Key Takeaways Robotic assistants are revolutionizing remote surgery in space. SpaceMIRA utilizes high-definition cameras. Remote surgery is necessary with the rise of space tourism.Two hundred and twenty miles above Earth, the surgeons were cutting. Through layers of tightly stretched rubber bands mimicking human tissue, their sharpened shears sliced. Meanwhile, tiny grabbers mounted on the arm of their robotic assistant held the bands in place.What made this precision surgery more challenging and exciting than the usual practice procedure is that the doctors weren't in the house. This remote operation was performed in a box the size of a microwave mounted to a wall in the International Space Station (ISS). The team of six surgeons operating spaceMIRA — a miniaturized in-vivo robotic assistant — were visible only through a screen.Making the Cut: The Future of Surgical OperationsNASA has been looking into how to perform robotic surgery in space for a long time. The first remote-guided operation event finally took place in orbit on Feb 10, 2024, a few weeks after spaceMIRA arrived at the ISS onboard a Northrop Grumman cargo ship. Like virtual precision procedures on Earth, the challenges and benefits of practicing medicine via a robotic assistant were immediately apparent.On the upside, the images hovering before MIRA's remote operators stationed in Lincoln, Nebraska, and Houston, Texas, were huge. SpaceMIRA's high-definition cameras made the gator clips and rubber bands wielded by the robotic assistant appear orders of magnitude larger than life.Less ideal was the time lag. When surgeons on Earth use precision surgery devices, like the DaVinci, the robotic digits move nearly as quickly as their own. By contrast, because of the time it takes for spaceMIRA to receive its directives from Earth, MIRA moves an average of 0.85 seconds after the surgeons on Earth.Against the OddsIn the case of a medical emergency, a slightly slower surgery is strongly preferable to no surgery at all. Though there's yet to be a medical emergency on the ISS requiring surgery, it's not a matter of if such an emergency will take place but when.According to the University of California San Francisco, in terms of events per person per year, the risks of a surgical emergency happening in microgravity may be higher than they are on Earth. As of today, less than 600 people have ever been to the altitude of the ISS. Yet, there have been two suspected cases of appendicitis, according to the British Journal of Surgery. One of these cases, a cosmonaut, was returned to Earth for treatment in 1982 — the only option unless a surgeon is onboard with all the tools and time they need to conduct an operation.More than 40 years later, the risk of loss of crew life due to acute appendicitis or cholecystitis — an infection of the gallbladder — raises enough concern that conversations about removing these organs before spaceflight are ongoing, as noted by npj Microgravity. After all, on a trip to Mars, there's no fast way home. Even the moon might be too far to evacuate a space explorer with a kidney stone they can't pass on their own.With the rapid rise of space tourism, more humans with more medical conditions than ever before will be pushing further into the cosmos. Even if there were a doctor onboard, given the mass and volume limitations during space missions, would they have the necessary tools on hand to make the tiniest cut possible before the blood started to float away from the wound? If the mission had a robotic surgical suite packed away in the corner, the onboard doctor could deploy it as needed to maximize precision and vision in the cramped confines of the ship.In the absence of a crew doctor, a device like spaceMIRA might stand in for the ship's surgeon, extending the reach of the nearest medical provider to the moon, Mars and beyond.Almost Within Reach: Virtual Precision ProceduresPrecision surgery via robotic assistant systems was invented to help medical practitioners make the smallest and best cuts possible in the least amount of time. Teleoperation devices, like spaceMIRA, have been doing just that on Earth whether or not the surgeon was in the room: Years before its debut in microgravity, MIRA was used to remove part of a patient's large intestine remotely. Students at the University of Nebraska are training on it now.Mastering surgery in space would not only vastly increase a space mission's medical capability — how well a medical need within the mission matches the resources available — but also solve a critical and ongoing problem faced by the people of Earth every day: The countries with the fastest-growing populations have less than 1 surgeon per 100,000 people, as reported in The Lancet Global Health. Virtual precision procedures conducted via robotic assistant are the future of surgical operations wherever the need for surgeons is unmet. A teleoperation device like MIRA delivered to developing countries, remote regions and low-resource healthcare facilities would effectively bring world-class surgeons into the room without the aid of transportation of any kind.With spaceMIRA, the ultimate robotic assistant and teleoperation device, the doctor doesn't need to be in the house to perform precision surgery in space — or anywhere.Learn more about our people and life at Northrop Grumman, or check out our career opportunities to see how you can be a part of defining possible.

The Doctor Is in Outer Space: How a Robotic Assistant Is Revolutionizing Remote Surgery

Key Takeaways Data creation from Internet of Things devices and sensors is accelerating globally. Increasing volume and variety of data needs faster transmission and analytical capabilities to extract value. Autonomous surveillance success from Triton MQ-4C relies on onboard AI with machine learning and connectivity for real-time data transmission back to base.It's often said that data is the new oil and that data drives business. Yet, just like real oil, a glut of data is almost useless.The U.S. Navy is one such organization trying to make sense, in real time, of massive amounts of information. It might have found an engine for its oil: an unmanned aerial vehicle with advanced processing powers to provide in-the-moment insight about the world's seas.The MQ-4C Triton aircraft, built by Northrop Grumman, began supporting U.S. Navy operations in early 2020, demonstrating unprecedented data collection capabilities as part of operational capability deployment.But it's not just the autonomous capabilities of Triton that excites the Navy — the aircraft's ability to process a massive amount of data means they can distinguish an authorized shipping vessel from an unauthorized, potentially threatening one.The Gigabyte ProblemData is everywhere. Just about every type of organization and business emphasizes digital-first operations and strategies as the linchpin to efficiency, productivity and ingenuity. However, increased data brings a new set of problems with volume, transfer speeds and diversity.Organizations are tripping over structured and unstructured data from a wide variety of sources. Advances in Internet of Things (IoT) and, more specifically, the Internet of Bodies mean more data is coming in from more connected devices, and the tricky part is analyzing it all.Even organizations that have data scientists can't keep up. Already, daily data production runs at an estimated 328.77 billion gigabytes per day, according to Business2Community. By 2025, Deloitte estimates global data creation at 175 zettabytes.Just like any other organization, the Navy faces this kind of data challenge deploying advanced technologies. At first, the Triton aircraft seems like just another source of data to manage: an unmanned vehicle that will give military commanders in the Pacific region and, eventually, around the globe all sorts of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) information. Yet, Triton is unique for more than its ability to fly for more than a day without coming "back home" — it actually solves the gigabyte challenge with its onboard analytical processor that sifts through data in the air for easier interpretation.A Vast Theater"Triton is a real paradigm shift in unmanned systems," said Bill Beck, director of advanced development for Northrop Grumman's Triton program. To put this in context, Beck points out that Triton will be on a mission longer than the shifts of the Navy personnel managing those missions.In sports, it's difficult to compare athletes of different eras — gear, training methods and travel have all changed. In surveillance air flight, it's perfectly acceptable to contrast Triton to the P-3 Orion maritime aircraft of the 1960s. Triton builds on P-3's long legacy of mission-critical capability and extends that capability, integrating state-of-the-art electronics, software, sensors and data analysis.The original P-3 had analogue data that couldn't be transferred until the plane returned from a mission, Beck explained. Triton, however, is a high-powered network relay and data center with wide-band satellite connectivity. It receives messages and data input from a variety of sources — other planes, ships at sea and land sensors — and synthesizes it all to create a picture of the theater of operations it's canvassing. That picture is created and transmitted over satellite link in near-real time to ground operators.And quite a theater it will be: Check out this Northrop Grumman video that describes how Triton has an operating altitude greater than 50,000 feet and its 360-degree radar can scan 2.5 million square kilometers (0.96 million square miles). It can also survey four million nautical miles in one 24-hour mission.The MQ-4C's mission payload includes multiple sensors and radars specifically designed for the maritime environment. They account for the movement of water and wind to absorb key information.The advanced technologies wouldn't matter, though, if all the data Triton collects couldn't be disseminated during the mission. The data links that send information from the aircraft back to base are critical to Triton's successes. This real-time dissemination also includes operation during disasters, where autonomous unmanned aerial reconnaissance helps plan for aid and support."The data links on Triton are what make it all happen," Beck said of the design process. "A major design and operational consideration is how much processing needs to be done aboard the aircraft autonomously. Too little processing aboard means a huge amount of data needs to be offloaded, requiring large and available communications links. Too much processing aboard, with too little bandwidth available to offload data, and the operators question whether they're really getting all the information and data they need."Limitless PotentialBetween the advanced sensors and the data analytical capabilities on Triton, the Navy can accomplish a broad range of surveillance tasks.Trying to locate specific vessels in packed waterways is like looking for a needle in a haystack, Beck said. "These dense areas are a great place to hide and conduct mischief. With advances in AI and machine learning, Triton is able to sort through much of the noise and confusion in a way that allows clarity that the human eye simply cannot discern."The sky is the limit, as is the sea. "Time matters," Beck said of the aircraft's real-time data processing. "With Triton, you can figure out what you're looking at and what you're encountering. Time is of the essence, so sooner is better."Learn more about Triton and what it's capable of.

The Triton Aircraft Quickly Makes Sense of a Mysterious Sea

In 2020, we're still just getting to know the depths of our home planet. More than 80% of the bottom of the sea is still unmapped and unexplored, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). "We've done a pretty good job mapping the surface of the earth and what's underground. But we have almost no information on what's really undersea," explains Dr. Dave Smallwood, program manager in Northrop Grumman's Mission Systems Sector. Smallwood has spent his entire career working below the surface of the ocean, and he sees great potential beneath the water. How much of the ocean floor has been discovered so far? By volume, 99% of the Earth's biosphere remains unknown, according to National Geographic's calculations and less than 5% of the seafloor has been surveyed according to NOAA. We actually know much more about the surface of Mars, with NASA reporting that nearly 99% of the planet's surface has been mapped. What's Under the Sea While you might be picturing smooth, sandy floors, The Atlantic points out that the seabed is actually "a jagged and dynamic landscape" with as much variation as we see on land. Under the depths of the ocean, there are mountains, canyons, hot springs, lakes and hillsides. It's not just an unknown landscape to explore for the sake of beauty — the deep sea floor contains many minerals that can be useful to us on land. In addition to minerals, we've found unusual animals at the bottom of the ocean. Smithsonian points out that even at 13,000 feet below the surface, where temperatures are near freezing and there's no sunlight, researchers have discovered living creatures such as fish, coral, crustaceans, jellyfish and worms. With odd looking features such as transparent skin, giant eyes and jagged open mouths, these deep sea creatures look like aliens because they have adapted to their environment. Even in the dark mesopelagic region of 650 to 3,200 feet deep, there are vast potential resources, with gems, metals, minerals, oil and an estimated 10 billion metric tons of marine life, including fish, shrimp and squid, according to the New York Times. Why We Study the Ocean Floor One of the biggest reasons to study the bottom of the ocean is fundamental science. There are several business cases for exploring the deepest parts of the sea, but if you don't have a fundamental understanding of the ocean floor, then you can't do any advanced work. Smallwood says, "The contents of the subsea environment at different depths, the physical landscape, what lives there and what doesn't live there, right, that's all a priori information for any group that wants to explore." Some of the most compelling financial reasons to explore the sea floor are the oil, gas and mineral resources, according to Nature. "Vast swaths of the open ocean sea floor in the Pacific don't really fall under anybody's expanded economic zone or continental claims," says Smallwood. He adds, "But there are potentially a lot of minerals down there at depths from 4,000 to 6,000 meters." That's why companies are putting large mining equipment under water to harvest raw materials such as rare-earth metals, which are often found in hard to reach places. There's also deep water archeology, where scientists study shipwrecks to find evidence of ancient seafaring civilizations. Another subsea industry is aquaculture, the breeding of fish and growing food to feed them, according to NOAA. In other words, it's farming in the middle of the ocean. Understanding how much of the ocean floor has been discovered is important for defense. For example, mapping the seafloor is key for naval mine avoidance. The US Navy has been operating beneath the waves in human occupied submarines for over 120 years. Challenges With Deep Sea Exploration Clearly, there are many reasons the ocean floor is worth exploring. So why is so much of it still unknown? There are several technical challenges that researchers face when visiting the ocean floor. First there is the fundamental limitation that humans can't breathe in water like fish. Even when equipped with SCUBA (Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus) equipment to let them breathe, the pressure of the water (think back to diving in the deep end of the pool and feeling the pressure on your ears) changes the way your central nervous system handles gasses, according to Healthline. Below 100 feet deep, divers can experience nitrogen narcosis, a condition that makes them feel and appear uncomfortably drunk or dazed. Even if that wasn't an issue, if you were to go thousands of feet below the surface of the ocean, the pressure is so extreme that it would crush you to death, explains Smallwood. Human-occupied submersibles represent one way to protect and enable humans exploring the deep ocean, but they are expensive and limited in numbers. That's why, much like with space exploration, most of the deep sea research is done by rovers, unmanned vehicles that explore inhospitable environments. The ocean's water itself creates problems because it corrodes the devices that are meant to explore it. Communication is difficult under water, simply due to the physics of the electromagnetic spectrum. Radio frequency (RF) waves attenuate rapidly under water, so our usual methods of transmitting data are useless. "You can use them, but what might get you tens of feet or a mile range up on the surface of the earth or in air might get two inches of transmission underwater," says Smallwood. Navigation is difficult under the ocean, where there is no GPS to guide the way and minimal known landmarks on the largely unmapped surface. There are alternative methods of navigating, such as inertial navigation, which navigates using the acceleration of your body (or the sensor, robot, or vehicle that is exploring) relative to the Earth. "It's an active area of research and development that pushes the bounds of what's possible," says Smallwood. Similarities With Space The bottom of the sea shares many similarities with space. They are both dark, harsh environments that are difficult and exciting to explore. In space, you have to contend with radiation, extreme temperatures and a lack of gravity. "Going undersea, you are facing incredibly crushing pressures and a corrosive environment that is trying to eat away at you the minute you touch the water," says Smallwood. Both space and the deep sea present engineering challenges, such as power constraints, life support needed for human exploration, and harsh environments that destroy people and equipment. But both environments are bursting with potential. Could the deep ocean be the next frontier? Smallwood says he considered either a career in space exploration or undersea exploration. He says, "I like the undersea option because it's much more accessible to me. Within an hour's drive, I could find somewhere on the water to test, explore, and learn."  

The Next Frontier: Exploring the Bottom of the Sea

There are an estimated 110 million landmines in the ground. Originally planted as weapons and concentrated in many of the world's most war-torn nations, landmines more often cause injuries or death among civilians, especially women and children, than to soldiers. About 26,000 people a year, or 70 per day, are killed by landmines. Engineers and designers have been developing unmanned systems to efficiently neutralize landmines to prevent life-threatening injuries.Slow and Dangerous WorkIn the past, people looking to clear landmines have relied on metal detectors or animals like dogs or rats to detect landmines. But physically clearing them usually involves trying to disarm them or, more often, safely detonating them. It's slow and dangerous work — an average of two people are injured, and one killed, for every 5,000 landmines cleared, according to the United Nations.Since the 1990s, militaries seeking to move across minefields have relied upon heavy, tank-like devices to clear landmines. These are among the most popular techniques even for humanitarian purposes because they are hardy, can work quickly, and can withstand the blast. But these devices have a big limitation: they require a driver.Unmanned SystemsMore recently, some companies have moved towards unmanned systems operated by remote control. Many of them are equipped with metal detectors or other techniques to identify mines, and various attachments at the front (flail arm, tiller) to detonate the mines once they're found.The D-3, created by the Swiss nonprofit Digger Foundation, has the rototiller front and armored body of other vehicles and can be remotely operated from more than 1,000 feet away. Previous iterations of the D-3 have cleared mines in North and South Sudan. Another, the Prime Tech PT-300 D:Mine is slightly smaller but can be remotely operated from nearly two miles away. It has been used in 10 countries, including Colombia, where a brutal civil war left more than 11,000 people killed or injured by landmines. The tractor-like LOCOSTRA is small and agile, making it less expensive than similar models. It can be operated from a maximum of 650 feet away. It's been tested in Jordan, where most landmines had been planted during Arab—Israeli conflicts in 1948 and 1967. The Bozena looks more like a lawnmower than a demining machine. It moves on wheels (unlike other models that use tracks, as tanks do) and can be operated from three miles away. More than 80 units are being used in two dozen countries all over the world, by military and humanitarian efforts alike.In October 2016, Northrop Grumman successfully demonstrated the unmanned AQS-24B mine hunting system in Scotland, furthering its role in unmanned minesweeping technologies in the air, on the surface, and underground.Future TechniquesIn the future, landmines may be removed by completely autonomous devices. Afghan-born designer Massoud Hassani has come up with a drone-based mine-clearing device. It contains GPS to map the mines at a distance, keeping the device itself intact. The project isn't yet in the field (although it received more than double its goal funding on Kickstarter) but it would presumably be used in Hassani's native Afghanistan and beyond.Some engineers are looking at radar that can penetrate into the ground and deactivate mines so that they can safely be dug up and destroyed. Others are turning their attention to autonomously neutralizing water-based mines, which can explode due to the vibrations of a nearby ship, regardless of it being a military or civilian vehicle. The U.S. and Israeli militaries have been working on autonomous or remote-controlled boats for several years.New, innovative techniques to autonomously clear mines could mean a safer future for thousands of operators and civilians alike. For residents of the world's most war-torn nations, peace may finally be peaceful after all.Want to innovate new ways to detect and clear landmines? Consider a career with Northrop Grumman.

