Army researchers explore adding a flexible torso to a legged robot to offer increased speed, maneuverability and running efficiency over extremely rough terrains, compared to wheeled, tracked and stiff-backed legged robots. The Canid robot is the result of ongoing research in the Robotics Collaborative Technology Alliance. (U.S. Army photo)
Army looks to future with ‘Robotics Collaborative Technology Alliance’
By David McNally, RDECOM Public Affairs
The U.S. Army envisions a future where robots are integral members of the team performing autonomous actions and maintaining current capabilities.
In 2009, the U.S. Army Research Laboratory set out to pursue this vision by forming the Robotics Collaborative Technology Alliance. It sought partners in industry and academia to explore technologies required for the deployment of future intelligent military unmanned ground vehicle systems ranging in size from man-portables to ground combat vehicles.
“The future for unmanned systems lies in the development of highly capable systems, which have a set of intelligence-based capabilities sufficient to enable the teaming of autonomous systems with Soldiers,” said Dr. Jonathan A. Bornstein, chief, Autonomous Systems Division for ARL and the collaborative alliance manager. “To act as teammates, robotic systems will need to reason about their missions, move through the world in a tactically correct way, observe salient events in the world around them, communicate efficiently with Soldiers and other autonomous systems and effectively perform a variety of mission tasks.”
The paradigm shift is taking robots from being a tool to being a teammate, Bornstein said.
“One example might be a small unit with a search and cordon mission,” he said. “One of the things it would have to do is conduct surveillance on all exits of a building. Who is coming out and where are they going? It’s a simple question. If I had a squad today, I would send a Soldier to an observation point and just say, ‘Tell me who comes out the back door.’”
What Bornstein described is the capstone scenario researchers in the alliance set their sights on when they began the project in 2009. Today, they are almost there.
“We’re not as far advanced as we would like to be. You have to have a stretch goal. If you don’t, you won’t strive to get there. But, we’ll do something along those lines,” he said.
The U.S. Army vision of the future includes robotic team members. (U.S. Army photo)
The Robotics Collaborative Technology Alliance, or RCTA, brought together ARL researchers and eight industry and academic partners:
Boston Dynamics
Carnegie Mellon University
Florida State University
General Dynamics Robotic Systems
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
QinetiQ North America
University of Central Florida
University of Pennsylvania
Earlier this year, ARL extended the alliance until April 2020; however, Boston Dynamics, which was recently acquired by Google, will not continue as a member.
“Clearly, collaboration is at the heart of the RCTA program,” Bornstein said. “Great progress in fundamental research can be achieved by bringing together researchers who have not previously worked together — as well as by fostering further collaboration among those who have. We need to engage academia and industry so we can get the best possible product. We leverage people to work on problems of importance to us. If we don’t get out there and interact with people, they will drive the train in perhaps a different direction, and we won’t benefit from it.”
So far, the RCTA has provided many benefits to Army research. Scientists are advancing adaptive tactical reasoning; focused situational awareness; efficient proactive interaction with humans; safe, secure and adaptive movement; and enhanced robotic interaction with the physical world, Bornstein said.
Researchers anthropomorphically describe these capabilities as think, look, talk, move and work.
“Currently, there are major technical barriers which lie in the way of this vision,” Bornstein said. “At the heart of the problem is the need for a world model, which can be instantiated on robots and which represents the range of entities, spatiotemporal scales, and abstractions that must be reasoned about. There is also a shortcoming in a robot’s ability to sense the environment and understand it at a semantic level; this ability is needed in order to populate the world model with new and relevant information. Robots have only a rudimentary capability to plan behavior, and their planning is focused almost entirely on navigation and is brittle even in that limited domain.”
Brittleness is one problem that Army researcher Chad Kessens is tackling, with help from multiple RCTA collaborators.
“While taking an Army training course, I learned that one major problem Soldiers face in the field is that the robot sometimes tips over,” Kessens said. “After looking further into the problem, I set out to develop a set of algorithms that would enable any robot to self-right, and several RCTA members also became interested.”
Kessens, who is working toward his doctorate, said the Army needs solutions to maintain battlefield superiority and to provide maximum protection to Soldiers.
