Unmanned

Large UAVs, such as  Global Hawk,  General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper, and predecessor MQ-1 Predator have already become indispensable to modern militaries in providing intelligence, near-real-time reconnaissance and surveillance to commanders, and offering warfighters greater battlespace awareness. They have proven effective in electronic combat support, battle damage assessment, and even in …

The emerging field of soft robotics aims to improve robot/human interactivity promising to bring robots into all aspects our daily lives, including wearable robotics, surgical robots, micromanipulation, search and rescue, and others. Soft robotics differ from traditional counterparts in some important ways: Soft robots have little or no hard internal …

Criminals have been using drones in a variety of ways. They use them to prepare house break-ins, observe larger targets, spot security gaps, and determine security guard patterns. Militant organizations have started employing drones to further their terrorism. The small drones such as a quadcopter or model airplane are readily …

High-altitude platforms (HAPs) are aircraft, usually unmanned airships or airplanes positioned above 20 km, in the stratosphere, in order to compose a telecommunications network or perform remote sensing. Aerospace companies have been trying for years to create a solar-powered plane that can fly at high altitudes for years at a …

Space has  become another domain of warfare and there is  threat of degradation or destruction of satellites through  electronic and kinetic attacks by adversaries. One of the measures DOD is taking to enhance space security is In-space-assembly.  DOD is trying to enhance the space security of their assets  is developing …

The current Armed drones like Predators and Reapers are essentially remote controlled that is they involve human operators remotely controlling the vehicle with the assistance of fairly low levels of automation for some functions (e.g., the operator specifies waypoints to be followed by the platform). Systems like these have proved …

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has estimated that the number of passengers traveling by aircraft could double to 8.2 billion by 2037. According to the UN, 68% of the population is expected to live in urban areas by 2050. The growing number of vehicles in urban areas has resulted …