DARPA Begins Phase One of VTOL X-Plane Program
From DARPA:
DARPA tasks four companies with designing new aircraft to revolutionize vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) flight capabilities.
For generations, new designs for vertical takeoff and landing aircraft have remained unable to increase top speed without sacrificing range, efficiency or the ability to do useful work. DARPA’s VTOL Experimental Plane (VTOL X-Plane) program seeks to overcome these challenges through innovative cross-pollination between the fixed-wing and rotary-wing worlds, to enable radical improvements in vertical and cruise flight capabilities. In an important step toward that goal, DARPA has awarded prime contracts for Phase 1 of VTOL X-Plane to four companies:
Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation
The Boeing Company
Karem Aircraft, Inc.
Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation
“We were looking for different approaches to solve this extremely challenging problem, and we got them,” said Ashish Bagai, DARPA program manager. “The proposals we’ve chosen aim to create new technologies and incorporate existing ones that VTOL designs so far have not succeeded in developing. We’re eager to see if the performers can integrate their ideas into designs that could potentially achieve the performance goals we’ve set.”
VTOL X-Plane seeks to develop a technology demonstrator that could:
Achieve a top sustained flight speed of 300 kt-400 kt
Raise aircraft hover efficiency from 60 percent to at least 75 percent
Present a more favorable cruise lift-to-drag ratio of at least 10, up from 5-6
Carry a useful load of at least 40 percent of the vehicle’s projected gross weight of 10,000-12,000 pounds
All four winning companies proposed designs for unmanned vehicles, but the technologies that VTOL X-Plane intends to develop could apply equally well to manned aircraft. Another common element among the designs is that they all incorporate multipurpose technologies to varying degrees. Multipurpose technologies decrease the number of systems in a vehicle and its overall mechanical complexity. Multipurpose technologies also use space and weight more efficiently to improve performance and enable new and improved capabilities.
The next major milestone for VTOL X-Plane is scheduled for late 2015, when the four performers are required to submit preliminary designs. At that point, DARPA plans to review the designs to decide which to build as a technology demonstrator, with the goal of performing flight tests in the 2017-18 timeframe.
Innorobo to Host First Edition of the French Robotics General Assembly
As part of the France Robots Initiatives plan from the French Ministries of Industrial Renewal and Higher Education & Research, in partnership with the Rhone-Alpes Region, Innorobo will be hosting the first edition of the French Robotics General Assembly from 18 to 20 March 2014 in Lyon.
DARPA tasks four companies with designing new aircraft to revolutionize vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) flight capabilities
DARPA has awarded prime contracts for Phase 1 of VTOL X-Plane to four companies
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STAC5 - NEW Lower Price for Powerful Microstepping Drive
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CEO statements on machine vision global market on YouTube
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Automated Deburring and Surface Finishing with NamPower Brushes; BRM Announces CNC Parts Manufacturer Case Study in Industrial Machinery Digest
Brush Research Manufacturing (BRM), maker of flexible hones and abrasive nylon brushes, announces NamPower case study in March 2014 edition of Industrial Machinery Digest. CNC part manufacturer Orange Vise uses NamPower nylon abrasive brushes to automate surface finishing and deburring at the same time, reducing labor costs and speeding high-volume parts finishing.
Tier 1 Automotive Supplier to Receive Fourth Custom Assembly and Test System from Evana Automation
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Soft Robotic Fish
MIT News:
Soft robots — which don't just have soft exteriors but are also powered by fluid flowing through flexible channels — have become a sufficiently popular research topic that they now have their own journal, Soft Robotics. In the first issue of that journal, out this month, MIT researchers report the first self-contained autonomous soft robot, a "fish" that can execute an escape maneuver, convulsing its body to change direction, in just 100 milliseconds, or as quickly as a real fish can.
Self-Contained Autonomous Soft Robot Demonstrates Rapid Body Motion
Soft robots - which don't just have soft exteriors but are also powered by fluid flowing through flexible channels - have become a sufficiently popular research topic that they now have their own journal, Soft Robotics.
Seegrid to Unveil the Revolutionary Flexible GWS35 Walkie Stacker at MODEX 2014
Seegrid, the leading manufacturer of flexible AGVs, also known as robotic industrial trucks, will be launching its newest product at MODEX 2014 in booth #7317 in Atlanta, GA.
The DARPA Grand Challenge: Ten Years Later
Autonomous vehicle challenge led to new technologies and invigorated the prize challenge model of promoting innovation
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