• UAVs with dexterous arms to help in infrastructure repair and disaster recovery

    With current technology, most UAVs perform passive tasks such as surveillance and reconnaissance missions, tasks which are performed well above ground; researchers are interested in how UAVs might interact with objects at or near ground level; a UAV with dexterous arms could perform a wide range of active near-ground missions, from infrastructure repair and disaster recovery to border inspection and agricultural handling

  • Raytheon's Space Fence technology tracks space debris

    Space debris threatens systems the U.S. military and economy depend on every day, including satellites that power navigation, weather and critical infrastructures; the Space Fence program is capable of detecting more and much smaller objects in low earth orbit

  • Researchers say spoofed GPS signals can be countered

    From cars to commercial airplanes to military drones, global positioning system (GPS) technology is everywhere — and researchers have known for years that it can be hacked, or as they call it, “spoofed”; the best defense, they say, is to create countermeasures that unscrupulous GPS spoofers can not deceive

  • New biometrics discipline -- foot biometrics – for security, disease detection

    Identity science takes a giant, well, step forward with a new discipline in biometrics: foot biometrics; researchers at the new $1.5 million per year Pedo-Biometrics Research and Identity Automation Lab will test insole sensory system prototypes for a variety of identification uses, from security to detecting the onset of such diseases as diabetes and Parkinson’s

  • Unmanned systems emulate animals’ conditioned fear-response mechanism for self-preservation

    When animals in the wild engage in eating or grazing, their eyes, ears, and sense of smell continuously monitor the environment for any sense of danger; researchers developed a similar conditioned fear-response mechanism for unmanned systems

  • Two companies offer tower-based border security systems

    General Dynamics C4 Systems and EADS North America have joined forces to develop border protection and security systems which exploit the both companies’ strength; the team offers tower-based, integrated radar and sensor systems for an “always-on, ever-aware” picture of human activity in and around national borders

  • ONR sensor and software suite tracks, hunts down more than 600 suspect boats

    A new sensor and software suite sponsored by the Office of Naval Research recently returned from West Africa after helping partner nations track and identify target vessels of interest as part of an international maritime security operation

  • UAV Code of Conduct for unmanned aircraft systems operations released

    The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) has published the Unmanned Aircraft System Operations Industry Code of Conduct, a set of guidelines to provide AUVSI members — and those who design, test, and operate unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for public and civil use — with recommendations for their safe, non-intrusive operation

  • A third Bell 412 helicopter delivered to NYPD for counterterrorism missions

    The NYPD dedicated many hours to designing the specifications of the department’s third Bell 412 to meet the diverse needs of the police department; one of the counterterrorism additions to the Bell 412 is a radiation detection system that can identify radiation signatures from an altitude of 200 feet in an effort to protect the city from nuclear bomb threats

  • UAV Code of Conduct for unmanned aircraft systems operations released

    The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) has published the Unmanned Aircraft System Operations Industry Code of Conduct, a set of guidelines to provide AUVSI members — and those who design, test, and operate unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for public and civil use — with recommendations for their safe, non-intrusive operation

  • Computer-based methodology for cultural intelligence and security

    Cultural differences are a major challenge facing intelligence agencies, researchers from Israel and the United States have developed computer-based methodology to improve knowledge, apply data, and better decipher these nuances and biases

  • First successful "spoofing" of UAVs demonstrated

    A research team successfully demonstrated for the first time that the GPS signals of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), or drone, can be commandeered by an outside source — a discovery that could factor heavily into the implementation of a new federal mandate to allow thousands of civilian drones into the U.S. airspace by 2015

  • DARPA’s UAVForge shows challenge of developing perch and stare UAV

    DARPA’s UAVForge is a crowdsourcing competition to design, build, and manufacture an advanced small UAV; the competition aims to determine whether a loosely-connected community of UAV enthusiasts could develop a militarily relevant back-pack portable UAV with specific capabilities

  • New eight-sensor carousel sensor for perimeter, internal environments

    FutureSentry shows its Carousel, a monitoring device offering 360 degrees of coverage through eight, adjustable, articulating sensor heads; its close-range detection capabilities allow for it to be deployed in internal environments

  • Lawmaker proposes restrictions on domestic drone use

    Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) on Tuesday introduced legislation into the Senate which he says aims to protect individual privacy against unwarranted governmental intrusion through the use of the unmanned aerial vehicles commonly known as drones