“The CTA provides a foundation to facilitate top researchers from disparate fields to work around these problems and find solutions,” he said. “It’s fun to be a part of that.
Fellow ARL roboticist Jason Pusey is working on a unique autonomous quadruped robot called Canid, whose torso consists of a parallel actuated flexible spine.
“This research is being studied collaboratively between ARL and University of Pennsylvania and we are beginning to work with University of California Santa Barbara on more sophisticated controller methodologies.”
In the past, quadrupedal robotics all possessed rigid spines.
Only until recently has Boston Dynamics and MIT a quadrupedal robot with a non-rigid spine.
“The difference between my research and Boston Dynamics and MIT is that I am investigating not only including an actuation mechanism within the spine, but also a flexible element to capture the energy imparted into the robot on each gait cycle and recycle this energy back into the next gait.”
Pusey said the robotics alliance is an “exceptional program.”
“This program was created to bring as many of the best minds together, and collaboratively strive toward making the future robotics a reality,” he said.
Bornstein looks to the future with hope.
“A lot of things that you might think are impossible, if you go far enough down the road, it will become possible. But right now I’m grounding myself in what I think is in the realm of the doable within the next 50 years,” Bornstein said.
“This is a research program, not a development program. It’s basic and applied research. ARL is really focused not on the next system, but the system after the next system. This is really laying the foundation.”
The murder of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko was a “blatant and unacceptable” breach of international law, even though the probable involvement of Vladimir Putin’s government came as no surprise, Theresa May has said.
A spokesman for Putin, the Russian president, took the report to be an example of “subtle British humour”. Dmitry Peskov, calling the inquiry a “quasi-investigation”, ridiculed the report’s use of “probably”. In his report, the inquiry chair, Sir Robert Owen, found “that the FSB operation to kill Mr Litvinenko was probably approved by [Nikolai] Patrushev [head of the security service in 2006] and also by President Putin”.
“This kind of term is unacceptable in our legal system and in the legal systems of other countries, and cannot be taken as a verdict,” Peskov said.
May told MPs in the Commons that she would also be asking Interpol to issue European arrest warrants for Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun, but she proposed no wider action against the Russian state.
“This was an act of murder that took place in the streets of London and it was state-sponsored,” May said. “The conclusion that the Russian state was probably involved in the murder of Litvinenko is deeply disturbing.
“It goes without saying that this was a blatant and unacceptable breach of the most fundamental tenets of international law and of civilised behaviour. But we have to accept this does not come as a surprise. The inquiry confirms the assessment of successive governments that this was a state-sponsored act. This assessment has informed the government’s approach to date.”
May said Britain had taken a number of measures in 2007 after the killing, but there was a wider national security interest in retaining a guarded engagement with Russia, including in working with Russia to bring about a peace settlement in Syria.
In response to MPs’ criticism of the lack of specific measures imposed on Putin, she pointed out that it was impossible for Britain to seek to impose a travel ban on a head of state, and said Britain had no illusions about the state of Russia.She faced backbench calls for wider action against the presence of Russian “dirty money” in London, or in British overseas territories, including the Bahamas.
In other measures, she said the government was going to summon the Russian ambassador to the Foreign Office, and ask the director of public prosecutions what could be done to bring the perpetrators to justice, or impose criminal asset freezes. The Russians have already refused to accede to UK extradition requests, but May said she would demand a response.
A statement from the Russian embassy said ambassador Alexander Yakovenko had used his summoning to the Foreign Office as an opportunity to declare the case a “gross provocation” which “cannot help hurting our bilateral relationship”.
The embassy had complained about the secrecy of parts of the inquiry, and said it was impossible to accept conclusions that were not “tested in an open court of law”, the statement added. It also said the length of time the investigation and inquiry took made it appear “a whitewash for British special services’ institutional incompetence”.
The home secretary said she was writing to UK intelligence agency partners and Nato, emphasising the role of the Russian security service in the Litvinenko case. But she did not propose an end to all relations between Russian and UK intelligence agencies.
Under pressure from MPs, May said she would meet the Litvinenko family to discuss their request for imposing sanctions on a wider set of a Russian agents.
The shadow home secretary, Andy Burnham, called for the expulsion of Russian intelligence agents and a review of whether the UK should press for Russia to be prevented from staging the 2018 World Cup.