Lifesaver: Unmanned Systems Removal of Land Mines

 Automation is becoming more a part of our daily lives. We bark orders at Alexa or Siri, deposit our checks at ATMs and order flowers via a bot from 1-800-Flowers.com. But the change isn't just occurring on the consumer side. Industries ranging from automotive to manufacturing to fast food are automating to various degrees. In some cases, "cobots" are empowering existing workers by removing manual labor and letting them focus on the more creative and high-touch aspects of the job. No one knows how this change is likely to affect the future job market. One possibility is that automation will eliminate manual labor and allow human workers to be more creative. It's also likely that the new technology will create jobs that we can't imagine today. For instance, titles like "chief listening officer" and "social media manager" didn't exist 15 years ago. Who knows what jobs will be available in 2032? Here's how automation is already occurring at various industries: Automobiles: No industry uses more robots than the auto industry. According to the International Federation of Robotics (IFRA), the industry uses close to 100,000 robots. Between 2010 and 2015, robot sales to the auto industry rose 20 percent on average per year. There's little mystery why: A human welder in a U.S. factory costs $25 an hour, including benefits, according to a 2015 Boston Consulting Group study. Comparatively, a robot costs $8 per hour over a five-year period, including installation, maintenance and operating costs. By 2030, that figure could drop to $2, according to the study. Electronics: Computers create robots, of course, but now robots are creating computers as well. The IFRA reports that this segment's spend on robotics spiked 41 percent in 2015 to 64,600 units. That's more than double the amount in 2010. Manufacturing: There are many ways that automated factories are more efficient. Internet-connected factories can gauge when maintenance is needed and avoid downtime. Sensors can also provide real-time insights and track data that let manufacturers use resources more efficiently. For instance, a sensor could figure out which parts of the process are using the most energy and transfer or limit that energy use. Food: The food industry has used robots for manual labor like lifting and packing. However, they have recently begun moving to the production line. Robots are outfitted with food-compatible lubricants and stainless steel parts to handle food in very cold environments where humans couldn't work. Robots have also recently begun preparing food as well. In March 2017, CaliBurger in California introduced Flippy, a burger-flipping bot. In addition, robotic process automation is hitting industries like insurance, accounting and finance. The long-term implications of such changes are that jobs that involve manual processing — mental or physical — have a good chance of being automated. Those preparing for the workforce of tomorrow would be wise to focus on doing what machines can't do — like think creatively, synthesize ideas and perform "high-touch" jobs like nursing, physical therapy and sales. Of course, someone will also need to create and keep track of these machines, as well. At the moment, nobody really knows how all of this will evolve, not even Alexa.

The Automation Revolution Is Here

In 2018, as catastrophic wildfires raged across California and other Western states, hard-pressed firefighters got a hand from an unexpected source. According to SpaceNews, satellites designed to provide warning of ballistic missile attacks were pressed into service to provide infrared imagery of the wildfires — remote sensing data that gave fire agencies a detailed, big-picture view of the blaze to guide them in deploying firefighters, water-bombing aircraft and other assets. The assistance also highlighted an unexpected challenge. The computer software that handled the satellites and their warning data was proprietary, and the Pentagon and the contractors who developed the software had to work on the fly to convert the data into a form civilian fire agencies could read and interpret. Tripping the Light Fantastic The episode highlighted two things: the capability of space-based sensors in guiding the response to a real-world emergency, and the complex challenges that arise from technology that has both defense and civilian applications. NASA defines remote sensing as simply "the acquiring of information from a distance." For space sensors looking down at Earth, the distance ranges from a few hundred miles for satellites in low orbit to upward of 23,000 miles for satellites in geosynchronous orbits. The information acquired at this distance is derived primarily from electromagnetic radiation — using visible light and its cousins at different wavelengths, such as infrared and radio waves. Photographs of Earth and its landscapes (and seascapes) from space are the most familiar of these. Anyone who has looked for their house on a satellite map, such as Google Maps, has experienced a taste of this technology. In overall impact, these satellite map images can range from gorgeous to terrifying — sometimes both at once — and they also contain a vast wealth of detailed data. Remote sensors tuned to other wavelengths can provide a further wealth of detail that can either be converted to visible imagery for viewing or processed and analyzed by specialized tools. The More You Know, the More You Need to Learn The range and variety of these sensing tools and the tasks for which they can be applied are so wide, they almost defy any quick summary — as a glance at the NASA and Frontiers in Remote Sensing discussion of this technology makes clear. Infrared observations of land and ocean surface not only provide direct temperature data but also a wealth of information on everything from crop health to ocean currents. Mining can be guided by hints of rare minerals in surface imagery. Frontiers notes that space imagery has even aided investigation of the COVID-19 pandemic, providing "datasets that utilize diverse targeted visualization to classify human environments," which could then be mapped onto social, economic and other data sources to provide insights into how the virus attacks communities. Sixty years of technology progress in space-based sensing from the first satellite imagery has paradoxically made the challenges of space sensing greater. The reason, per Frontiers, is that while technology progress can "improve the information content of the observations, the data is never fully sufficient to uniquely characterize all of the geophysical parameters of interest; the list of desired observables grows continuously with the advancement of science." Really, this is the whole history of scientific observation in a nutshell: The more we can see, the more we discover new things that we should be looking for. In the case of space sensing, improved sensors allow us — and challenge us — to observe finer details, both in terms of size (finer image resolution) and detection of subtle details. To gain the full value of this wealth of data, it must be cataloged and cross-correlated, so people who use the information can find it when they need it. Piercing the Veil of Secrecy As our overall capabilities have grown, so have our defense-related capabilities — from the ability to find and identify a previously secret airfield to the ability to pinpoint a single armored vehicle, even when backed into underbrush in an attempt at concealment. The overall effect of this capability has been positive. As the Defense Department notes, satellite observations "have reduced the ability of all countries to perform sensitive military activities undetected." This is particularly significant in relation to closed societies: It has become vastly harder for anyone to build a secret base or conceal their military operations from the world. At the same time, as the challenge of providing defense-satellite data to firefighters showed, the civilian-military overlap in sensing capabilities and requirements adds a further layer of complication to the overall problem of providing access to sensor information. Of course, using and managing this fast-growing branch of our knowledge and capabilities is still a work in progress. Though we're only at the beginning of grasping the full potential of remote sensing — and overcoming the challenges posed in balancing defense with other responsibilities — the future looks bright. Are you interested in all things related to technology? We are, too. Check out Northrop Grumman career opportunities to see how you can participate in this fascinating time of discovery.

Remote Sensing: The Close-Up View From Space

Biomimicry, the design and production of solutions modeled after nature, has resulted in many inventions that are helping solve human challenges. From Kingfisher birds inspiring the nose cap design of Shinkansen bullet trains to an optoelectronic camouflage system mimicking the skins of cephalopods, nature-based technologies allow humans to develop solutions that once seemed impossible. In recent years, engineers have developed recoverable or expendable autonomous systems that can imitate animal swarming to search unknown territories and perform complex tasks. These robotic platforms — drone swarms — can organize themselves into different flight patterns or spread out and work individually to complete a mission. Companies across multiple industries have found practical uses for swarming technology to help solve problems in challenging environments. Urban Combat Operations  Current mission operations in urban settings rely on dismounted soldiers who have limited situational awareness of their surroundings. City landscapes pose many disadvantages that can leave warfighters vulnerable and prevent them from being readily available when needed. Soldiers must have the ability to look around corners and see through doors to see if any threats, like insurgents, are lurking in a surprise trap. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) OFFensive Swarm-Enabled Tactics (OFFSET) program aims to improve small-unit urban combat operations through enhanced manned-unmanned teaming with over 250 small air and ground vehicles. OFFSET utilizes low-cost air and ground vehicles that can operate as a heterogeneous swarm to achieve diverse mission objectives. In the future, these swarming platforms will offer more eyes and ears on the battlefield to detect and combat threats. "Swarm technology enables warfighters to solve problems in complex environments more efficiently and creatively," said Erin Cherry, program manager in Emerging Capabilities Development at Northrop Grumman, a Swarm Systems Integrator for OFFSET. "Attritable, unmanned platforms collaborate as a swarm to help warfighters asymmetrically gain an understanding of a situation, make decisions, and take actions." OFFSET swarming technology is built on top of Robot Operating System. The vehicles used for swarming are the Uvify IFO-S air vehicles and the Aion R1 ground vehicles. Each vehicle has sensors and algorithms for behaviors like coordination, collision avoidance, and path planning. Intra-agent communication between platforms is enabled with a mesh network. OFFSET incorporates artificial intelligence and cooperative autonomy in a variety of ways from object recognition and classification to multi-agent swarm tactics. A human operator defines a high level plan with an advanced sketch-based user interface and then the swarm coordinates their actions to efficiently perform the mission. Space Exploration  Researchers at California State University Northridge are turning to much smaller, insect-like drone swarms for extraterrestrial applications. Essentially, these robots will be dropped into unexplored space territories to autonomously complete tasks they're given. The platforms will be able to problem solve in austere environments and adjust to challenges, like reorganizing their formations to accommodate the loss of any individual systems. These rover swarms are an alternative to larger space exploration programs. Their built-in redundancy allows for more opportunity to complete the mission, whereas if a larger rover encountered a fatal error, the mission would end in failure. The swarms can also self-assemble into smaller groups to survey more ground and accomplish multiple tasks, which would take a single rover significantly more time to perform. Expendable insect-like swarming systems will give researchers a better method to collect planetary data that could explain the many mysteries of the universe. Disaster Relief  As recent wildfires wreaked havoc across the globe, emergency responders are turning to swarming technology to help extinguish rampant fires and for search and rescue operations. Drone swarms use artificial intelligence and machine learning to map the spread of the fire with points of interest that need immediate attention. These systems will provide emergency responders with a situational awareness they have lacked due to hostile conditions of the environment. The autonomous vehicles can deliver real-time imagery to emergency responders that will equip them with the most accurate information. Swarms are able to maneuver through tight areas that reconnaissance helicopters cannot fit through and can fly low enough to capture accurate footage. These images can help identify potential openings for fire fighters who need to be on the ground fighting off flames. Some drone swarms are also equipped with thermal imaging cameras that can detect the location of stranded individuals through heavy smoke. Northrop Grumman and Carnegie Mellon University have recently partnered to sponsor five artificial intelligence research projects that seek to address different aspects of natural disaster response. The projects aim to improve small unmanned aerial vehicle rescue capabilities and human-machine communications. The initiative — titled Strategic, Operational and Tactical Emergency Recovery through Innovations in AI (SOTERIA) — supports the Department of Defense's push for better humanitarian aid and disaster relief technologies. Swarming technology allows emergency responders to better survey life-threatening areas at a further distance and respond quicker to the wildfire. These robotic platforms could potentially minimize the damage of natural disasters and reduce the cost of the overall rescue operation. The potential these drone swarms provide will change how we approach disaster relief, space exploration, and urban operations. With this technology, humans will be able to survey unknown territories and problem solve in a much more strategic way through advanced manned-unmanned teaming. Interested in working on the forefront of emerging capabilities? See how you can fit at Northrop Grumman.

Swarming Behavior: Drone Swarms to Survey Unknown Environments

While technology may seem to be moving away from nature, scientists are researching biomimicry architecture — looking at the animal world for inspiration on drone and robot design. By observing traits like skeletal structure and muscle and neural networks from different animal species as examples of biomimicry blueprints, scientists could model technology after nature to develop drones that fly more effectively or robots that have more fluid and natural movements. Three types of creatures are leading the way in influencing how drones and robots will navigate the future. Birds When it comes to applying animal biology to drone creation, the best place to look is in the air. Birds are influencing the way drones fly for obvious reasons, but also because special traits result in unique flight methods for different types of birds. For example, owls need to be able to hunt quietly. Their silent, aerodynamic wings make this possible; a low aspect ratio and large wingspan causes them to fly slower. The skeletal structure of the bird of prey's wings also contributes to virtually silent flight, with serrations on the edge of their wings and fringed feather vanes completing the effect, according to the Royal Society. Scientists could use these traits to create quieter drones for use in public spaces — delivery drones, for example — according to Seeker. Birds have also influenced the way drones can fly in bad weather or hard winds, providing additional examples of biomimicry. Researchers at the é‰cole Polytechnique Fé©dé©rale de Lausanne Laboratory of Intelligent Systems used synthetic wings to help create a drone that can take sharp turns and navigate urban spaces or areas where the wind can change rapidly. They drew inspiration from birds' ability to change the shape of their wings using their unique skeletal structure, according to Seeker. Even waterfowl are getting the biomimicry treatment. Diving birds inspired the creation of the Aquatic Micro Air Vehicle (AquaMAV) at the Aerial Robotics Laboratory at Imperial College London. The AquaMAV can dive directly into the water at high speeds, popping back up and expelling water through a jet to return to flight easily. Applications for this type of robot vary from collecting water samples to rescue missions and underwater exploration, according to Seeker. Insects When it comes to making microrobots fly and navigate more efficiently, insects provide the perfect guide. Butterflies have large wingspans that allow for gliding through the sky with low drag rates, and their forewings produce maximum lift. These features could inspire similar wing structures in flying microrobots, enabling them to fly further and avoid mishaps quickly, according to the Royal Society. Recently, a study from the University of Queensland's Queensland Brain Institute indicated that honeybees have preferences for left- and right-handedness when in flight. According to Professor Mandyam Srinivasan, this could inform strategies for steering drone fleets. This isn't the first time Srinivasan and his team have drawn inspiration from the natural world when it comes to aircraft development. Last year, they released a study that proved birds don't crash in flight because they always veer right, which could have implications for automatic anti-crash systems in aircraft, according to The University of Queensland, Australia. Reptiles Other researchers, like Professor Robert J. Full from the University of California Berkley Poly-Pedal Lab, focus on animal body structures to develop biomechanics. Full's team focuses on features big and small to figure out what traits serve animals best and how to re-create them in robots. For example, the natural world provided the team with inspiration for an autonomous amphibious robot that can travel underwater, a robot that can climb walls like a gecko and more. The Future of Drones The pace of technology's advancement depends on researchers figuring out new ways to make machines more efficient and adaptable. The best examples of those traits come from nature and can be tapped into through biomimicry architecture. If current trends are maintained, we may come to a point where the things that make animals unique are the same things that make drones and robots astounding.

Biomimicry Architecture is Influencing Robot Design

Who among us hasn't stared up at a hawk or a vulture circling lazily in the sky and wondered how they stay aloft so long? Or wondered how sky-darkening flocks of migrating birds can travel thousands of miles so quickly and so effortlessly? Researchers are now able to tackle these questions more systematically using biomimicry, the process of imitating nature's systems to solve complex human problems. Their goal is to develop an artificial intelligence algorithm that will allow gliders — either piloted or autonomous sailplanes — to mimic the flight behavior and endurance of birds. Soon, AI in aviation will transform the types of missions that gliders perform. Gliding Like Birds Popular Mechanics has documented the fact that birds use updrafts (zones of rising air created by topographical features such as mountains and cliffs) and thermals (rising columns of warm air) to stay aloft for extended periods of time. How they identify and navigate these zones of rising air — which form, disintegrate and shift constantly in three-dimensional space — is not well understood. Experienced glider pilots typically use visual cues from lofty cumulus clouds (often fueled by thermals) and warmer, darker areas of terrain to discover the presence of thermals. Field Training Gautam Reddy, a graduate student in physics, and a team of his colleagues at the University of California, San Diego, have studied these questions and reported their findings in a recent issue of Nature magazine. They equipped a two-meter-wingspan, radio-controlled glider with a flight controller and instruments that could measure vertical wind accelerations along the length of the glider and across its wings. Their working theory was that birds use similar sensory information to identify and navigate thermals. Between 2015 and 2017, they conducted more than 500 flights near Poway, Calif., each one lasting 20 to 30 minutes. The goal was to train the glider in a concept called "reinforcement" to navigate thermals autonomously. They used their measurements to build a simple algorithm that would steer the glider toward zones of higher lift. Taming Unpredictability Unfortunately, explained Reddy, atmospheric conditions vary so much hour to hour and day to day, even in the same location, that building a robust AI algorithm for glider aviation using field measurements alone is quite challenging. "AI algorithms require a lot of data," he said. "One way to add fidelity to the algorithm would be to use numerical simulation and a process called model-based learning." This approach, which his team did not use, would involve "flying" a simulated glider repeatedly through a simulated atmospheric environment containing realistic thermals, convective currents and turbulence. Atmospheric data and the glider's response to those conditions could be collected on each simulated flight, then used to systematically update and refine the AI algorithm. Reddy is not sure, however, if biomimicry or trying to learn from birds is the best approach for building an effective AI algorithm for gliders. "We see birds navigating thermals, but we're really not sure what they are sensing or feeling as they fly," he said. Data From Gliders A better strategy, Reddy proposes, would be to extract visual and other sensor information from gliders themselves. "State-of-the-art gliders actually have better aerodynamic properties than birds," he said. "We can also use instruments to gather higher accuracy measurements of temperature, wind velocity, humidity, barometric pressure and other relevant data." AI in the Cockpit Before turning glider controls over to AI algorithms, however, Reddy suggests that we first try out AI as a navigational aid for pilots, the same way we use Google Maps today while driving. "A pilot would still fly his sailplane as before," he said, "but he would use the AI algorithm to suggest the fastest, most efficient route to his destination, taking advantage of the fastest-flowing streets (thermals) along the route." New Rules of Engagement AI in aviation offers some tantalizing prospects. "If we can come up with a glider that's as efficient as a bird, it could travel across continents," said Reddy. "That capability could be extremely useful for surveillance or remote sensing missions." The one limitation, he admitted, is that gliders rely on thermals, which are normally present during daylight hours only. Nonetheless, AI-controlled gliders could be a perfect complement to high-altitude surveillance systems such as the U.S. Air Force's Global Hawk unmanned aircraft. "Gliders are very small, unpowered and virtually silent," said Reddy. "So they would not need to fly at high altitude. I think they could provide our military commanders with some very interesting options." Northrop Grumman is a leader in the development of autonomous aerial reconnaissance systems. If you'd like to explore opportunities to help your career soar, check out our Careers page. 

Biomimicry Gives a Lift to AI in Aviation

The first Drone Racing League (DRL) series was announced by ESPN last fall. Complete with crashes and tricked-out courses, the competitions are built to entertain fans. The events combine cutting-edge aerial vehicle technology with Hollywood-quality courses to deliver races packed with speed ... and crashes.Viewers are taken along for a ride thanks to onboard cameras that provide first-person views (FPV) that allow pilots the freedom to push the limits of the devices.FPV is unique in that it provides a viewpoint that is otherwise unachievable. Racing drones can perform maneuvers that would render a human pilot unconscious and, thanks to their size, they are able to operate in places where manned vehicles simply cannot.A Sporty ApproachAutonomous aerial systems have been around for a few decades but the launch of competitions is bound to drive further innovation. Sport and competition is what has driven vehicle innovation for more than a century, since the first automobile races of the late 1800s.The DRL series is driven by strict regulations and requirements. This is not unlike the design specifications adhered to by aerospace companies. Each has unique operating environments and vehicles are packed with carbon-fiber bodies, efficient motor control systems and low-latency, high-precision control mechanisms.The agility and precision control software it takes to get a drone through a series of checkpoints is an accessible display of technology. Measuring about 10 inches across and weighing in just under a pound, an official DRL vehicle can reach speeds of up to 120 mph.Speed and Agility RequiredThe vehicles you see on ESPN are designed for, as the DRL puts it, "speed, agility, and durability." Airing drone racing makes it accessible to the masses but aerospace companies have been doing that for years, and they take durability and range seriously.Take the U.S. Navy's MQ-8C Fire Scout. The Northrop Grumman-designed Fire Scout is nearly 50 times larger (41.4 feet) and 6,000 times heavier than its model counterpart, but is also able to carry a 500-pound payload and hit top speeds of more than 150 mph.Northrop Grumman also took on a monumental challenge of engineering, precision and control while becoming the first to land and launch an autonomous aerial system from an aircraft carrier, with the U.S. Navy's X-47B UCAS-D in 2013.In 2016, DARPA announced Northrop Grumman as the winner of a nearly $100-million contract to develop a new form of autonomous aerial system. Most of that development is still top secret, but it'll make drone racing devices look like the toys that they are.Seeing Is BelievingWe may not all be fighter pilots, but getting a ride in the cockpit is still the best way to experience what is happening in the industry. Enthusiasts in the San Diego area, a hotbed of aviation activity, were treated to a fierce, team-based competition of autonomous aerial systems working in concert at the Northrop Grumman-hosted Quad Cup in August.Everyone who wants to see autonomous aerial systems continue development should be pushing to have more people experience that thrill. One of the leading makers of FPV drones, Lumenier, is quoted as saying their main marketing channel is to sponsor pilots in drone racing events.The FAA does not regularly release data on how many operators there are out there, but as of May 2016, there were reports of more than 500,000 registered drones in the United States. Add in the recent holiday season and that number will soon approach a million.What's next for drone racing? As the commercial and military markets leap forward with innovation, the push towards truly trusted cognitive autonomy may result in flying robots that make their own decisions, untethered by the limits of the joystick.

A Sporty Approach to Drone Racing

Many viable solutions for climate change will likely involve pairing advanced technology with legacy applications. For example, going driverless might be good for the planet, as autonomous vehicles such as the MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system (UAS) and driverless cars produce fewer emissions than traditional manned options. In a similar vein, electric planes might make the most sense for counteracting climate change in the area of regional air travel. Electric Planes for Short Hops Vancouver-based Harbour Air plans to operate the world's first all-electric seaplane fleet, and as the Canadian Broadcasting Commission notes, Harbour Air has already conducted test flights with its electric-powered planes. Once they are certified as airworthy and ready for passenger flights, the airline plans to start using them on its regular commercial routes, which include short regional flights between Vancouver and the British Columbia capital, Victoria, for example. The airline already uses small propeller planes to connect up and down the Pacific Northwest coast, flying regularly between Seattle, Vancouver, Whistler and the Gulf Islands. The existing commercial itinerary is perfect for electrification. The world's largest electric plane flew in May of 2020 just a little further south down the coast from Vancouver, BC. The BBC reports that the nine-seater modified Cessna test plane made aviation history above a field in central Washington State, flying for 30 minutes above Grant County International Airport and becoming the first commercial airplane to be powered for takeoff and flight exclusively by electricity. Weight and Power Limit Battery-Powered Flights The reason why shorter routes are more suitable to electric planes is that they are comfortably within the range of the on-board batteries needed to power the flights. Battery-powered flight is limited by the battery power itself, and in terms of energy density, batteries fall way behind aviation fuel. This means that even if enough battery power could be placed on board a typical commercial jet liner, the jet could only fly for 1,000 km (621 miles) rather than its usual range of 15,000 km (9,320 miles). However, despite the relative lack of power and reduced range, electric flight could offer the benefits of cost savings and reduced emissions. A significant portion of global air travel is short haul, over distances suitable for electric planes, and the 30-minute modified Cessna flight cost only $6 compared to between $300 and $400 for a similar flight using conventional aviation fuel. Autonomous Handling, Higher Altitude and Longer Flights for Lower Emissions? Staying up in the air for a lot longer could also help to reduce emissions, as the MQ-4C Triton shows. Used for surveillance and reconnaissance, the MQ-4C Triton's advanced technology includes a 360-degree sensor payload that is well protected against environmental conditions frequently encountered at high altitudes and over marine environments. What goes up must come down, but keeping the vehicle in the air for longer can reduce its emissions and fuel costs, as takeoff and landing are the most fuel-hungry parts of flight, according to Center for Climate and Energy Solutions. As an autonomous aircraft system, the MQ-4C Triton has a flight duration of around 24 hours. Flying stats show that the MQ-4C Triton does differ from traditional manned flights considerably in terms of emissions. This is due to its design, which utilizes a smaller fuselage on a bigger wingspan to create better flying efficiency. Autonomous flight capabilities also help, as pre-programming a flight lets the on-board system fly with much greater efficiency than a human pilot could achieve, and at altitudes around 50,000 feet (15.24 km), where it is easier to cruise without guzzling fuel. Compared to the equivalent manned system, this UAS not only uses less fuel but also emits 34 times less carbon dioxide. One standard flight uses the equivalent of a 55,922-mile (nearly 90,000 km) car journey, while fuel consumption for its manned counterparts rockets to the equivalent of almost 2 million miles for a similar flight. Hybrid Options for Reduced Emissions Because commercial air travel requires flights over longer distances, but usually not for 24 hours at a stretch, UAS commercial flights may not be the way forward. Instead, researchers are exploring hybrid options that combine traditional fuel engines with advanced electric plane technology. For example, MIT News has reported on a hybrid electric plane concept that uses a gas turbine to create electric power for the propulsion system. In their turbo-electric concept, a gas turbine powers an electric generator, which in turn powers the propellers or fans on the airplane wings. Because the gas turbine exhaust can be contained in this system, it can be passed through an emissions control system that scrubs out harmful nitrogen oxide particles, one of the major sources of pollution from airplanes. Furthermore, airplane electrification using this approach would not add as much extra weight as batteries would. Another tactic that can help reduce emissions is replacing traditional surveillance methods that involve manned flights with the MQ-4C Triton and only calling in manned aircraft once a target is located and accurately mapped. With this approach, the gas-guzzling airplane would only need to fly out when it's necessary and wouldn't have to spend time in the air searching. While we might not be spending 24 hours on a UAS flight in the future, it's likely that we will be able to leverage electric power for certain flights, rather than relying exclusively on fossil fuels. Check out Northrop Grumman career opportunities to see how you can participate in this fascinating time of discovery in science, technology and engineering.

How Advanced Technology Is Creating New Solutions for Climate Change

Key Takeaways Current diagnostic tech relies heavily on the efforts of medical professionals. Artificial intelligence could help speed up the process and improve diagnostic outputs. AI won't replace healthcare staff — instead, the future of diagnostics will be a tandem effort.Despite years of training and experience — and a vast wealth of medical knowledge at their fingertips — doctors still have difficulty pinpointing certain conditions and diseases. Artificial intelligence (AI) holds the promise of reshaping diagnostic technology and helping doctors finally put a finger on diseases that have a way of eluding detection.What Is Diagnostic Technology?Diagnostics is the process of identifying diseases or other health conditions. Diagnostic technologies help streamline these efforts.According to the World Health Organization, these technologies include "medical devices, techniques and procedures used for in vitro and in vivo determination of physiological status or presence and characteristics of a disease."How Is AI Used in Diagnostics?Some of the most evasive diseases could be easier to detect with AI-supported diagnostic technology. This technology can scan thousands of medical records and analyze data that might escape medical professionals' attention, improving the time-consuming process of classifying medical records.Electronic health records (EHRs) potentially possess bits of insight that can lead to more precise diagnoses and improved healthcare. According to a 2022 Report to Congress from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, 96% of all non-federal acute care hospitals use EHRs.While the digitization of patient records makes it easier for medical professionals to access key data on demand, this information still needs to be read by a doctor. The tedious nature of the process — not to mention the role of fatigue and distraction from other pressing issues — may cause a health professional to overlook a symptom or misdiagnose a condition.AI, meanwhile, doesn't get tired. Give intelligent tools a set of instructions and turn them loose on large data sets, and they're perfectly capable of working day and night until they find an answer or discover a connection, no matter how minute.Making a DifferenceAI-enabled technology is already helping improve diagnostic accuracy.As noted by the World Economic Forum, a Japanese startup has developed an endoscopic AI tool that can analyze images in 0.02 seconds and accurately determine if cancer is present in 94% of cases. While accuracy is similar for human physicians, it takes them 4 seconds on average to read an image. By using AI, doctors can speed up the screening process while still keeping human oversight intact.AI is also improving the early detection of illnesses, such as pancreatic cancer. Researchers at Mayo Clinic have introduced an AI technology that can automatically detect cancer in CT scans — in some cases, the technology was able to detect cancer up to 475 days before its eventual, clinical diagnosis. With most pancreatic cancer patients still receiving their diagnosis when they've reached advanced stages of the disease, this AI-driven approach could help improve treatment options and reduce mortality rates.Work out of Germany, meanwhile, focuses on the use of AI to detect rare types of gastrointestinal diseases, according to News Medical. The new AI model only needs training data from less-common diseases to reliably detect their less-frequency counterparts. Using what's known as anomaly detection, the model can quickly recognize and flag deviations from "normal" tissue, which may indicate a gastrointestinal issue.The Future of Artificial Intelligence and MedicineAI diagnostics can help support — not supplant — medical professionals. While intelligent tools excel at data entry, capture and analysis, they come up short in context. Put simply, humans are more than the sum of our symptoms; what works for one patient may not work for another, even if their disease presentation is almost identical.The result is a shared future for AI and medical staff. High-tech tools can help reduce the amount of time doctors spend sifting through records and offer insightful observations on potential diagnoses. Armed with this information, healthcare professionals are better prepared to meet patients where they are and create personalized treatment plans.Discover how Northrop Grumman is leading the way in AI and machine learning. 

The Future of Diagnostic Technology and Artificial Intelligence

The future of grocery stores may rely on finding new uses for AI, partly because of how we've all been forced to change our habits lately. Instead of just being a routine but necessary part of domestic life, shopping for groceries has recently come with potential health risks, supply chain issues leading to reduced inventories, and socially distanced interactions. Buying habits and the push for contactless shopping are shaping the way we shop, and AI technology underpins much of the innovation we're seeing in the grocery store. An Adapting Grocery Store The COVID-19 pandemic has brought forward features such as contactless payment, online order and delivery, and social distancing in stores. These new experiences have accelerated consumer expectations for the retail experience. According to Forbes, the future of grocery stores depends on making shopping a good experience for shoppers. Customers want not only ease and convenience but also less frustration, a personalized shopping experience and the ability to switch from in-person to online browsing with delivery to the home. But, far from heralding a no-contact, machine-only, isolated experience, artificial intelligence could also free up in-store personnel for more personal interaction with shoppers. According to Itrex Group, the top AI functions in retail will be customer care and personalization, quality control, inventory management and pricing, and fraud detection. There is the potential to collect massive amounts of data within grocery stores using AI, and leveraging this for consumer and business benefit is the way forward. An Intelligent Cart Salon describes the Caper Cart as the world's first AI-powered shopping cart. Instead of outfitting the retail bricks and mortar with sensors and other tools needed for automation, the Caper Cart trundles along the aisles fully equipped. Sensors in the cart monitor purchases. Cameras in the four corners of the cart record what goes in or coming out. There's a built-in weighing pad that can calculate the weight of all those bananas and even prices them. While you're shopping up and down the aisles, Caper Cart is keeping tabs on your buying habits and can make personalized recommendations based on what you've added. For example, adding one produce item could trigger a suggestion for an ingredient that pairs well with it or point you toward an on-sale item that matches what you're looking for. This type of 'sensory' shopping also makes inventory management easier for the store. Canadian Grocer notes that the retail chain Sobey's is trialing Caper Cart. Solutions like this make it easier for any size of business, not just the giants, to add AI tech without having to equip an entire store. Smart Grocery Stores Fitting out an entire store to take advantage of AI technology could make sense for larger chains in particular. For instance, Amazon Go stores were configured as completely cashier-free — a series of cameras and other sensors monitor what shoppers take from shelves for automatic check out. Removing the need to check out means no more queuing for the till. Described as 'Just Walk Out' technology in a Seattle Times article, the concept may also be rolled out in Amazon Fresh stores. The smart grocery store also keeps an eye on produce: AI-enabled cameras can watch the store's fruit and vegetables to ensure that ripeness is optimal and quality produce is always available to the shopper. Smart Brief notes that AI technology like this can help manage store workflows, increase efficiency and even enable voice assistance for a hands-free experience. Robo Global Insights describes how Walmart is using an autonomous workforce paired with an AI network to achieve greater efficiency. Shelf-stocking robots can reach both high and low, and can keep an eye on inventory levels, scanning shelves for missing items and then replacing them. Smart shelves can also help with monitoring inventory, keeping the aisles filled at just the right level to encourage consumer purchases. If there's a spill, smart sensors can alert a clean-up crew for rapid response. Robot-Assisted AI AI technology coupled with robots can make the delivery process more smooth as well. In addition to stocking shelves, automated robots can select items from them too. When a customer order comes in, an automated system can select and pack items for delivery. In the United Kingdom, Ocado uses robots to scan the inventory and prepare a customer's order ready for delivery. Once the order is packed, the next step is delivery to the door, and driverless vehicles are on the way to take it from there. Fortune notes that grocery deliveries via Waymo could be coming to some San Francisco shoppers this year. Despite how rapidly the world has changed and adapted to new public health concerns, the grocery store remains a constant in most people's lives. New technologies repurposed for the supermarket will push groceries to be more accessible, safer, and maybe even more fun to use. Are you interested in all things related to technology? We are too. Check out Northrop Grumman career opportunities to see how you can participate in this fascinating time of discovery.

