to help develop the armor to be used on vehicles in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Hyneman's task is to come up with an ultra-lightweight armor that won't encumber vehicles, but can still withstand shrapnel and blast damage from improvised explosive devices while protecting those inside the vehicle. … Read more

"Fire the laser!" may sound like something straight out of "Star Wars," but that phrase could one day be common on U.S. Navy ships.

Northrop Grumman and the Office of Naval Research recently concluded a series of successful solid-state laser defense firing tests aboard the decommissioned Spruance-class destroyer USS Paul F. Foster (a remotely driven self-defense test ship). The Maritime Laser Demonstrator zapped away at an assortment of objectives at the Pacific Ocean Test Range off the central California coast, including land-based targets and remotely driven small boats that traveled at various speeds.

It was the first time a laser of such strength had been fired from a moving ship at sea. This is also the first system to be integrated with a Navy ship's radar and navigation system, ensuring a much higher level of accuracy. The U.S. Navy collaborated with the Office of the Secretary of Defense's High Energy Joint Technology Office and the Army's Joint High Powered Solid State Laser program to bring this once-imagined weapon to life. … Read more

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.--U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus can measure the cost of transporting oil to combat missions in dollars and in lives.

Mabus gave the keynote talk today at the ARPA-E Summit here, where he announced an agreement between the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy to create energy storage systems geared at providing reliable power and reducing fossil fuel use.

His talk followed speeches by Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and representative Steve Israel of New York, who both highlighted the importance to national security of fossil fuel alternatives.

The Navy has a program, launched in fall 2009 and called the "Great Green Fleet," to convert 50 percent of its energy to fossil fuel alternatives by 2020 and to have half of the Navy's thousands of bases become net energy zero consumers. It's a reference to the "Great White Fleet," the nickname used under President Theodore Roosevelt for a battle fleet which circled the globe almost 100 years ago.

"Every time we make changes to improve the efficiencies of our engines or systems or we use alternative sources of power, we get better and we make people safer," Mabus said.

In the agreement between the Departments of Defense and Energy, the Navy plans to take advantage of grid storage technologies developed in the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). The cost of the project would be $25 million and start in fiscal year 2012.

The first project will seek to develop hybrid storage systems with higher energy density than what's available in batteries today. Mabus said the technology could lead to mobile storage units for charging military equipment at bases or be used to reduce fuel consumption in vehicles. … Read more

On this week's Crave, a slew of robots--especially two undeniably creepy baby models--have Jasmine so worked up she's lost her voice. Luckily, we manage to move on from the creepy to the craveable with a new Hot Wheels track setup that mounts on the wall, a Darth Vader CD player that's more about form than function, and an LED-bedazzled surfboard that leads to some scary-but-cool nighttime wave-riding. Also, the military gets its hands on a sweet high-tech gun and Japan cranks out a DIY gummi sushi kit. And what's making us fat this week? Not pickle-flavored toothpaste, that's for sure...

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The Air Force has approved a blend of jet fuel and plant-based fuels to work with an aircraft for first time.

The certification, announced yesterday, covers the C-17 Globemaster III, a transport aircraft made by Boeing and used for moving troops and cargo.

The Air Force tested a blend of up to 50 percent of biofuel, called hydrotreated renewable jet fuel, and JP-8 jet fuel, and found no degradation in performance for pilots.

The biofuel mix will burn cleaner, reducing the amount of sulfur compounds emitted and will further the military's goal of reducing its use of petroleum-based fuels, … Read more

WALTHAM, Mass.--In the quest for renewable sources of energy, the military is giving garbage a go.

The Edwards Air Force base in Southern California will test out a shipping container-sized trash-to-energy unit from IST Energy. The Air Force will be the first customer for IST Energy's Green Energy Machine (GEM), which is designed to convert waste into electricity and heat, according to the company.

Two years ago, IST Energy showed off the prototype of the GEM and earlier this month began showing the unit to potential customers. About 20 companies, which either have a sustainability initiative or pay … Read more

A Marine experiment aimed at determining whether it's beneficial, or even feasible, to use solar energy in the theater of war has landed on the side of solar.

That's according to an article filed Wednesday by Gunnery Sgt. William Price, 1st Marine Division, about Marines located in the Sangin District of Helmand Province, Afghanistan at what's known as an "experimental forward operating base."

The Marine 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment at Forward Operating Base Jackson, and its Afghan national army counterparts, have been using portable solar blankets to continuously charge radio batteries while on long … Read more