He said the government’s response did not “go anywhere near enough in answering the seriousness of the findings” and “could send a dangerous signal to Russia that our response is too weak”. He said the report was “one of the most shocking and disturbing reports ever presented to parliament”.
David Davis, who was shadow home secretary at the time of the murder, said the report meant that in a civil UK court Putin would be found guilty of complicity in murder. He said: “We need to go after the financial assets of Putin in the Bahamas and in Cyprus. Eventually you get to a point when with a dictator you have to draw a line as we did in the 30s.”
The mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “We can’t ignore ... state-sponsored murder on the streets of London, [this] needs a strong diplomatic response.”
The SNP’s Peter Grant said: “The report I think leads to only one possible conclusion – we now have to regard the Russian government, the Russian state, as an organisation actively involved in the commission, funding, supporting and directing acts of terrorism against UK citizens within the United Kingdom.”
Chris Bryant, the shadow leader of the house, said he “fully understood why Britain wants to engage with Russia – it is a key player in Syria and Iran. But the one thing we know about the murderous kleptomaniac regime in Russia is that it walks all over the weak. Putin has no respect for those that let him do what he wants.
“In March 2012 the government declared unanimously it wanted to introduce the Magnitsky Act ensuring no one involved in the murder of [Sergei] Magnitsky, or the corruption that he unveiled, should be able to enter this country.
“The US has such an act. Is it not time we made absolutely clear that Russian murderers are not welcome in this country and the likes of Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitiri Kovtun can only enter the country if they are prepared to stand trial?”
May repeatedly said the Magnitsky Act would not help bring the agents to justice in the UK, and that she already had the powers to impose travel bans.
Sorry Canada. Germany is apparently the best country in the world. We’re second, according to a new report released Wednesday at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos.
The inaugural “Best Countries” ranking from U.S. News & World Report, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and global brand consultants BAV Consulting ranks 60 nations looking at 75 factors such as sustainability, adventure, cultural influence, entrepreneurship and economic influence.
Rounding out the top five is the U.K. in third place, the U.S. in fourth and Sweden in fifth place. The report surveyed more than 16,200 business leaders, high fliers and other members of the public ahead of the economic summit in Davos.
“Globalization has made the world a competitive place for business, influence and the quality of life,” Mortimer B. Zuckerman, chairman and editor-in-chief of U.S. News, said in a statement. “Just as we have done with universities, hospitals and other institutions, our Best Countries portal will be a global homepage for stories and data to help citizens, business leaders and governments evaluate performance in a rapidly changing world.”
Canada ranked particularly well in the citizenship, entrepreneurship, and open for business categories. Trudeau, who spoke Wednesday morning at Davos, will pitch Canada as a ‘great place to invest’ at World Economic Forum and his argument could be bolstered as Canada was ranked first overall in the “quality of life” category that looked at things like education, public health care, safety and economic stability.
However, the report noted that while “Canada is a high-tech industrial society with a high standard of living. Canada faces domestic challenges related to the concerns of indigenous people and those in the predominantly French-speaking province of Quebec.”
Here are the U.S. News & World Report, BAV Consulting and Wharton School best countries rankings:
This show looks into that activities of Kapustin Yar — a remote, top secret, military development and test facility in Russia and said to be the former Soviet Union’s version of Area 51.
Kapustin Yar (Russian: Капустин Яр) is a Russian rocket launch and development site in Astrakhan Oblast, between Volgograd and Astrakhan. Known today as Znamensk (Russian: Знаменск), it was established 13 May 1946 and in the beginning used technology, material and scientific support from defeated Germany. Numerous launches of test rockets for the Russian military were carried out at the site, as well as satellite and sounding rocket launches. Open Street Map of the area.
The 4th Missile Test Range “Kapustin Yar” was established by a decree of the Soviet Government “On Questions of Jet Propelled Weapons” on 13 May 1946. The test range was created under the supervision of General-lieutenant Vasily Voznyuk (commander in chief of the test range 1946-1973) in the desert north end of the Astrakhan region. The first rocket was launched from the site on 18 October 1947; it was one of eleven German A-4s that had been captured.
The State R&D Test Range No 8 (GNIIP-8, “test range S”) was established at Kapustin Yar in June 1951.
Five atmospheric nuclear tests of small power (10-40 kt) were performed over the site in 1957-1961.
With the further growth and development, the site became a cosmodrome, serving in this function since 1966 (with interruption in 1988-1998). The town of Znamensk was established to support the scientists working on the facilities, their families and supporting personnel. Initially this was a secret city, not to be found on maps and inaccessible to outsiders.
Evidence of the importance of Kapustin Yar was obtained by Western intelligence through debriefing of returning German scientists and spy flights. The first such flight reportedly took place in mid-1953 using a high flying Canberra aircraft of the RAF. Numerous circumstantial reports suggest this flight took place, using the Canberra PR3 WH726, but the UK Government has never admitted such a flight took place nor have any of the supposed participants provided direct evidence The Canberra took off from Giebelstadt Air Base, Germany, and, flying via the Volga to the Caspian Sea, landed at Tabriz, Iran.
Due to its role as a development site for new technology, Kapustin Yar is also the site of numerous Soviet-era UFO sightings and has been called “Russia’s Roswell”.
All news articles, including images and/or videos shown are the property of their respected owners and used in accordance with the Fair Use doctrine of The US Copyright Laws.
“Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.”
Top Secret Military Same with the American 'pride' the super stealth F35 Jet Fighter which basically is useless in any situation. It has small wing span which makes its manouvreability extremely poor in dog fight situations with enemy aircraft, it has short range, is very heavy and it can only carry two sizable bombs and can only fly at maximum speed Mach 1.6. Any anti-stealth system can detect and destroy it, so even its so-called 'super stealth' is useless. Even the old Russian MIG 21 aircraft can outperform the American F35 (Canadian designed and built) aircraft in any situation, Top Secret Military let alone the Russian SU-35 and SU-37 (Sukoi) aircrafts. There does not exist such a thing as invisible stealth aircraft. Top Secret Military. Top Secret Military Same with the American 'pride' the super stealth F35 Jet Fighter which basically is useless in any situation. It has small wing span which makes its manouvreability extremely poor in dog fight situations with enemy aircraft, it has short range, is very heavy and it can only carry two sizable bombs and can only fly at maximum speed Mach 1.6. Any anti-stealth system can detect and destroy it, so even its so-called 'super stealth' is useless. Even the old Russian MIG 21 aircraft can outperform the American F35 (Canadian designed and built) aircraft in any situation, Top Secret Military let alone the Russian SU-35 and SU-37 (Sukoi) aircrafts. There does not exist such a thing as invisible stealth aircraft. Top Secret Military
Very Mysterious Sea Creature Deep Strange Sea Creature Deep In The Ocean location unknown info on the video says it was filmed on 4-25-2012 At 5200 feet Tentatively Identified as a Deepstaria enigmatica It only looks that way because its so unusual compared the animals/creatures you know of & are familiar with. This creature is VERY REAL! You have to understand that 71% of the earth's surface is covered by water & 1/3 of the earths biomass exists in the oceans. That's millions & millions, possibly even billions (we just don't know for sure) of tons of creatures living in a vast, HUGE water world that covers approx. 1.3 TRILLION cubic meters & is approx. 7 miles at the deepest point, called the "Challenger Deep", south of the Marinara Trench. We know more about space than we do our own oceans & have have made more missions to the moon than the deep sea. Deep sea missions only get a FRACTION of the government funding compared to the space program, which is ridiculous & makes no sense at all when you consider that our survival & the fate of man kind depends ENTIRELY upon the health & ecosystems of the oceans. Outer space is a sterile vacuum that in which no life we know of exists. The oceans, especially the deep sea, is a teeming cesspool of life that we still have SO MUCH TO LEARN FROM! Check out some videos of deep sea creatures & you will be amazed at the wide variety & amount of life that's down there.
Evidence of a Secret Colony on Mars has sparked the interest of UFO Researchers around the world. Recent whistle-blower revelations from President Eisenhower's great granddaughter and others give renewed credence to the evidence that planet Mars is being prepared as a SURVIVAL COLONY in the face of imminent catastrophic events that may decimate the population of planet Earth. This film presence the best evidence available that there is indeed Life on Mars.
Visit us on Twitter or visit us online: http://www.UFOTV.com