The Future of Grocery Stores Lies with AI Technology

Infrastructure is designed to last many years, but what happens when roads crumble, bridges crack and new research presents better options for electric grids and water systems? Infrastructure technology — like self-healing concrete, embedded sensors, high-speed rail and alternative energy sources — is available, but introducing it to a busy city is complicated and expensive. With our world becoming highly technological, there are tons of instances where we see modernization occurring with old infrastructures. Transportation technology and synthetic biology could change the way cities operate, but is it better to slowly chip away and replace, or just start anew? Out With the Old As infrastructure technology evolves, old infrastructures can either be repaired or replaced entirely. Any improvement is likely to disrupt the lives of the people around the infrastructure, especially massive projects such as a highway overhaul. Take Boston's Big Dig project, for example.  The goal of the Big Dig was to revamp the city's traffic flow in an ambitious attempt to modernize streets that were not originally designed for automobiles. In the end, according to the Boston Globe, the project was eight years behind schedule, billions of dollars over budget and included infamous mistakes such as design flaws, faulty concrete and a ceiling collapse that killed a car passenger in one of the new tunnels. Despite these colossal failures, the Globe concludes that there is a "grudging appreciation" for the Big Dig, which eventually wrangled traffic and created some of the most "valuable urban real estate" in the nation. Several infrastructure overhauls are in progress today all around the world. Business Insider described the newly expanded Panama Canal, whose construction tripled the capacity of the waterway 102 years after it was built. London is upgrading its underground system with the Crossrail project, the largest construction project ever undertaken in Europe. Business Insider reports, "In 2026, an Iraqi skyscraper known as 'The Bride' will feature a 'veil' of solar panels and produce as much energy as it consumes. It'll be 3,779 feet tall and contain parks, offices, restaurants, and a rail system." In With the New Every year, U.S. roads and highways handle more than 4.3 trillion passenger miles, according to Transportation Creates Jobs. Highway upgrades could pose a serious issue for travelers. This is where technology comes in. Instead of tearing out an entirely new highway, for example, older sections of the road could be replaced with self-healing concrete. According to CNN, researchers at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands created bioconcrete, which is mixed just like regular concrete but also includes a special healing agent. Concrete is the world's most popular building material, but it will eventually crack and let water inside, which can lead to a collapse. This new concrete includes bacteria. When it gets wet, the bacteria will germinate and produce limestone which conveniently closes up the cracks. Infrastructure for Smart Cities Another gradual modernization option is adding sensors to existing structures. According to Mashable, cities such as Atlanta and San Diego are already adding sensors to bridges and street lights, which can be used to monitor things like traffic, air quality and bridge stability. The American Society of Civil Engineers gives our current national infrastructure a score of D+, but says plans for improvements include a smart grid for water, which puts sensors under manhole covers that can tell information about pressure, and placing sensors on customers' faucets to capture information about water quality. At the moment, our cities are already filled with sensors. According to The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), although there are already as many as 100+ million sensors in smartphones, cars, and homes in a major city, these do not form an infrastructure because the sensors are unrelated. If a system is created for sharing data, those individual sensing points could work together to provide a truly modern infrastructure for a smart city. 

Sensors, Sensors Everywhere: Infrastructure Technology

Alarmist news reporting warns of robots eventually replacing human employees. There isn't cause to worry just yet, so banish all thoughts of Rossum's Universal Robots rising up against their human overlords. It's not all doom and gloom. From companionship to pizza delivery, robots can handle lots of simple and not-so-simple tasks that demonstrate how they can help humans. Robotic Assistance When considering the potential benefits of robots, start by thinking through your daily routine. Is there anything you would gladly let a robot take over? Though they're relatively small in size, there are robots making a big impact in areas of everyday life. Gardening: If you enjoy watching your Roomba trundle around after dust bunnies, just think how awesome it would be to have an outdoor robot that kills weeds in your garden. Franklin Robotics' Tertill uses solar power and four-wheel drive to wage war on your weeds on a daily basis. This waterproof garden tank rumbles around rain or shine. Pizza: Maybe you'll use the time you saved in the garden to pick up a pizza. Or maybe not; Domino's customers in Hamburg, Germany, have the option of getting one delivered by robot. The six-wheeled, curb-climbing Starship Technologies vehicles trundle along sidewalks at around 4 mph with a payload of around four pizzas. According to Wired, onboard sensors allow the unit to avoid both foot and auto traffic as it crosses streets and navigates routes up to a mile from the pizzeria. While other companies are using drone technology for deliveries, Starship Technologies says it has tested the system in 6 countries and 59 cities and states that there are advantages to keeping robots on the ground, such as "No high-speed crashes, no tangling with the FAA for regulatory approval, no reliance on technology that's still in development or overly expensive." Need a Hand? Venom Extraction: Do you have a tank full of scorpions to milk? There's a robot for that. According to The Society for Experimental Biology, a research team in Morocco has a lightweight and portable scorpion-milking robot that is gentle with both the insect and the human handler. While SEB notes that scorpion venom is beneficial for "immunosuppressants, anti-malarial drugs and cancer research," they also state that "the extraction process can be potentially life-threatening." Hopefully, this invention will decrease life-threatening risks, making electrical shock or accidental envenomation a thing of the past. Travel and Telecommuting: Robots can now stand in for you at conferences, as described by Wired. Tired of commuting to work? This Oculus Rift-based VR project from MIT gives you the option to control robots remotely via telecommuting.  Music: What about how robots can help humans in the arts? Lonely musicians should take note of Nigel Stanford's automated bandmates. At Robotic Arm's Length Along with helping with daily tasks, robots can also keep you out of danger. As well as unmanned systems removing land mines, there are other robots designed for danger zones. For example, the University of Nevada, Reno, has aerial robots designed to fly around toxic environments like the abandoned Manhattan Project sites, mapping hazards for eventual cleanup, as described by Unmanned Aerial Systems Magazine. Instead of exposing operatives to radiation, chemical hazards and extreme environments, remote operation places robots at the sharp end of disasters. How about robot security guards patrolling the neighborhood? Business Insider suggests that Silicon Valley firms may soon be patrolled by security guards that never need a bathroom break. These robots are not built to tackle but to scan; through an array of sensors, the mechanical guards monitor the environment. When challenged with unusual activity, they sound the alarm to deter intruders or bring help.  Will robots ultimately replace the need for human labor, or will they enhance our lives in ways we never imagined? It remains to be seen, but the possibilities seem endless.

Benefits of Robots in Modern Life — Humans Need Not Apply

 The earth's oceans cover 70 percent of the planet's surface, so it's no surprise they end up a receptacle for all kinds of things that move on the soil. Controversy — for example, the oceans' status as a temperature sink — has made research into ocean currents and temperature a primary battleground for debate over climate change.Drifters In the effort to better understand seawater temperatures and the movement of ocean currents, the oceans have also become home to some 3,000 floating measurement devices, called "drifters." These myriad devices, designed by different researchers with differing objectives, all conform to one standard: the Argo standard. Even as Argo expands ever further into the ocean depths, new systems are coming into place, along with new controversies. The Argo system itself helped fuel a significant climate science controversy over the past two decades: the so-called global warming "hiatus," in which the rise of ocean temperatures appeared to slow dramatically. It was, University of California, Berkeley researchers now say, the result of moving from inferior shipboard measurement systems, to autonomous systems like the so-called drifters, which measure the water's temperature before it has been heated by proximity to a ship's engine.Cables In 2016, researchers brought online the most ambitious effort yet to track and understand ocean water temperatures and the patterns to its currents: The U.S. Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI), spanning the Atlantic, Pacific and Southern Oceans, joined to three similar Canadian facilities in the Arctic and Pacific Oceans. Its centerpiece is a Pacific research installation called the "Cabled Array," a 900-km-long cable connecting a base in Oregon with seven submarine nodes. The Cabled Array's equipment measures seismological activity, ocean currents and chemistry, especially around hydrothermal vents, where superheated, mineral-laden water emerges from the sea floor. These vents support very unusual forms of life, which are not found in any other habitat, and their data is part of the fire hose of information the OOI will funnel to researchers. That's proven controversial, and not just because of the debate over climate change research. OOI's seven observatories cost $385 million in U.S. taxpayer dollars to make, and the data they produce will be shared openly with researchers from around the world. That's made adoption by the scientific community tricky, as some worry they'll work on a discovery, only to find themselves beaten to the punch by a competing research team. One proposed lure to researchers was to put equipment on Axial Seamount, an undersea volcano about 480 km west of Oregon that is poised to erupt. It's a rare opportunity to view an underwater eruption live. "There is nothing like a firework display to attract a crowd," as the Economist noted dryly in 2015. OOI's live data streams came online last June, and extensions are already underway, connecting the network of tethered and floating measurement devices to new nodes in the Gulf of Alaska and on the Northeast U.S. Continental Shelf. Even as that's happening, new methods of tracking the movement and temperature of ocean waters are emerging high above the surface of the water. Robert Tyler and Terence Sabaka outlined a project to the American Geophysical Union's meeting in December 2016, in San Francisco: follow the minute changes in the Earth's magnetic field generated by the movement of ocean water.Satellites NASA's Aqua, designed and built by Northrop Grumman, is a satellite that tracks ocean currents and temperature from high up above. Recently, Aqua captured images of a phytoplankton bloom that made Jersey Shore waters temporarily look like the Caribbean. Another satellite-based effort is measuring the movement of ocean surface currents using satellite images of the sun's glittering reflection on the water. That could prove more accurate and useful for mariners and maritime construction companies that rely on wave predictions to work safely — but also add another valuable real-time stream of information into climate researchers' efforts to understand the oceans.Drones Other researchers are doing the same thing using drones, taking instruments typically found aboard research vessels, aircraft and marine robots, and redesigning them to fit a drone's limited payload. Oceanographer Christopher Zappa is one of them: His fleet of research drones flies low over Arctic ice, ranging wide to measure sea ice topography and movement. Drones are a lot cheaper to operate than research vessels or massive cabled-together systems, but as the latest wave of controversy crashes over climate research, it remains to be seen if they'll be able to rise above the stormy seas.

New Tech Rises Above Ocean Currents and Controversy

Imagine a chess match in which the rules are constantly changing as new pieces with unexpected capabilities are developed. That is the world of cybersecurity experts, battling resourceful cybercriminals and foreign agents along the frontiers of technology. Recently, Infosec Island took a look at three emerging technologies: quantum computing, artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles. All have the potential to transform our lives — but in the wrong hands (and there are plenty of bad actors out there), each can also pose major new cybersecurity threats, posing new vulnerabilities. A New Technology Horizon: Quantum Computing After decades on the technology horizon, quantum computing is becoming a reality, harnessing some of the most bizarre properties of subnuclear physics to transform how computing is done. Computational tasks that were formerly impossible — or so time-consuming to solve, even on a supercomputer, as to be effectively impossible — will become easy. That is the good news. The bad news, per Infosec Island, is that quantum computing can make cracking encryption systems radically easier. Vast troves of confidential data — currently protected by encryption — will be left exposed and vulnerable. This is one of the greatest looming security threats: Bad actors may already be stealing encrypted data, anticipating that they will be able to read it once they get their hands on quantum technology. Fortunately, there is more good news. According to ZDnet, a mathematical tool called lattice cryptography can provide encryption so powerful and robust against attack that even quantum computers will not be able to crack it. But security professionals will have a huge task in deploying lattice cryptography, along with other network security technologies, to protect existing data stores from evolving threats. Artificial Intelligence  Artificial intelligence, like the digital computer itself, is a multi-use technology with a limitless range of potential applications. The latest generation of AI technology exploits so-called neural nets that replicate some of the structures of the human brain. A neural net system is able to learn from experience in ways that its designers could not fully predict in advance. But this same capability, warns Infosec Island, can be applied to develop malware that is also capable of learning from experience — for example, learning how to detect network security technologies, then trick them into allowing the malware through the protective barriers. Neural nets and other AI technologies pose another challenge for the good guys, reported Technology Review. These tools can also be enlisted as protectors — but with some real risks. One is that we may simply put too much confidence in them. A more subtle risk is that we may not fully understand what our own cybersecurity AI is doing, or why. Things get complicated if your sentries can't tell you exactly what they are watching out for. Connected and Autonomous Vehicles  Also high on the list of emerging cybersecurity threats is the threat of hacking into connected and autonomous vehicles, notes Infosec Island. Here the threat is not so much the specific malware technologies involved — which may be new or old — as the inherent danger posed by hacked vehicles or other devices. A hacked database can expose confidential information, but a hacked car might hurt people. And, as another article in Technology Review points out, the challenge of understanding neural nets applies not only to the threat of deliberate hacking, but also to uncertainties about what AIs are learning when we train them. For this reason, the article noted, the Pentagon is now putting special emphasis on understanding the actions of autonomous military devices. On these three technology fronts, and others, the ever-changing technology chess game between cybersecurity defenders and bad actors is pushing deep into the frontiers of emerging technology. Even the (not always) "smart home" can be a target for sophisticated new forms of cyberattack. Are you interested in joining a team that is fighting back against cyberthreats worldwide? Check out careers here.

New Quantum Computing Cybersecurity Threats Loom Along the Tech Frontier

The old Norse sagas called the sea the whale-road, paying respect to those immense creatures that even Vikings were in awe of. And with good reason: Few things in nature are more spectacular than 150 tons of blue whale breaching — that is, throwing itself into the air to take a good deep breath before plunging back into the sea. And, thanks to a new generation of drones modified for wildlife tracking, researchers are now able to get close-up views of breaching whales, views that would have been unobtainable a few years ago. They are even able to take breath samples, allowing them to assess whales' health and study the effects that environmental impacts have on them. Inelegant Name, Elegant Technology According to NBC News, the drone technology that is transforming whale research goes by the name "Snotbot." Yes, scientists are known for a sense of humor. But if you can get past the name, the idea is awesome. When whales surface and let out their breath, it creates a cloud of spray and fog — hence the call of 19th-century New England whalers: "Thar she blows!" This cloud of exhaled whale breath contains "a biological treasure trove of mammalian DNA, microbiome, stress and pregnancy hormones," NBC News explained. Researchers formerly had no way of capturing this wealth of biological information, but the drone makes it practical and even makes it seem easy. The news source noted that a petri dish is mounted on the underside of the drone. And when the drone flies into the spray and moisture of the whale's "blow," the downwash of the rotors blows some of this material into the petri dish, hence the name Snotbot. The method not only allows scientists to gather vital biological information, it does so without disturbing the whale or affecting the information the researchers want to gather. Iain Kerr, CEO of Ocean Alliance, explained to NBC News that the whale believes the drone is a bird, which is nothing a whale needs to be concerned about. Patient and Unobtrusive Whales may be the biggest game that wildlife tracking drones are trailing, but they're not alone. According to Quartz, drone technology is revolutionizing wildlife research.  The two greatest challenges facing wildlife researchers have always been time and obtrusiveness. Wild animals live on their own schedules, and tracking any animal over days and weeks calls for incredible patience. Drones have it in spades because they are capable of operating autonomously or semi-autonomously and do not have to be constantly "flown" by a human operator. And because drones are relatively small and quiet, they are less disruptive to their surroundings, including the animals being studied. Whether it is studying the breath of whales or the private lives of polar bears, drones can observe without intruding. Northrop Grumman, long a leader in autonomous vehicle technology, has taken a hands-on role in bringing drone capabilities to wildlife tracking and research. For example, in the Polar Eye competition, Northrop Grumman volunteer teams worked with the San Diego Zoo to develop a drone specifically tailored to track and observe polar bears unobtrusively in their native Arctic habitat. Through arctic vastness, along the whale-road and in a hundred other environments, drones are playing a growing role in giving us a quiet, close-up view of the living natural world that surrounds us.

Wildlife Tracking Drones Follow the Whale-road

Sensors are usually embedded or hidden, so it's easy to take them for granted, but they are sophisticated devices that deserve a second look. The technology behind them has dramatically improved in the last couple decades and research and development continues to expand future capabilities. While the basic sensor has existed in various forms since the late 1800s, this century's version is smaller, more precise and more reliable. The latest versions are also multifunctional. Just like our smartphones are capable of doing much more than phone calls, a modern sensor can also multitask. Ed Eberl, Chief Technologist at Northrop Grumman's Amherst Systems unit explains, "At one instant a sensor could be acting as a communications link — transferring data back and forth — and then an instant later it could be acting like a radar tracking a target, and another instant later it can be jamming something, trying to detect someone else's communications." Sensors Are Everywhere With the Internet of Things, it might seem like sensors are already everywhere (from your coffee maker to your watch), but this is just the beginning. The optical sensing market is projected to grow to $3.46 billion by 2023 (three times greater than in 2016). Sensors are essential for consumer electronics such as wearable fitness trackers, virtual reality, smartphones and gadgets that haven't been invented yet. They are also increasingly used for industrial applications, such as allowing factories to automate manufacturing and shipping goods. There is massive potential in the medical field, since they can be used to provide doctors with detailed information about patients' health in real time. Sensors are components in the latest medical devices but they can also be embedded directly into the body to track heart rate, muscle movement and biomarkers. Many recent advancements in sensor technology were initiated by military projects. The Distributed Aperture System (DAS) sensor, for example, can give pilots the benefits of collision avoidance, weather tracking, night vision, ground mapping and early warnings of any incoming missile threats. While this type of high-tech situational awareness was originally meant for the military, similar technology is now being used by automakers to improve safety features and even create self-driving vehicles. Today's vehicles can already detect cars passing in blind spots and warn drivers if they drift into the wrong lane. Smart pressure sensors are a critical component to how airbags function in smart cars. Some automakers, such as Tesla, even offer autopilot mode for highway driving. No doubt, tomorrow's fully autonomous cars will be loaded with multifunction sensors. Sensor Technology Improved Modern challenges — whether in military or civilian settings — demand high-tech goods that require a sensor. Fortunately, two major factors have driven recent improvements in sensor technology. Researchers have greatly improved signal conversion, where you take a microwave signal and convert it into a digital format. The accuracy with which the latest devices can measure a radio frequency signal is constantly increasing because engineers keep developing faster and faster data converters. In addition to these more precise measurements, a second aspect has continued to improve at the same time: processing power. So now, better measurements are taken and they can be processed quickly on site or even in-flight. In the military, for example, there used to be intelligence platforms that would go out into the field and collect signals. This data would be recorded and sent back to an analysis center at a different ground location. Now, with the advancements in computing power and higher sampling rates, more information can be extracted in real time and analysis can be done right from the fighter jets. As sensors become more precise, the artifacts which hold them are becoming smaller, reducing the weight of the airframe. Another advancement in sensor technology is how multifunction sensor arrays are evolving. Typically, a set of sensors is assigned to work together to perform a task. A multifunction array is a collection of many smaller sensors, and each of these individual sensors can be independently assigned a specific task or function. The parameters of individual sensors can also be controlled to "point" the array in a desired direction. Think of a multifunction array as an LED light fixture. One LED bulb by itself may not be bright enough, but several of them can illuminate an entire area. Sensors work similarly. One of them may not be able to detect a target or signal, but a group of them working in unison provides increased sensitivity to perform a task. Because sensors play such an integral role in a variety devices and applications, advancements in their form and function are not only expected, but inevitable. Anticipating Future Capabilities What will a sensor be able to do in the next few years? Anything is possible. Eberl and his colleagues have to anticipate future capabilities. His team provides simulation and testing so that the engineers who are developing new devices can work out any bugs. One of these testing simulators — the Combat Electromagnetic Environment SIMulator (CEESIM) — provides RF simulation of multiple, simultaneous emitters so that engineers can see how their devices respond to the most complicated potential scenarios. The challenge is anticipating the many ways that a multifunction sensor will be used in the future. For example, recent improvements allow for a large array of individual sensors to be subdivided into multiple groups of sensors, each performing a different task. These types of array can perform multiple tasks simultaneously. Think of your cell phone and the multiple things you can do from this one device -- talk to a friend, while scrolling through an app to order dinner and have the big game streaming in the background -- all at the same time. Similarly, CEESIM needs to be able to test multiple different functions at the same time. "This is an exciting challenge for us," Eberl says, "to have to simulate all the different types of signals and different types of utilization of that sensor in a very dynamic environment because we as a simulator don't know what the sensor is going be doing from instant to instant." Check out opportunities to join Northrop Grumman's effort to predict the future at our career page.

