This Tiny Palm-Sized Drone is the Future of Battlefield Surveillance and Military Recon

Quite reminiscent of the Hunter-seeker drones from the DUNE movie series, the Black Hornet 4 is shaping up to be an incredibly small yet exceptionally handy recon drone, capable of flying into areas unnoticed, and helping perform important surveillance required during military strategy and battle planning. This miniature marvel, weighing a mere 70 grams, packs a powerful array of features. Equipped with a 12-megapixel camera, superior low-light performance, and a high-resolution thermal imager, the Black Hornet 4 empowers soldiers with exceptional situational awareness on the ground.

Designer: Teledyne FLIR

However, its true potential lies in its ability to excel in challenging environments. Boasting a flight time exceeding 30 minutes, a range surpassing 2 kilometers, and the capability to withstand strong winds, the Black Hornet 4 navigates even the most demanding situations with ease. Additionally, its low visual and audible signature makes it ideal for covert operations, allowing for discreet deployment and data collection. The system’s ability to function in GPS-denied environments adds another layer of versatility, ensuring reliable operation regardless of external factors.

This innovative technology has already seen significant global adoption, with over 20,000 units deployed. The recent contract awarded by the U.S. Army for additional systems further underscores the Black Hornet 4’s impact. This tiny tech marvel represents a significant leap forward in the realm of personal reconnaissance, offering soldiers unprecedented capabilities and operational flexibility.

Beyond its military applications, the potential of the Black Hornet 4 extends to various civilian sectors. Search and rescue operations in disaster zones, environmental monitoring in remote areas, and even industrial inspections in hazardous environments could all benefit from the capabilities of this miniature marvel. As the technology continues to evolve, we can expect to see the Black Hornet 4, or similar systems, playing an increasingly crucial role in diverse fields, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in the world of miniaturized aerial technology.

The post This Tiny Palm-Sized Drone is the Future of Battlefield Surveillance and Military Recon first appeared on Yanko Design.

This military-grade night vision monocular opens up a bright new world in the darkness

We’ve all seen those action movies where the heroes, or sometimes even the villains, need to see in the dark. Perhaps it’s to add some tension or because of past technologies, but these gadgets often show nighttime videos that are blurry or green, which naturally ups the ante in difficulty. Real life is less dramatic, of course, but the need for clear vision at night is no less critical than on the big screen. Whether it’s for professional work or for sport, there is no reason to settle for grainy or monochromatic videos when the technology is now more readily available to everyone. That’s the kind of upgrade that this night vision camera brings to the table, making military-grade technologies available to a wider audience so that those who love to hunt and fish at night will be able to see clear and colorful details even in pitch darkness.

Designer: Yuki Otake

Click Here to Buy Now: $129 $399 ($270 off). Hurry, less than 72 hours left! Raised over $1,000,000.

There might be some prejudices against the darkness of night, but there are things that can only be enjoyed when the sun has finally set. Stars are, of course, the most obvious, but nature holds a lot of secret wonders under the blanket of the night sky. Unfortunately, our eyes are not made to see well in the dark, unlike some animals, but the good news is that the Duovox Ultra Night Vision Monocular is here to bring light and color to that darkness without alerting these nocturnal creatures to your approach.

In a nutshell, the Duovox Ultra is a night vision camera that makes military-grade features and capabilities available and accessible to consumers, especially night hunters and fishers. Unlike most night vision cameras, including those you might rely on for security, the Duovox Ultra displays nighttime videos in 1080p Full HD resolution and, even better, in full color as well. This feat is made possible with the Starvis CMOS sensor, a high-sensitivity image sensor specifically designed for low-light observation, allowing image and video capture in light as low as 0.001 lux.

The Duovox Ultra also boasts a distortion-free 7-layered glass lens with an F1.2 aperture, allowing more light to come in and grabbing more detail even in pitch darkness. And if that wasn’t enough, the monocular also comes with a built-in infrared illuminator for an extra light source that doesn’t catch animals’ attention as a camera flash would. All these specs come together to provide you with real-world night vision powers, allowing you to enjoy night wildlife photography, nighttime hunting, and night city explorations as if you were doing them during the day. When fishing in the dark of night, the Duovox Ultra even lets you see the fish clearly in the water so that you won’t be casting blindly and just relying on luck.

This already powerful night vision monocular still has some tricks up its sleeves. That “military-grade” label doesn’t just refer to its vision but also to its durability, thanks to its aviation-grade aluminum lens body, industrial ABS chassis, and IPX4 dust and water resistance rating. The built-in 4000mAh rechargeable battery advertises 10 hours of continuous use, or 5 hours if IR is turned on, giving you the freedom to capture once-in-a-lifetime memories in the dark of the night. The built-in 128GB storage removes the hassle of micromanaging storage or frantically swapping SD cards, making you miss out on those precious moments.

Lightweight and portable, this night vision camera lets you decide how to shoot your nighttime masterpiece, whether by holding it in your hand or putting it up on a tripod. The camera’s high-contrast 2-inch TFT screen gives you instant feedback on what you want to see, but if you prefer a bigger display, you can stream the video feed to your smartphone via Wi-Fi, letting you observe nocturnal animals from a safe distance. Whether you’re a seasoned hunter or a hobbyist, the Duovox Ultra Night Vision Monocular gives you the power to see in the dark and discover a beautiful world at night.

Click Here to Buy Now: $129 $399 ($270 off). Hurry, less than 72 hours left! Raised over $1,000,000.

The post This military-grade night vision monocular opens up a bright new world in the darkness first appeared on Yanko Design.

Terms like ‘military-grade’ and ‘aircraft-grade’ are NOT indicators of good quality. Here’s why

I’m not entirely sure if I attribute this to Apple, but I definitely heard the words ‘aircraft-grade’ aluminum for the first time in an Apple keynote. I remember this because I also distinctly remember how I felt hearing those words. My first gut reaction was to imagine Apple sourcing its aluminum from the creme-de-la-creme of resources, using the same metal that would otherwise be found in airplanes, fighter jets, and potentially even rockets.

It wasn’t long before ‘aircraft-grade’ and its fancier sibling ‘aerospace-grade’ became a common part of marketing vocabulary, and eventually general vocabulary too. EDC and other items made with materials like aramids, carbon fiber, or Kevlar would also use terms like ‘military-grade’ to indicate that they were built for resilience, to take on the brunt of literal war. Turns out, however, that these marketing terms are exactly that… “marketing terms”. The phrases ‘aircraft-grade’ and ‘military-grade’ may sound like they’re indicators of incredibly high quality, but the problem lies in their absolute ambiguity. There’s really no fixed definition or standard for what’s ‘aircraft-grade’ or what qualifies as ‘military-grade’, and more importantly, there isn’t a body that really enforces any of these standards. Other standards like IP ratings for dust and water protection are regulated and enforced by bodies like the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), but terms like “eco-friendly” and “ethically sourced” are hardly enforceable standards. They have no logical, measurable definition. Terms like ