6 avril 2021 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

Contracts for April 5, 2021

Sur le même sujet

  • Autonomous Firefighting Drone

    12 mars 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Sécurité

    Autonomous Firefighting Drone

    Working with mentors from Sikorsky, three University of Connecticut engineering seniors are translating their classroom education to the field. Electrical engineering majors Kerry Jones and Joshua Steil, and computer engineering major Ryan Heilemann, are collaborating to build and program an autonomous firefighting drone to battle blazes without a pilot's guidance. “In the world today there's a high prevalence of forest fires, like in California, but the problem is of how to safely put out these fires,” says Steil. “So our project, in essence, is to see if we can start putting out fires without a human driver.” Once finished, the drone will carry a thermal imaging camera to identify a fire, object avoidance technology to steer clear of any obstacles, and a softball-sized fire-extinguishing ball that will be dropped over the flames. The system's technology will be tied together through coding language developed by the students, and will operate based on inputted coordinates. While their drone will only be able to put out a campfire-size blaze, the project is meant to prove that this technology is possible, so that much bigger technology can be engineered in the future, says Heilemann. “The idea is that in the future, on a larger scale, there can be a fleet of unmanned helicopters that can go out and put out forest fires, thereby lowering loss of life,” says Steil. While drones are currently used by fire departments across the country, all of them so far have a pilot who navigates the drone from a distance, and most are used for observation, not fire suppression. “The autonomy definitely makes it different,” says Jones, “and the fire-extinguishing ball, for sure.” Teams in previous years have worked on similar projects with Sikorsky, which provided some guidance on what has worked and what has not. The team looked back on previous projects' reports, including last year's team, which was the first to integrate firefighting capabilities into the drone. While the previous team to work on this project used small thermal sensors called thermopile array sensors, Heilemann says these sensors required the previous drone to be only about six feet from the flames, which was too close for real-world applications. His team decided to use an infrared camera, which allows for more distance from the flames. This year's team had the added benefit of working on their project in UConn's brand new 118,000 square-foot Engineering and Science Building, which features three engineering floors filled with faculty and labs focused on robotics, machine autonomy, and virtual and augmented reality. At Sikorsky, the team is working with a recent UConn School of Engineering alum, Jason Thibodeau, deputy manager of Sikorsky's Flight Controls and Autonomous Systems Department. “He's really helpful. We have phone meetings every Monday, and we tell him what's going on, what we're struggling with, and he reasons with us,” says Jones. Adds Heilemann, “He really wants us to figure our way through issues we have, instead of just giving us a direct solution.” Working with Sikorsky also introduced the UConn seniors to new career options. Jones has accepted an offer with Sikorsky after she graduates, in their autonomy lab as part of their Rotary and Mission Systems department. Steil has accepted a job offer with Sikorsky's parent company, Lockheed Martin, in Massachusetts after graduation. “Working with Sikorsky definitely sparked a greater interest looking into the company as a whole,” he says. Heilemann also decided to go into the aerospace industry, and has found a job doing control and diagnostics at another aerospace company. Most importantly, the collaboration was a chance to get some experience with a top company. “In this project, I get to learn so much about Sikorsky and what they do,” says Steil, “and having a company like that so close to home and have them be our sponsor is definitely an added benefit.” https://dronescrunch.com/autonomous-firefighting-drone/

  • Lancement du premier appel à projets dans le cadre du fonds européen de défense

    5 juillet 2021 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

    Lancement du premier appel à projets dans le cadre du fonds européen de défense

    La Commission européenne a officiellement lancé hier le fonds européen de défense, créé pour cofinancer des projets de coopérations entre entreprises de défense et consolider l'autonomie européenne. Ce fonds est doté de 7,95 milliards d'euros sur huit ans pour un budget européen de 1 074 milliards d'euros (constants 2018) pour la période. Un premier appel à projets d'un montant de 1,2 milliard d'euros a été lancé. 700 millions d'euros sont consacrés à des projets d'ampleur comme le développement du futur avion de combat, la digitalisation des navires ou la défense antimissile. Cent millions sont affectés à des technologies critiques comme le cloud militaire ou l'intelligence artificielle, cent millions pour le cyber et cinquante pour l'espace. Par ailleurs, dans le cadre du programme européen de développement industriel dans le domaine de la défense (EDIDP), 100 millions d'euros sont destinés au projet de drone MALE européen et 37 millions au programme Essor de communications sécurisées. Pour Thierry Breton, « le fonds européen de défense est une contribution absolument essentielle à une plus grande souveraineté européenne », l'Union européenne devant « devenir progressivement un acteur de la sécurité au niveau mondial ». Le Figaro, 1er juillet

  • F-35, Eurofighter Typhoon are 'the two options' to replace Spain's aging Hornets

    5 novembre 2021 | International, Aérospatial

    F-35, Eurofighter Typhoon are 'the two options' to replace Spain's aging Hornets

    Spain has two aircraft in mind to replace over 70 EF-18A fighter jets, and while the program has yet to formally begin, the informal competition between the Eurofighter Typhoon and the Lockheed Martin F-35 is just getting hotter.

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