The Incredible Shrinking Sensors and Their Massive Growth

Buried under the news of ski jumps, half-pipe competitions and triple salchows at the Pyonghchang Winter Olympics in South Korea was the debut of 5G, a new high-speed fifth-generation wireless network. Organizers of this year's Olympic Games used 5G to power systems that emitted rays, gases and fake tiger roars to ward off wild boars, according to Fortune. 5G and IoT — the Internet of Things, i.e., networks of devices — will dramatically change the way we interact with technology. What is 5G? The most salient benefit of 5G is speed. It is estimated that 5G will be up to 1,000 times faster than 4G, and users will be able to download an entire HD film in about one second, according to 5G.co.uk. That speed will be a boon to mobile-based media, augmented reality, virtual reality and IoT devices. To get a sense of how 5G might change mobile-based media, consider how the introduction of 4G has helped to hasten the spread and introduction of streaming services like Netflix and Spotify. Nelson Granados, a professor at Pepperdine University, posited in Forbes that 5G will allow customers to download media rather than stream it. Meanwhile, live streaming will become more of an option on 5G since the platform offers lower latency and will avoid the buffering that can make watching video on a mobile device so annoying. Another disruptive element of 5G is that it can conceivably replace a wired broadband connection, whether cable, DSL or fiber optic, which can potentially entice more consumers to cut the cord. Will 5G Benefit AR and VR? The lack of a need for a wired connection and 5G's low latency also mean that consumers will be able to easily use mobile augmented reality and virtual reality. For instance, a 5G network will allow for support for richer images for AR interfaces in a store environment. Using their phone or smart glasses, a shopper can use AR to identify the items that they are looking for in-store and point them to products that are on sale, Forbes said. Mobile VR, meanwhile, will allow consumers to virtually attend events (picture grandparents virtually experiencing their grandchild's first steps, for instance) and allow for immersion into mobile-based VR experiences like live sporting events, concerts, meetings and games. What Is The Future of IoT? 5G and IoT are inexorably linked; the introduction of 5G coincides with the rise of IoT. Approximately 8.4 billion IoT devices existed in 2017, according to ZD Net. 5G will make IoT devices ranging from smart parking meters to household devices to autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles work better because they can send and receive data much faster, USAToday noted. For that reason, 5G and IoT will be a potent combination. Coming Soon USAToday reports that AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizon aim to rollout 5G networks by 2019. Of course, 5G's success isn't assured. The service will likely be expensive, so many consumers might stick with 4G for a while. It's possible that 5G won't work as well as promised. Barring consumer indifference or unsolvable tech glitches, 5G is likely to make a big splash and usher in a new wave of wireless usage in the 2020s. So, what is 5G? Soon enough you won't even have to ask. 

Will 5G and IoT Revolutionize Technology?

 "Where we're going, we don't need roads." It's a classic line from "Back to the Future" — Doc Brown has returned from the future and the iconic DeLorean can now fly. Companies like Uber and Toyota are spending big on research for flying cars. This begs the question: Where's the fact, what's the fiction and how far are we from getting these cars off the ground? Promising Potential The first "true" gasoline-powered automobile was created in 1885; the first manned flight took place less than 20 years later. And for the past century, humankind has been looking for ways to combine these types of transportation — often with limited success. As noted by the Washington Post, key advancements — such as the use of non-metal body structures and electric power rather than heavy gasoline engines — have helped jump-start flying-car efforts, encouraging both investment and innovation. A recent Forbes piece suggests that this could be a "breakthrough year" for flying vehicles, with some companies planning to deploy market-ready models by 2019. Single Purpose or Multifunction? What does a flying car look like? Several designs have emerged over the past few years — for example, Toyota is backing a three-wheeled, one-person vehicle which uses four sets of propellers to take flight. Other companies envision flying cars which mimic traditional vehicles in terms of carrying capacity and aesthetic. Uber, meanwhile, wants to create a fleet of VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) taxis which will shuttle passengers between designated landing pads. Ultimately, flying-car function comes down to a simple question: Are these vehicles single-purpose or do they need to perform equally well on ground and in flight? Given the dual challenges of urban density and federal airspace regulation, the most likely outcome here is vehicles which can drive to designated air strips or landing pads and then safely take to the skies. Engineering Efficiency Beyond form, however, there's the challenge of getting these cars into the sky — and keeping them there. One of the biggest setbacks of previous flying-car efforts was weight; consider the development of micro-lattice materials, which are 100 times lighter than styrofoam and have the strength of conventional metals. These and other materials could be used to build lighter batteries, cockpits and motor parts. And as noted by Singularity Hub, motors are another critical factor. All-electric aircraft such as the Lilium use multiple motors to get off the ground — this multiplicity functions as a fail-safe if one motor stops working. As to powering new airborne vehicles, think green: Batteries and electricity are the likely choice since gas-powered engines are simply too heavy. Achieving sustained flight, however, will require both bigger battery storage and potentially the inclusion of small solar panels to charge vehicles in-flight. Law of the Skies Innovators have created viable flying-car forms, while evolving power sources and materials make it possible to achieve liftoff. This leads to a critical question: What does traffic look like when no one's on the road? Ideally, more flying cars means fewer vehicles on highways, but how do governments regulate airborne automobiles? One option is the creation of designated "highways" for flying cars, reducing the chance of accidental injury or property damage. As noted by the Forbes piece, that's part of the discussion currently underway at Amazon as the online giant looks to roll out drone-based delivery. There's also the problem of actually "driving" these vehicles, since most operators may not be licensed pilots. One solution is the Uber model, where riders don't own the vehicle and drivers are trained aviators. This dovetails nicely with the potential cost of these vehicles — north of $1 million — but that could change if economies of scale catch up with flying-car markets. In a personally owned flying-car scenario, the more likely option is computer-controlled navigation to prevent airborne collisions and ensure safe routes are followed. Safety is also a concern; what happens when flying cars experience technical issues or unexpected motor failure? Parachutes might save onboard occupants, but what about collateral damage? Ultimately, federal agencies like the FAA will be looking for much more rigorous testing, retesting and independent evaluation before flying vehicles gain widespread approval. Flying cars aren't that far off — expect the next five years to showcase both viable market options and uncover significant adoptive challenges on the path to personal flight.

Flying Cars: Fact, Fiction and the Road to Manufacturing

Key Takeaways  Delivery by drone is the latest innovation for time-sensitive packages. Smart drone mailboxes receive and store packages safely, and are accessible only by the recipient. Automation speeds delivery as well as making the process secure.The concept of delivering food, packaged goods and medical supplies to consumers by drone did not begin with COVID-19. But the pandemic has added urgency to the race, as companies such as Zipline, Wing Aviation, Amazon Prime Air and UPS Flight Forward attempt to mobilize networks of drones to deliver packages safely and quickly to consumers and commercial offices.Putting the Customer FirstUnfortunately, these companies plan to deliver time-sensitive packages to the ground outside a home or business, leaving them vulnerable to "porch pirates," inclement weather or curious pets.Enter the smart drone mailbox: a technology-enabled container that opens, receives and stores packages in a safe, secure, climate-controlled box accessible only by a homeowner or business owner. It offers a potential solution to the more than 1.7 million packages lost or stolen in the U.S. daily, as CNBC reports."The drone companies have been focused largely on all the innovative features of their drones, but if that innovation doesn't create a safe, secure and convenient experience for consumers, it will never be adopted," Ryan Walsh, CEO and co-founder of Chicago-based startup Valqari, a developer of smart drone mailboxes, said in an interview with Now.However, Walsh and Valqari are not alone in recognizing an opportunity to make drone delivery a safe, convenient and preferred service by consumers."I believe that when one person has an idea, 10 others have the same idea at the same time," Dan O'Toole, CEO for Indianapolis-based DRONEDEK, another competitor in the smart drone mailbox space, told Now.Precision Made EasyBoth Valqari and DRONEDEK are in the early stages of developing their mailbox concepts; Valqari is already producing units while DRONEDEK is working to complete its first functional prototype. The basic operating principles of their mailboxes are quite similar. Pending broader deployment of drone delivery networks, neither company expects smart drone mailboxes to become commonplace just yet.When a customer orders a delivery by drone, the package is loaded into a drone-compatible container, then flown to the customer location guided by GPS coordinates. Once the drone is within approximately 100 feet of the mailbox, it reverts to a vision-based landing system, then begins an authentication process with the smart drone mailbox. This process verifies that it's the right drone delivering the right package to the right mailbox.When the authentication process is complete, the drone lands on the mailbox, the mailbox opens its door, and the package is delivered. The drone then sends a notification of the delivery to both the shipper and the recipient to let them know that the smart drone mailbox has taken digital custody of the shipment and that it's now available for the recipient to pick up at their convenience. The recipient communicates with the smart drone mailbox via a phone-based app."One of the great things about a smart drone delivery mailbox is that you don't have to leave work and stand in your front yard to receive a package," said Walsh. "Drones are designed to provide a convenience for us, not an inconvenience."And yes, he adds, smart drone mailboxes are designed to be "drone agnostic" and compatible with conventional delivery services. The same app that will allow a consumer to open the smart drone mailbox to retrieve a package will also allow a FedEx driver, a U.S. Postal Service employee or even an Amazon Prime driver to open the mailbox to deliver a package.Reinventing the Mailbox"The mailbox has not been disrupted since 1858 (when the U.S. Postal Service was launched)," said O'Toole. "Between smart cars, smart phones and smart houses, it's time for the mailbox to catch up."To that end, O'Toole plans to give each DRONEDEK a patented, climate-controlled cargo area that could be set digitally by a shipping organization.O'Toole is also thinking about how to streamline the logistics of customer returns. Future versions of DRONEDEK, he believes, could include a scale (to weigh packages), a printer (to address packages) and software to calculate shipping charges and bill the customer directly.Adapting to a "New Normal"While customer convenience is important, public concern over the spread of COVID-19 has become a more significant factor in the design and development schedule of smart drone mailboxes."We feel that COVID-19 has accelerated drone delivery by 10 years," said O'Toole. "It's had a huge impact on people who've been resistant to adopting new technology and relying on the Internet for goods and services."In a nod to concerns about potential COVID-19 contamination of package surfaces, both Valqari and DRONEDEK are considering including an ultraviolet package sterilization feature in their mailboxes.Meeting Multi-User DemandThe types of smart drone mailboxes being developed also reflect the nascent market for such units. Valqari, for example, is focusing its early efforts on multi-user community boxes. These boxes could be located on, say, a hospital campus or within a village where it could serve many customers and handle multiple inbound and outbound package deliveries. Packages for different customers would be automatically sorted, stored and managed within separate internal compartments."One of our biggest concerns is managing the safety needs of both our customers and the drones," explained Walsh. "We made our commercial unit tall enough, for example, for people to retrieve their packages easily from the station without being able to interfere with drone landing or take-off operations."Valqari is also developing a stand-alone residential unit and, eventually, a window-attached unit for high-rise apartments, he added.For its part, DRONEDEK plans to develop small, medium and large smart drone mailboxes for business owners, a residential box and a multi-family or urban cluster box.Valqari plans to make its boxes available through subscriptions, lease agreements or as a retail purchase. If you decide to purchase a Valqari unit outright, Walsh says you can expect "pricing in line with any other smart appliance in your house."However, both Valqari and DRONEDEK have recognized the need to monetize the "big data" available from a community-based network of electronic sensor stations to help reduce costs of smart drone mailboxes for consumers."Every DRONEDEK has the potential to be a weather station," said O'Toole. "We think we can harvest and sell very localized weather data to the National Weather Service, for example."Keeping Life SimpleFor all the extra features promised by Valqari and DRONEDEK, the main goal of smart drone mailboxes is to be effectively invisible, to be a non-issue for consumers and business owners alike."Our goal is to automate package deliveries for people so that they don't have to be home or worry about getting home faster because someone might steal their package," said Walsh. "We want to be that company that allows them to spend more time doing what they love and less time worrying about the logistics of their life."Northrop Grumman continually monitors new and disruptive technology to harness for innovative solutions. Find out more about how we are accelerating digital transformation.

Smart Drone Mailbox Secures the Future of "Last Inch" Deliveries

Japan's population is aging at an unprecedented rate. One in five people are currently over age 65, and by 2030, that ratio will shift to one in three. For a country ranked as the world's third largest economy, Japan must find ways to bolster its aging workforce, while also fortifying national security and attending to its elderly. Autonomous systems designed with advanced robotics, artificial intelligence and other digital innovations could replace or enhance human labor. According to analysts at McKinsey & Company, Japan's potential for automation exceeds that of other countries, such as Germany and South Korea, where aging populations are also growing rapidly. Labor-intensive work (i.e. construction) and tedious, repetitive work (i.e. data collecting and machine operation) top the list of occupations that could be replaced by autonomous systems. That would put the available workforce into more flexible jobs that require more creativity and higher levels of thinking, which could allow companies to lower costs and boost productivity, researchers say. Construction Only about 10% of construction workers in Japan are below the age of 30, as the Japan Times reports. Nonetheless, construction projects are booming in the country. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe launched a stimulus program, known as Abenomics, partially aimed at ramping up infrastructure projects ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, which was slated for 2020 but rescheduled for 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the tight labor market, construction companies such as Shimizu Corp., headquartered in Tokyo, have invested billions to develop robots that can build materials, weld steel, inspect premises, install ceilings and more. Equipped with state-of-the-art artificial intelligence, cameras and sensors, Shimizu's Robo-Welder and Robo-Buddy can weld and bolt for hours without tiring. In Mie Prefecture, on the southeast coast of Japan's main island, robots are building a concrete dam. Huge, crane-like equipment from Tokyo-based Obayashi stacks enormous slabs of concrete, each about 15 square yards. The layers are made by remote-controlled tower cranes that pour concrete into molds onsite, according to Asia Nikkei. The 275-feet-high dam is scheduled for completion in March 2023. Dam building requires many of the repetitive actions robotic technology has already honed in factory-based assembly — but robotic bricklayers need bricks. Enter Tokyo-based Kajima, which is developing robots to clear the way and also deliver materials. The company has self-driving bulldozers and dump trucks that use sensors like LIDAR and GPS to "see" the environment. They can excavate, deliver and dump 24 hours a day, if needed. National Security Japan is currently ranked as one of the most peaceful countries in the world, according to the 2020 Global Peace Index. However, its close proximity to China, Russia and North Korea make the island nation vulnerable to military posturing. Japan's Self Defense Force, established in the 1950s, stands guard and patrols more than 18,000 miles of coastline. According to CNN, in 2019, a report from Japan's Ministry of Defense said its Air Defense Force scrambled jets more than 900 times that year to intercept potential incursions into Japanese airspace from Chinese and Russian aircraft. An aging workforce has reduced the pool of available pilots, though. Unmanned autonomous aircraft could step in. In June 2020, the US Air Force deployed an RQ-4 Global Hawk to help patrol the air space over Japan. It flies at altitudes up to 65,000-feet high and can stay aloft for 30 hours at a time. "An autonomous system such as Global Hawk does not get tired, does not need to return to base for more than a day at a time and can patrol huge swaths of area from a very high altitude," said Om Prakash, Northrop Grumman Japan, in a press release in November 2020. Onboard sensors support a broad range of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. In 2015, Japan agreed to purchase three Global Hawks to be delivered in 2022 and supplement its surveillance portfolio, which includes earth-orbiting satellites, sea- and land-based radars, manned patrol planes and reconnaissance pods on supersonic fighters. Global Hawk could also aid during times of national emergencies. In the aftermath of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, which caused catastrophic failure at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, a U.S. Air Force Global Hawk flew above the plant to help assess atmospheric radiation. "That operation proved that Global Hawk could be effective even in disaster," said Prakash. Patient and Eldercare Robots in Japan can be big and tough, building bridges and securing borders. But some robots have a tender side. Paro, which looks like a furry baby seal, can be found at elderly care facilities helping to calm residents who have dementia or other cognitive disorders. Developed by researchers at Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Paro has five sensors that detect sound, light, touch, heat and posture. Its software learns from the sensory data to recognize people and adapt to a user's preferences. Some studies have shown that Paro reduces reliance on drugs, improves blood pressure and oxygenation levels and stirs up emotions in patients who may not have expressed them for a long time, reports Wired. Companion and "care bots" like Paro are rising in popularity in Japan, where the government predicts a shortage of more than 300,000 healthcare workers by 2025. Healthcare spending is also ticking upward and is expected to go from $98,000 per year for inpatient nursing care to $235,000 per year by 2030, as strategy + business reports. Adding robots to the staff could help to keep costs down. Some robots have more specialized capabilities. Telenoid, a baby-sized device with no legs and tiny arms, can emit sounds, words or songs coming from a distant caregiver or family member. Robear, from RIKEN-SRK Collaboration Center for Human-Interactive Robot Research and Sumitomo Riko Company, lifts patients out of beds and into wheelchairs and can assist a person with standing. Mira Robotics created a robotic butler named Ugo that can wash dishes, fold clothes and vacuum. It's clear that Japan's aging society will put pressure on the government as well as technology firms to find solutions for an aging workforce and rising healthcare costs. Technology alone can't deal with these challenges. But as autonomous systems advance, they can free up how much time humans spend on repetitive tasks, as well as augment security portfolios and even reduce loneliness. Are you interested in science and innovation? We are too. Check out Northrop Grumman career opportunities to see how you can participate in this fascinating time of discovery.

Autonomous Systems to Bolster Japan's Aging Workforce

Drone registrations are on the rise. Citing a report from the Federal Aviation Administration, Fortune noted that more than 670,000 unmanned aerial vehicles were registered with the government agency this year, as both hobbyists and corporations look to leverage the advantages of flight. According to Cornell University, there's another potential use of UAVs on the horizon: climate change drones are designed to capture and relay critical data about the rate and severity of climate shifts. Now, scientists are warming up to the idea of drone-filled skies. Here's why. Reflective Reasoning The rate and risk of climate change are tied to albedo: a measure of how much solar energy is absorbed, or reflected, by surfaces on the Earth. For example, snow-covered areas reflect sunlight and decrease overall warmth, while surfaces such as grass or asphalt better absorb heat. The Cornell study noted that albedo is currently measured using satellite imagery and sensor towers, but these options are non-mobile, making local comparisons impossible. At Cornell, doctoral candidate Charlotte Levy and her team overcame the characteristic weight restrictions on the drone by using only a downward-facing sensor on the vehicle itself and placing the upward-facing sensor in a nearby field. The results? Mobile climate change measurements and the ability to discover where proactive forest planting could have positive impacts on the local environment by reducing heat loss and carbon capture. Learning More  Enable targeting cookies to view this content. And that's not all drones are doing. As noted by AG Web, after a climate change innovation grant announcement last year, software developer Pix4D and drone manufacturer Parrot received more than 250 research proposals. Some of those selected are now using aerial vehicles to detect variations in grassland phenology, modulate wildlife extinctions in the African drylands and monitor the impact of insects in Mediterranean forests. The big advantage here? These climate change drones can gather data with minimal disruption to the natural environment, limiting the chance of corrupted or human-influenced data. Consider the work being done on Antarctic mosses. The Conversation reported that these plants are sensitive to even minor changes in their local environment, making them an excellent predictor of emerging climate shifts. But monitoring these mosses is difficult, since their remote location requires human researchers to traverse, and potentially disturb, miles of difficult terrain. Drones, meanwhile, can fly in to get the data they need without causing undue environmental impact. In addition, the use of drones expands mapping and data collection areas while reducing the total cost and potential risk to researchers. Developing Drones Unmanned aerial vehicles occupy a key intersection between autonomous device and human interference. While they're ultimately operated by human beings, they limit the overall impact on sensitive ecosystems and return critical data about environmental adaptations. These climate change drones are a natural next step, given the increasing focus on Earth-based science; NASA already operates a high-altitude, long-duration aerial science vessel known as the Global Hawk, and scientists remain on the ground in far-flung research outputs gathering and analyzing climate data. Custom-built drones provide a way to quickly collect data, make local comparisons and limit the impact on natural flora and fauna. The market for drones is shifting as online enterprises look to leverage corporate potential and private users take to the skies. The next generation of scientists, meanwhile, are developing ways to make drones fly farther and faster and find key data to mitigate the effects of long-term climate change.

Warming Up? Climate Change Drones Offer Environmental Insight

Communities are already testing whether on-demand transportation could replace public infrastructure. The addition of autonomous vehicles could tip the balance. As seen in partnerships with Uber in Summit, N.J., and Altamonte Springs, Fla., using human Uber drivers to transport residents may be cheaper than building parking lots or running a bus system; replacing drivers' personal vehicles with autonomous vehicles may be the next step. The vision of an autonomous fleet for transportation-as-a-service is shared by many companies, including Northrop Grumman. Its ACUGOTA project, being conducted under the auspices of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), aims to develop an intelligent system to operate in airports and enable seemless integration of unmanned and manned sytems within the air traffic management system. The intelligence to adapt to the fast pace and quickly changing environment of airport runways may someday influence how self-driving vehicles operate on the highway. Path to Autonomy Self driving vehicles and buses won't replace human drivers for years or even decades to come. Lyft co-founder Jonn Zimmer posits that there will be three phases for autonomous vehicles on public roads:   Traveling on fixed routes only  Traveling everywhere at speeds less than 25 miles per hour  Fully autonomous vehicles freely traveling  For one thing, driverless cars will need to exceed human performance when it comes to accidents. Google reported to the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) that, within a one-year span, its self driving cars experienced 272 failures and they might have crashed as many as 13 times if their human pilots hadn't intervened. Other companies have also filed such reports with the DMV, but no information has been released. While they're better than human drivers in clear, daylight conditions on known roads, autonomous vehicles falter in less-than-ideal situations, such as:   Fog, rain or snow  Inadequate or missing road markings  Deviations from mapped conditions, such as road repairs  Many Challenges, Many Approaches Automakers and their suppliers are tackling these problems with a variety of technologies. More/better sensors: LIDAR sensors that bounce beams of light off the environment to measure the distance of objects are important for giving autonomous vehicles a 360-degree view of surroundings; they need to be made smaller and less expensive for vehicles in commercial production. HD mapping: The maps used in today's car navigation systems provide a rudimentary plot of roadways. High-definition (HD) maps not only give self driving cars route information; they include the number of lanes, positions of guard rails, road signs and driving rules. HD maps can also be updated in the cloud in close to real time by taking in data transmitted by other persistently connected vehicles. More powerful chips: Cramming enough processing power to let a car respond quickly enough to unforeseen events requires new kinds of chips that replace the big computers installed in the trunks of demo vehicles. Nvidia released Drive PX 2, a car computing platform it says combines artificial intelligence, deep learning and HD mapping. Mobileye's EyeQ 4/5 is a system on a chip that handles processing of signals from sensors, real-time mapping and "world view generation," that is, an accurate view of real-world conditions. And Northrop Grumman holds the Guinness World Record for creating the fastest integrated chip; it operates 1,000 times faster than a cellphone, according to Inside Aerospace. Artificial intelligence: It takes time for humans to become good drivers; they need weeks or months of practice. Automakers want their autonomous vehicles to learn from experience as well, so that their systems can continually improve once the car is on the road. Artificial intelligence lets self driving vehicles detect patterns and learn from the behavior of other cars on the road. Deep learning: This artificial intelligence technique aims to replicate the human brain by creating artificial neural networks that can crunch through massive computational problems and make inferences based on past experience. Combining deep learning with multiple graphics processing units can enable a car to "see" and evaluate what it sees — better than a human driver. Aviation: Many technologies crucial to autonomous vehicles may have their roots in the aviation sector. For example, the U.S. Navy's X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstration (UCAS-D), a program executed with prime contractor Northrop Grumman, recently succeeded in the first-ever launch and recovery of an unmanned aircraft from a carrier at sea, according to Navair News. Legal Fix Before autonomous vehicles can share the roads and take over from humans, there are also legal and regulatory issues to hash out. The U.S. Department of Transportation recently produced guidelines parceling out the responsibilities for regulating driverless cars among states and the federal government — but that still leaves individual states to figure out their policies. There's a similar debate about unmanned aerial systems flying in national airspace. The Federal Aviation Authority's regulations haven't caught up with advances in autonomy. FAA regulations require unmanned aerial vehicles to be piloted by a human, according to Lexology. Google and Amazon say they're ready to provide drone delivery of goods, according to The Verge, but they're hampered by current regs. Liability in the case of a crash of an autonomous vehicle of any kind is another issue to be addressed. Volvo has agreed to accept liability for its driverless cars, but how autonomy will affect individuals' insurance policies is unclear. Before autonomous vehicles can take over from traditional buses and taxis, they'll need to be able to do everything a human bus driver can: differentiate between someone waiting for the bus and a pedestrian about to cross the street, safely travel through bustling city streets, avoid darting pedestrians and make some tough choices. These technologies are strong steps in that direction, but humans will need to stay behind the wheel — whether or not they have their hands on it — for years to come. Learn more about how you can play a part in Northrop Grumman's world-recognized leadership in autonomous systems development by visiting its careers page.

Could Autonomous Vehicles Take Over Public Transportation?

Imagine the smart city of the future, fueled by IoT applications and predictive analytics. That vision isn't far away; in fact, it's already here in some cities. In the past decade or so, young workers have rejected suburbia in favor of places where they can ride their bikes to work and shop locally. Such access is a major reason that urban populations grew more than suburban populations for the first half of this decade, according to the Brookings Institution. Although the trend towards urbanization has dipped a bit as millennials hit their 30s, cities are the future. Approximately 54 percent of the world's population is urbanized today, and the figure could jump as high as 90 percent later this century, according to The New York Times. Cities realize that they are in a race to attract young workers by offering tech amenities like IoT applications and predictive analytics. What Is a Smart City? A smart city utilizes digital technology to measure data related to how a city operates. Ideally, a smart city uses such data to improve quality of life for its citizens by limiting traffic, making public transportation more efficient and even providing alerts when there are long lines at museums. China's Bold Lead in Asia China leads the world with some 500 smart city pilot projects, according to  The Economic Times. The Chinese government began development of these cities in 2012, encouraging the use of IoT applications and artificial intelligence. The fruits of that labor are already apparent. In Hangzou, for instance, the "City Brain," an AI system installed in 2016, tracks crime and traffic and the movements of its citizens. According to New Scientist, car accidents, traffic and crime have all fallen since the system went live. The City Brain can identify criminals and adjust traffic lights to avoid traffic congestion. While Shanghai and Beijing are tech hubs, citizens in various Chinese cities can board trains and enter buildings merely by flashing their faces for facial recognition systems, according to MIT Technology Review. One enterprising KFC is even letting customers purchase fried chicken via facial recognition, per The Guardian. China's not the only leader in Asia. In a 2017 Juniper Research survey, Singapore was voted the world's smartest city in part because it employed "smart, connected traffic solutions," which allows Singaporeans to access traffic and parking data online. Europe's Leaders In Europe, meanwhile, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Barcelona lead the continent. Amsterdam employs dynamic traffic management and has used data to help garbage trucks make fewer runs. It has also replaced most of its traditional parking meters with pay-by-phone apps. In addition, the city has a program called Beautiful Noise that gleans data from posts on Twitter, Instagram and other social media platforms. Amsterdam uses such data to send out alerts about public transit delays and queues at museums that people are complaining about, according to MIT Sloan Management Review.  In Copenhagen, meanwhile, the city's Copenhagen Solutions Lab unifies all the city's data projects. The city plans to use data-network infrastructure to connect parking systems, smart meters, traffic lights and charging stations to help citizens find parking spaces quickly and cut down on carbon emissions. In Barcelona, sensors have cut the amount of water that city parks use and have made buses more efficient, according to The Financial Times. America's Smartest Cities In America, the progress of smart cities has been comparatively slow. Among the leaders is San Francisco, which has articulated a vision for city-run transportation options that aim to alleviate the city's world-class traffic problems. In 2016, the city earmarked $11 million to establish a "transportation as a platform" service. One component is a vision of shared autonomous vehicles that will reduce the need for car ownership and encourage carpooling, according to the Juniper Research survey. The Urban Future Such transformations are occurring all over the world. One potential game-changing technology is 5G, the high-speed wireless network, which will make broadband-speed internet access ubiquitous. With the mainstream adoption of 5G looming in the 2020s, the stakes will be higher for urban areas everywhere to join the "smart cities" list.

The World's Smart Cities Are Fueled by IoT Applications and Predictive Analytics

Very close to home is an alien world home to creatures that have evolved in unique ways to survive. There's a whole ecosystem that thrives on methane, for example. This is the deep sea, where scientific and technological advancements have paved the way for incredible discoveries.The Alien World Called EarthIn December 2016, researchers exploring hydrothermal vents at a depth of nearly two miles announced the discovery of six new species of animals. These creatures were living in a vent field dubbed Longqi, or Dragon's Breath, about 1,200 miles southeast of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean.These vents serve as the heart of a thriving ecosystem. Through a series of chemical reactions, hydrothermal vents become hot spring playgrounds for organisms. Microbes feed off the methane and minerals spewed forth from the vents to serve as the fuel for much larger organisms. While we live in a world of sunlight, these creatures live in darkness, freezing temperatures and intense water pressure.Most famous of these deep sea creatures are the nightmare-inspired anglerfish and the blobfish, with the latter earning popular recognition as the "world's ugliest fish." The female anglerfish has an extended dorsal spine that hangs over its mouth and resembles a fishing pole. At the end of the spine is a piece of flesh containing glowing bacteria that the anglerfish uses as bait for unsuspecting prey. The blobfish gets its reputation because it's adapted to an environment where the pressure is up to 120 times greater than what we're used to on the surface, according to Smithsonian Magazine.Much like how deep space exploration unlocks the mysteries of the universe from its origins to its expansion, so too does deep sea exploration for our planet. From the depths of the ocean comes a better understanding of the beginning of life on Earth, dynamic geological changes and the effects of climate change. But deep sea exploration ultimately requiresA Deeper UnderstandingDespite the numerous discoveries of unknown species, sea exploration is very much in its infancy. To date, we've explored under 5 percent of the ocean, according to the National Ocean Service. That means 95 percent of all the water that covers the Earth, not just the deep sea, has yet to be explored.Considering how much of the world is water, it's not surprising that the ocean helps regulate temperature, shapes the weather and serves as the lifeblood for countless people — in the form of fishing and transportation — around the world. The weather pattern known as El Nié±o, which affects the North American winter and global weather, is the result of warmer-than-usual temperatures in the Pacific Ocean. NASA deploys space-based technology such the Northrop Grumman built Aqua and autonomous systems such as NASA Global Hawk to better understand the earth's oceans, water cycles and storms. But deep sea exploration is just as important and can also lead to better earthquake and tsunami prediction models. Meteorologists use tsunami buoys to detect changes in sea levels that may be caused by underwater earthquakes.Advancements in medicine can also be driven by the discovery of new organisms in the depths of the ocean. Cancer researchers already use the zebrafish, a tropical freshwater fish, as a model for research leading to new insights on tumor development. Deep sea creatures live in some of the harshest environments on Earth and understanding how they survive could potentially lead to new drugs or treatments.Our bodies, while resilient, can only dive so deep without some help. Luckily, that's where unmanned underwater exploration has proven invaluable in our exploration of the unknown.Exploring the UnknownThe discovery of six new species mentioned earlier was the result of researchers using a remotely operated vehicle to explore hydrothermal vents in 2011. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration uses Deep Discoverer, affectionately known as D2, to explore the mysteries of the sea at depths of up to four miles. D2 is equipped with high-definition cameras to reveal the deep in amazing clarity. Everything D2 records is uploaded to the internet, which means citizen scientists and researchers can aid in the scientific process from anywhere in the world.Even though the vessel itself is unmanned, people are at the heart of underwater exploration. Teams of researchers and engineers have developed STEM skills throughout their education to advance the science and develop the technology to reveal the ocean's mysteries. Without talented people, unmanned undersea exploration would be a guessing game.

Deep Sea Offers a Gateway to Deeper Understanding of Life

Earth scientists are using space lasers to observe a water system of 130 lakes in Antarctica. They used the latest data combined with historical observations to discover two new lakes and improve their maps of the frozen continent. The lakes periodically fill and drain into the ocean on cycles that are still not fully understood. Studying these mysterious subglacial lake systems can help scientists understand more about ocean circulation, the speed and direction of Antarctica's ice sheet flow, and Earth's water system as a whole. Let's take a closer look at this discovery and what it can teach us about the world at large. The Discovery As Space.com reports, the newly discovered lakes are called the Lower Conway Subglacial Lake and the Lower Mercer Subglacial Lake. They are part of a larger system of lakes hidden below 1.2 to 2.5 miles of ice. The lakes and others like them are dynamic. They can change the currents in the Southern Ocean and can potentially affect worldwide ocean circulation. "It's not just the ice sheet we're talking about," researcher Matthew Siegfried said in a NASA statement. "We're really talking about a water system that is connected to the whole Earth system." Siegfried and co-author Helen Amanda Fricker studied data from several Earth-observing satellites and reported their findings in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. In the paper, they explain that below the glaciers, several factors lead to small amounts of melting ice: insulation, pressure, the heat of the Earth and friction. These drops of melted ice add up to produce "large volumes of subglacial water," which is stored in lakes and aquifers hidden below the surface of the ice. Subglacial Lake Studies Naturally, these water systems have been difficult for researchers to observe and access, since they are cloaked in miles of ice. Recent technology upgrades have made satellite observation possible. According to Space.com, as the lakes drain and fill on their natural cycles, the ice above them rises and falls. By measuring changes in the height of the glaciers, scientists can see evidence of what's happening below the surface. Satellites have observed these glaciers since 2007, with a NASA satellite called ICESat and then later with the Cryo-Sat2, a European Space Agency (ESA) satellite. The data collected from NASA and ESA satellites covered a broad area and gave scientists baseline measurements that kicked off a new era of understanding Antarctica. When the first generation of satellite data became available, Fricker discovered that subglacial lakes were much more dynamic than scientists previously suspected. While scientists thought the lakes in Antarctica were fairly still, the data revealed otherwise. Instead of being static reservoirs, they fill and drain on a cycle. The volume of water that flows from Antarctica's lakes is significant. One study found that a single Antarctic lake dumped 21 billion to 26 billion cubic feet into the ocean in 2019, as Live Science reports. Technology That Enabled the Discovery Earlier data was not precise enough to allow researchers to fully understand the water systems below the surface. "Satellite measurements have been limited by how often they collect the data and their coverage," the researchers explain in the paper. "Using new data from NASA's ICESat-2 mission, we show that ICESat-2 provides unprecedented detail over lakes, both in time and space. The ICESat-2 data will lead to a steep change in our understanding of how Antarctica's hidden subglacial water system operates, which is a crucial ingredient for how an ice sheet behaves and evolves." Northrop Grumman built the ICESat-2 satellite, which uses 10,000 laser pulses per second to measure the ice sheets in unprecedented detail. The satellite is equipped with a sensing technology called Light Detection and Ranging, or LIDAR, which is similar to RADAR but uses light instead of radio waves. A laser altimeter sends laser pulses down to Earth and analyzes the reflected light, measuring how long it takes the light to return to determine the distance. "The discovery of these interconnected systems of lakes at the ice-bed interface that are moving water around, with all these impacts on glaciology, microbiology and oceanography — that was a big discovery from the ICESat mission," said Siegfried. He added, "ICESat-2 is like putting on your glasses after using ICESat. The data are such high precision that we can really start to map out the lake boundaries on the surface." What's Next The discovery of two new lakes highlights the fact that there is still a significant portion of our planet we do not understand. Earth-observing satellites can provide clues about what's happening below the surface and how those lakes and their draining cycles affect ocean circulation. This type of information can help to reveal details about what happens when glaciers melt — a topic that is becoming increasingly urgent as global temperatures rise. "There are processes that are going on under Antarctica that we wouldn't have a clue about if we didn't have satellite data," said Fricker. "We've been struggling with getting good predictions about the future of Antarctica, and instruments like ICESat-2 are helping us observe the process scale." Are you interested in science and innovation? We are, too. Check out Northrop Grumman career opportunities to see how you can participate in this fascinating time of discovery.

What a Subglacial Lake Under Antarctica Can Teach Us

 Cyberattacks make for big headlines. Hacked companies (and other organizations) get hit with a triple whammy. First of all, they are hit with the costs of the attack itself, such as the losses resulting from stolen or exposed confidential data. Second, they face a public backlash. Individuals who become hacking victims may get sympathy, but hacked organizations rarely do. More often, they suffer a wave of media embarrassment at the least. Along with the headlines may come a loss of customers' confidence, especially if customer data such as credit card numbers was stolen. Legal consequences are yet another possibility for hacked companies. Finally, hacked organizations need to upgrade their cybersecurity systems and procedures, and do it on an urgency basis. Like having to call the plumber on Saturday night, emergency assistance does not come cheap. Behind the Scenes of a Hack But what actually happens when companies get hacked? What is a hack, anyway? There is no formal technical definition of "hacking," and no one single way that computers and computer networks get hacked. Most often, we think in terms of malware — short for malicious software — such as viruses, worms and so forth. But not all cyberattacks involve malware. If an authorized user is tricked into revealing their password to a thief, the thief can then simply log in using the victim's password, then download, delete or alter data using the normal tools available to legitimate users within the organization. And, as Kelly Sheridan reports at DARKReading, attacks of this sort are all too common. Human factors are one of the two major causes of major security breaches, or in everyday language, hacks. The term "social engineering" is now applied to the bag of tricks by which cybercriminals use the human factor to gain access to company networks. One leading type of social engineering is spear phishing. Phishing is the general term for an email that tries to trick the recipient into clicking on a malicious attachment or visiting a malicious webpage. Spear phishing has the added twist that the email is targeted specifically for the intended victim — for example, having the name and email address of a friend or co-worker. The popularity of social networks has made social engineering attacks easier by making people's personal connections easier to trace online. And because there is no purely technological solution to human error, social engineering attacks are likely to become even more prominent in the future. Bad (Cyber) Hygiene The other leading cause of security breaches is deficiencies in cyber hygiene — failures in the procedures, such as updating software patches, that are designed to protect computers and computer networks against technological malware attacks. Even good cyber hygiene will not protect against all technological hacking attacks. So-called "zero day" attacks employ malware or system vulnerabilities that security professionals have never before seen, and against which there are thus no established defenses. Zero day threats are what keep security researchers busy. But they are not the only thing that keeps cybersecurity professionals awake at night. All too often, hacked companies have fallen victim to means of attack that were already known. In these cases, protective measures were available — but the company failed to implement them. One security expert, Roger A. Grimes, writing at InfoWorld, says that "I've never come across a fully patched computer. Some critical patch is always missing." Looking at cybersecurity challenges in broad perspective, we could say that hacked companies are ultimately victims of complexity. As our computer systems have grown more powerful, they have also become more complex. This opens the way for both ordinary human errors that social engineering can exploit and for institutional errors such as failing to keep software patches fully updated. And complexity continues to grow. The growth of artificial intelligence and autonomous systems will create both new security challenges and new security opportunities as we enlist cutting-edge technologies as security allies — all of which will ensure that cybersecurity experts face both a challenging and rewarding future.

How Do Hacked Companies Get Hacked?

Imagine the battlespace of the future. Autonomous airplanes soar overhead, ever watching, sending vital intelligence back to ground stations on the other side of the world. Sailors and airmen offshore and in the air jam enemy signals to protect allied forces from land-based missiles. Further inland, soldiers use satellite communications to receive the latest orders as they muster into position while cyber units look for opportunities to exploit enemy networks. In this scenario, all services and coalition forces are working together across a common digital network to deter aggression or ensure the US and its allies prevail in a conflict should hostilities begin. This is closer to the reality of today than you might realize. But what separates today's high tech battlespace from the truly joint future of science fiction is how difficult it is for today's cutting edge technologies to interact. As warfare leans more heavily on digital signals, often coming from multiple branches of the military operating in every military domain at once, it's becoming increasingly important to find better ways to integrate these technologies into a seamless battlefield management system. Integrated Strengths Speaking at the annual gathering of the Air Force Association in September 2019, then-Chief of Staff of the Air Force General David Goldfein illustrated the imperative of developing a system of Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2). "Victory in future combat will depend less on individual capabilities and more on the integrated strengths of a connected network available for coalition leaders to employ," said Goldfein. "What I'm talking about is a fully networked force where each platform's sensors and operators are connected." The Toaster In El Segundo, California, Northrop Grumman's Distributed Autonomy/Responsive Control (DA/RC) team has been charged with engineering a solution that controls a wide range of the connected sensors and operators. Under the bright red lights of a command and control room known as The Toaster, the El Segundo team — along with their colleagues in San Diego — are showing just how to control a wide range of systems as part of an integrated battle management network. The DA/RC team's working prototype can control systems, platforms and software across military services and domains (land, air, sea, space and cyber), and is part of the company-wide effort to provide JADC2 solutions to the US and its allies. "We are working toward connecting the battlespace because we know our technology will help save lives," said Bryan Lima, business lead for Northrop Grumman's company-wide JADC2 efforts. "The women and men who work on Northrop Grumman's enabling JADC2 technologies know how important this effort is and how challenging and important this work is. We've developed a mix of platforms and applications that enable us to uniquely address the threat called out in the National Defense Strategy. Connecting the battlespace and enabling battle management in the contested battlespace in ways nobody has thought of is what we are working to achieve." 24/7 Coverage Enabling all existing and future systems to work together is critical. That powerful joint force will act as a deterrent against future conflicts with other powerful nationsâ€•often referred to as peer-to-peer conflictâ€• and it will also help ensure victory if military action does eventuate. The question for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) right now is how it can leverage existing and emerging technology to connect dozens, or even hundreds, of autonomous and manned platforms across huge swaths of terrain and domains. And, how can those platforms be controlled to ensure 24/7 coverage of a highly contested battlespace? Goldfein went on to say in his Air Force Association speech that, "The goal is to combine to produce multiple dilemmas for our adversaries in a way that will overwhelm them. An even better outcome is to refine to the point where it produces so many dilemmas for our adversaries that they choose not to take us on in the first place." Northrop Grumman's DA/RC prototype demonstrates JADC2 in a range of battlefield environments and does so utilizing multi-domain systems to enable 24/7 battlespace control. By controlling a large number of manned and unmanned assets with an integrated battle management approach for prolonged periods of time, companies like Northrop Grumman are helping DoD realize their fully networked future. Check out Northrop Grumman career opportunities to see how you can participate in this fascinating time of discovery in science, technology, and engineering.

The Future of Defense

 Enable targeting cookies to view this content.   At the annual Farm Progress Show in Iowa in 2016, growers gawked at what some are describing as the beginning of a new agricultural revolution: a self-driving tractor that takes humans out of the loop entirely.    The Case IH Autonomous Concept Vehicle can go from parking spot to field and back by itself. It can be operated and monitored remotely via tablet as it follows preset paths for planting, harvesting or other farming tasks. Equipped with sensors for automatic navigation and obstacle avoidance, it can work around the clock, boosting productivity.    While the prototype turned heads because it eliminates the driver's cab, varying amounts of automation have been incorporated into tractors and agricultural equipment for years. In fact, robots are already on the farm doing everything from seeding and harvesting to milking. Aerial drones are being used to survey and spray crops. Automated lettuce thinners, grape-leaf pullers and weed killers are taking on difficult, repetitive jobs and doing them more quickly and efficiently than human workers. Along with GPS and satellite technology used to guide tractors and map fields, these robots are part of a new farm revolution known as precision agriculture.    Many More Mouths to Feed    In a 2016 report on precision farming, Goldman Sachs said it sees a $240-billion market for automation on the farm, including a $45-billion market for small driverless tractors alone. Besides saving time and money, these robotractors would bring benefits such as a lower rate of soil compaction — which means better yields — because of their lighter weight compared to manual tractors. The report estimates that automation on the farm, along with technologies such as precision irrigation and planting, could help increase farm yields by more than 70 percent by 2050, when the global population is predicted to approach 10 billion.    "We will have a lot more people to feed than we ever have in history," says Jonathan Rogers, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Georgia Tech. "The only way we can really achieve the level of food production we're going to need in the future is to employ automation and robots."    Meeting the huge demand from so many people will require some thinking outside the box. Rogers and colleagues recently developed an agricultural robot that's different from all the rest. Inspired by sloths and named Tarzan, the two-armed machine swings like a gibbon along parallel wires suspended above a field while imaging the crop. It's designed to stay in the field for long periods, photographing each plant so that farmers don't have to physically check for signs of wilting. Instead, they can remotely review imagery in real time, getting more frequent snapshots of their plants and saving them time spent on crop inspection.    Automate or Die?    With more and more robots swinging, flying and rolling around farmers' fields, what will happen to farmers and farm workers? Ever since the original Agricultural Revolution and then the Industrial Revolution, introducing automation at the workplace has raised concerns about displacing human labor, and recent debates surrounding robotics in U.S. manufacturing are no different.    The fact is that the percentage of the U.S. workforce engaged in agriculture has diminished drastically over the past two centuries while productivity has jumped due to the introduction of machinery. As University of Georgia economics professor Jeffrey Dorfman writes, "The history of mechanization in agriculture provides proof that huge numbers of workers can be replaced by machines without leading to mass unemployment."    In countries such as the U.S. and Japan, automation is increasingly being seen as the only way to deal with labor shortages caused by immigration crackdowns, aging populations or both.    "The trade-off isn't, do you want a machine or do you want workers," Michigan farmer Steve Tennes, who uses a machine that supports apple pickers, told Bloomberg in January 2017. "It's do you want to be in business or do you not want to be in business."

Robot Farmers Seeding the New Agricultural Revolution

Today, the drone industry is one of the most sophisticated in the world. But what exactly is a drone? It can be anything from a cheap remote-controlled toy to the U.S. Navy's strike fighter-sized unmanned aircraft X-47B UCAS-D—which was designed and built by Northrop Grumman and uses a software-controlled smart "brain" to autonomously conduct aerial missions.Definitions vary on what can be considered a drone, but broadly speaking, it is a device that can take an action without human intervention. This differs from simple remote control, although the importance of remote operations particularly in the early days, cannot be overlooked. It should be noted that although "drone" is a popular moniker, it's an oversimplification; it doesn't adequately capture the fact that we are also dealing with autonomous aircraft with smart software brains.Taking the above into account, what was the first "drone" and how did it evolve? Let's take a deeper look.The First DronesLet's take a look back to 1898, when Nikola Tesla used a radio-controlled motor to wow patrons at the Electrical Exhibition in Madison Square Garden by piloting a toy boat with "verbal commands," while really manipulating a controller at the same time as his shouts.This early application of radio controlled technology led to a small set of hobbyists interested in radio controlled devices. Just as those hobbyists do in their garages today, some early work led to very useful commercial devices.In 1935 one hobbyist, renowned actor Reginald Denny, managed to show the U.S. Army that his hobby could be a useful target for antiaircraft gunnery crews. By the end of decade Denny had formalized the Radioplane company and was selling the first vehicle, the OQ-1, to the Army.Since they were used primarily as targets to be shot down, thousands of the Radioplane vehicles were made in the 1940s. Some of the unassuming devices were even assembled by Marilyn Monroe, who was discovered by an army photographer sent to take pictures of the Radioplane in production.By 1952, Northrop Aircraft purchased Denny's company, which then became the Radioplane Division. This was to be the launch of Northrop Grumman's development of autonomous systems. In the decades since, the systems and technologies have expanded vehicles to be used for much more than just target practice.DevelopmentA desire to keep people away from dangerous conditions has long driven inventors to devise mechanisms that can go places and do things that people cannot. But the earliest drones — those that fit the definition of fully unmanned and automated — were unreliable by today's standards.The MGM-57 Falconer, designed in 1955, was the U.S. Army's first unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, used for short-range battlefield surveillance. There was no way to transmit images in real time, so the onboard camera film had to be recovered and processed before use. Furthermore, the Falconer could only remain airborne for half an hour.During the Vietnam War, the Ryan AQM-91 Firefly and Model 147B Lightning Bug were developed for long-range reconnaissance missions into China. Launched from other aircraft, these drones were self-guided and powered.By the late 1970s, the Aquila, the most promising drone of the time, crashed every 20 flight hours and needed 30 people to launch it.In 1977, Israel-based aerospace engineer Abraham Karem arrived in the United States. Working from his home in Los Angeles, using cheap materials, Karem set out to build a drone based on "inspired design and highly optimized and integrated subsystems." In 1980, his drone, code-named the Albatross, stayed aloft for 56 hours. Karem thought of drones as reliable long-term vehicles that should have as long of a service life as their human-piloted counterparts.Even up to the 1990s, operating crews needed be located near the vehicle to ensure radio signals made the connection. It was not until the turn of the new century that there were reports of vehicles being controlled from 7,000 miles away.These advancements occurred in part because of unmanned systems with operating times measurable in years rather than minutes, and the development of satellite monitoring technology.The Tech Stack of Modern UAVsA flying object that can be remotely piloted from anywhere in the world requires a deep technology stack, the lack of which limited the evolution of drone systems until the 1980s.With the advent of the first microprocessor in 1970, devices once the size of control systems shrunk drastically and powered the development of enabling technology for remote operations. Meanwhile, the global positioning system (GPS), a global navigation satellite system conceived in the 1960s, became fully operational in 1995 and allowed for operations around the globe.You can now view the first armed UAV in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, although the current U.S. fleet of more than 10,000 drones is employed primarily for intelligence gathering, surveillance and reconnaissance.21st-Century DronesThe technology in the drone industry have come a long way from Tesla's toy boat. Even the term "drone" has evolved to describe an array of autonomous aerial systems. Though a drone itself refers to the complete vehicle, each one employs sensors, controls and power systems in various stages of development. For instance, today's Gray Eagle uses STARLite Tactical Radar, integrated to optimize operations while also providing target signatures that aid in intelligence gathering.But radar and other systems present on nearly all unmanned systems have their limitations. Several factors including advances in airframes, power sources, and both electronic warfare and air defenses are constantly driving the need to innovate and upgrade systems. The trend towards open modular architectures allowing for better integration of manned and unmanned systems will further push technology's future. Even Moore's law is coming to an end and has helped drive advances in competing computational platforms.Neural networks and AI are becoming more capable of analyzing radar, optical and environmental data to provide onboard identification and classification of observed threats. This enables many more actions to be taken without the need for human intervention.Drone Technology Beyond DefenseBeyond threat removal, drone technology can also allow for aid to remote locations or perform routine tasks. As defense needs continue to drive technology advancements, existing technologies can be pushed to consumer markets.Already the use of auto-pilot and GPS-guided "return to home" features have opened the market. Everything from real estate listings to the opening scenes of blockbuster films are now aided by unmanned devices that can be used in everyday society (though FAA regulations still limit who can commercially pilot a device).Today, the development of self-driving cars and delivery drones are hot topics for logistics companies and retailers alike. Advances now happening in drone technology are so rapid that we'll see more innovation within the next decade than in all those years since Tesla's boat.

A Toy Plane led to Our Current Autonomous Systems

  In the world of science fiction, it is an old, cautionary story. An autonomous, intelligent robotic defense system goes insane — or simply misinterprets its instructions — and attacks everyone, including the civilization it was designed to defend. For defense planners today, this scenario is no longer pure science fiction. No, the Pentagon is not planning giant orbital robot battle stations that might erroneously attack Earth — but artificial intelligence (AI) technology, and especially "deep learning," are increasingly being applied to real-world defense tasks such as analyzing reconnaissance images. In order to rely on information detected by such sophisticated technology, defense planners and commanders need to understand how deep learning works. And precisely because it is such a powerful technology, fully understanding it turns out to be a very challenging task. Deep Learning and Image Recognition The technology of deep learning, as Will Knight reports at MIT Technology Review, is inspired by the complex architecture of the human brain. The AI software simulates the multiple layers of neurons and synapses, and also simulates the learning process of the human mind. A classic example of the deep-learning process is teaching the system to recognize a cat. The system is provided with a large library of imagery, some of which includes images of cats. In a "tuning" or training process, the system attempts to identify whether or not there is a cat in an image, and records a positive score whenever its human trainers confirm that there is in fact a cat in the image. Because the system can swiftly crunch through vast numbers of training images, it can soon learn to identify cats with high reliability. Identifying cats is rarely a vital security issue. But the same technology can be used for other image recognition tasks — for example, to scan thousands or millions of satellite images for evidence of tanks or missile launchers. Hence, the interest of defense planners in deep-learning technology. How Do You Recognize a Cat? But this is where things get challenging. While deep-learning technology can be taught to recognize a cat — or a missile launcher — it cannot tell us how it performs this accomplishment. Says Knight, "it isn't clear whether the system may be focusing on the whiskers, the ears, or even the cat's blanket in an image." Sometimes this is not a problem. Perhaps the AI system can pass its results on to human intelligence analysts, who can double check to make sure the AI is correct in its identification of, say, missile launchers. But in an urgent crisis situation, there might be no time to wait for direct human confirmation — the launchers need to be identified and engaged now. In that situation, planners and commanders need to know exactly how much confidence they can place in an AI system. Which means learning how the AI learns, and understanding its (simulated) "thought" processes.  Understanding how deep learning works is so challenging that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has no fewer than 13 different research projects underway, using a range of different techniques to improve our understanding of the deep-learning process. Which also explains why Northrop Grumman — a traditional leader in drones, autonomous systems and defense robotics — is at the forefront of research into understanding deep learning.

Deep Learning, and the Art of Understanding Robots

Future transportation could include bullet trains, supersonic air travel or even flying cars, but Gulu Gambhir, vice president, CTO of Northrop Grumman Technology Services, believes the biggest change is already underway: automation for vehicles. Self-driving cars, a.k.a. autonomous vehicles, are essentially robots that transport passengers. They are revolutionizing commuting — a huge part of life as a working professional. Transportation Technology Needs an Upgrade As transportation technology continues to progress, cities could upgrade public transit systems to modern versions that rely on electric vehicles, integrate ride-sharing services like Uber, or even some combination of subway systems, autonomous vehicles and smart infrastructure. Harvard Business Review estimates that by embracing innovative mobility technology by 2030, densely populated cities in developing economies could save $600 million annually, and advanced cities could save $2.5 billion per year. With these compelling figures, it seems that we are on the verge of a revolution in transportation technology. Ride-sharing apps have already disrupted rental cars and the taxi industry. "For the first time, more people are using Uber in New York than the city's fabled yellow cab," reported The New York Times. Automation Is Inevitable New cars are equipped with automated features such as autopilot for highway driving, and several cars with full automation — no driver needed — are being tested in the United States and around the world. Perhaps in the near future, we won't have to choose between investing in an expensive car and fighting traffic, or being restricted to a crowded train's schedule to get to work each day. Instead, a whole new model for transportation could emerge. We typically use our cars for commuting to work, and then they sit idly in a parking spot all day. "For most of us, the duty cycle that our cars use is pretty modest, less than 10 percent of the time on an annual basis," said Gambhir. Integrating Systems Thinking and Transportation Gambhir envisions future transportation models where you can summon a car on demand that is personalized and reliable. If you don't need a driver, he says, you don't even need a seat for the driver. Instead of a limousine with a passenger compartment in the back, a car could have a handful of individual compartments for riders. It would be similar to taking a bus, but in a more comfortable and customized way. "The vehicle could pick you up at your home and you could get into a compartment that's only yours, and have this personalized, almost limo-like experience," he said. The car might stop and pick up other passengers along the way, but automated routes would still save time overall, and you would be spending your commute in comfort. At Northrop Grumman, Gambhir's team focuses on systems thinking, which means thinking about not just the initial implications of a change of a system or a process, but also the second order and third order changes that will follow. Applying systems thinking to future transportation, he wondered, "What are the implications for vehicle design in this model where you don't have a driver and you don't even want to own the asset but you still want that kind of personalized experience?"  He suggested that in the future, instead of owning cars, people could have their own passenger compartments that a vehicle could pick up and transport to the destination. This change would have widespread effects. Will Roads Be Safer? According to the United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 94 percent of serious crashes are due to human error, and an estimated 35,092 people died in motor vehicle-related crashes in the U.S. in 2015. If self-driving cars can eliminate human error, they could save tens of thousands of lives each year. "If the algorithms are better than people and won't make those human mistakes, and in general they make fewer mistakes, what are the implications of that?" Gambhir mused. "Car insurance as we know it today should fundamentally change. With reduced accidents, there may be fewer body shops in the future," he added. Many of the familiar features of today's infrastructure could become obsolete. Road to the Future In a future where commuters subscribe to car services instead of owning cars, we won't need nearly as many parking garages or parking spots on the street, and that space could be used for other purposes. Street lights, for example, would be useless and replaced with sensors.  "In the future, if we're really talking about an autonomous system, a car isn't going to need to read a street sign or a speed limit sign ... If it has a good up-to-date database of the roadways, it will know how to go from point A to B optimally and safely," Gambhir said.

Transportation Technology Is Changing the Future of Commuting

Key Takeaways  Northrop Grumman's autonomous Global Hawk can "see" through clouds and weather to provide disaster zone data. The Firebird aircraft, meanwhile, can convert between human-flown and un-piloted to explore more dangerous areas. Devices such as FINDER analyze how signals change when they bounce back after transmission. FINDER detected the heartbeats of buried survivors in Nepal.When people are trapped under debris without access to fresh air or water, timing is crucial. In disaster scenarios such as earthquakes, floods and terrorist attacks or local infrastructure collapses, survivors and rescue workers contend with precarious scenes, often without the help of communications networks. Disaster relief technology can find survivors just in time.When hazards such as tsunamis and wildfires get out of control, they become disasters that can turn an otherwise peaceful location into something like a war zone. While military leaders use advanced technology for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), the same technology can be applied to disaster aid.A Bird's-Eye ViewAutonomous aircraft can fly above disaster zones to collect images and data that rescue teams can use to decide how to proceed.Northrop Grumman's Global Hawk, for example, provides views of disaster zones without putting people at unnecessary risk. This autonomous aircraft system is designed to fly at high altitudes for long hours without a pilot. In the defense industry, Global Hawk provides military field commanders with real-time ISR over large swaths of land, gathering high-resolution imagery via infrared cameras that can "see" through clouds and bad weather, day and night. In addition to intelligence, Global Hawk fleets have also supported air and ground users with communications relay support. Similarly, the same aircraft can be utilized as a disaster relief technology.After a devastating earthquake in Haiti in 2010, Global Hawk surveilled damaged airports to find safe landing sites for relief aircraft. Rescue workers also used videos from Global Hawk observations to compare before and after images of the area to identify areas of need and plan clear routes to get to those locations.A year later, U.S. Air Force Global Hawks helped survey damage and perform relief missions during the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, notably, providing views of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant without risking human crews' potential radiation exposure.Additionally, a new aircraft called Firebird can provide similar assistance. It's a medium-altitude aircraft that's designed to be inexpensive and uniquely flexible. Pilots can fly this aircraft and then quickly transform it into an un-piloted aircraft, for example, in order to stay in the air longer and to go near dangerous areas to gather information.A Heartbeat AwayWhile aircraft and satellite images such as NOAA's Search And Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking (SARSAT) System provide overhead views, smaller drones like the popular recreational consumer drones can be used to get a closer look at the situation. Land robots, too, can get more detailed information without putting humans at risk.Some disaster relief technology isn't nearly as flashy as a robot but can be extremely effective. When a severe earthquake struck Nepal in 2015, a suitcase-sized device saved four men. The device, called FINDER, which stands for Finding Individuals for Disaster and Emergency Response, operates using a similar approach that NASA uses to observe distant planets. It sends a signal out and then deduces information about the unknown object based on how the signal changes when it bounces back. In this way, the technology identifies subtle distortions that humans can't detect, such as the bending of a signal when it encounters a galactic object. Similarly, FINDER sent a microwave signal that detected survivors' heartbeats in Nepal, even though the men were buried under about 10 feet of brick, mud, wood and other debris.Enhancing the Humanitarian Disaster Aid ToolkitRescue aid workers continue to use traditional tools such as listening devices, cameras and dogs that are trained to sniff out survivors. And over time, they're also adding new disaster relief technology to their toolkits. With each new technological improvement, lives are saved.See how the Global Hawk family is enhancing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance efforts worldwide.

Disaster Relief Technology Borrowed From Aerospace

  Autonomous vehicles are at the cutting edge of today's defense technology. Long familiar in the form of guided missiles — and, even earlier, the torpedo — autonomous war vehicles are now taking on a far wider variety of roles. In addition to functioning as weapons in their own right, as missiles and torpedoes do, autonomous military craft now also serve as platforms for launching other weapons, as well as providing reconnaissance. They do so not only in the air and at sea but also on land, where their roles include disarming or safely detonating IEDs (improvised explosive devices) such as roadside bombs. The growing capabilities of autonomous vehicles is being driven by new generations of computers and sensors that make these vehicles "smarter" than ever before. But all of their military missions, whether new or long established, share the common goal of protecting troops by advancing into dangerous, hostile environments ahead of them.  Enable targeting cookies to view this content.  It Came From Beneath the Sea We think of them as a new technology, but today's autonomous vehicles are products of a long evolution. Their ancestor, the self-propelled naval torpedo, first went to sea nearly 150 years ago. The autonomous capability of early torpedoes was limited to a pressure valve that controlled the depth at which the torpedo ran. Later, a gyroscope was added to help keep it on course. Even with very limited self-steering capabilities, torpedoes transformed war at sea, making even the most powerful and heavily armored battleships vulnerable to underwater attack. As Jimmy Stamp reports at Smithsonian, during World War I, the U.S. applied the same principle to "aerial torpedoes" — essentially biplane cruise missiles — though none were ready for use in the war. During World War II, Germany launched thousands of V1 and V2 missiles, and the U.S. also made some use of guided weapons in the closing months of the war. By the 1950s, guided missiles were widespread, and their guidance systems became increasingly sophisticated. But missiles only need to be smart enough to track a target and crash into it (or explode close enough to destroy it). More complex missions, such as requiring a pilotless aircraft to land safely for reuse, were beyond the capability of existing guidance technologies.   Driving on Other Planets Space exploration gave a key boost to autonomous vehicle technology, according to the Computer History Museum's blog. Space probes use guidance technology similar to that of missiles, but designers also began developing wheeled rovers to explore the surface of Mars. Due to radio transmission lag, these vehicles could not simply be driven by remote control — they needed some ability to make their own driving choices. Space technology, military requirements and the effort to develop robocars for highway use have all come together to produce the current — and still fast-evolving — generation of autonomous vehicles for military missions. But autonomous-vehicle capabilities are also still emerging from the sea. The Navy has become a key player in autonomous technology because of the enormous range of operating environments it must face. Not only must the Navy deal with airborne and underwater threats; amphibious and Marine operations may require the ability to come ashore onto dry land as well. The Navy's MQ-8C Fire Scout autonomous helicopter is typical of the emerging generation of autonomous vehicles performing naval missions. Already deployed from large naval ships, the Fire Scout can also operate from the relatively small LCS (Littoral Control Ship), designed for inshore waters, according to USNI. [skyword_iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/AaG2EDPVBqc" width="560" height="315" ] These smaller ships, more subject to the heave of the sea, make aircraft operations exceptionally challenging, while the coastal environment poses complex threats from aircraft to small boats to mines. The Fire Scout can be tailored with mission packages to support all of these roles while minimizing the need place sailors or Marines at risk in high-threat environments. Even closer inshore, reports the Office of Naval Research, the Navy and Marine Corps are testing autonomous amphibious vehicles capable of "hitting the beach" and moving inland to provide up-front support for Marines.  You can play a part in the next generation of autonomous vehicles at Northrop Grumman.

When Autonomous Vehicles Go to War

 The intelligence community is wielding a new weapon against criminals: the smartphone. In New York City, all 35,000 officers carry smartphones linked to Domain Awareness System (DAS), a $40-million computer-based awareness system developed with Microsoft that gives cops access to live video feeds around the city from some 8,000 cameras.    The NYPD has been improving DAS, adding analytics, pattern recognition and predictive policing functions since the system was created in 2008. In 2016, New York news channel NY1 reported that DAS helped cops from the 73rd Precinct make arrests. The cops got an alert from DAS that shots had been fired at an address in Brooklyn. The officers discovered bullet casings on the roof. Using their phones to access DAS, they found a woman in the building had an outstanding arrest warrant. After getting a search warrant via their phones, they found two guns in the woman's apartment and made three arrests.   Enable targeting cookies to view this content.   The New York program was inspired by one in London. Other police departments in Chicago and Los Angeles are using similar data-based predictive analysis tools, and the intelligence community is employing other AI-based technologies like facial recognition to solve crimes. The use of such technology has sparked a predictable outcry about privacy and the potential misuses of such technology.    Who's Using What?    The NYPD's network of 8,000 surveillance cameras pales in comparison to the U.K.'s 6 million. London is probably the most heavily surveilled place on Earth, with one camera for every 10 people. U.K. police are also applying AI in new ways. For instance, in the city of Durham, police are using an AI tool designed to figure out whether a detainee should be kept in custody based on their perceived likelihood to commit more crimes. London police also use a facial recognition system that matches faces in crowds to a database of 2.9 million images of criminals.    In the U.S., the intelligence community also makes use of AI. The FBI, for instance, uses image recognition to identify criminals by their tattoos. In addition to the New York and Chicago police departments, some 60 local police departments employ technology from PredPol, which forecasts where crimes might occur based on past data. The LAPD, meanwhile, uses AI for predictive analysis about where crimes are likely to occur. If there's a string of robberies, for instance, then the LAPD will alert patrols to keep a close eye on nearby neighborhoods where the next robberies might happen.    Fears of "Minority Report"    Sci-fi authors have explored the idea of preemptive policing, most notably in Philip K. Dick's "Minority Report," which imagined the technique being used to frame the protagonist, John Anderton. Such fears were revived with a report from Stanford University looking at artificial intelligence and life in 2030, by which time it predicted predictive policing would be the norm.    Critics are likely to continue to take aim at AI surveillance tools on privacy grounds. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, for instance, has argued that police and elected officials can use such tools to spy on critics and political opponents. The ACLU has reasoned that surveillance can have a chilling effect on public life, making citizens less free since their every action is being filmed.    Citizens have always had to weigh liberty and security. Different societies have arrived — and will continue to arrive — at different answers. 

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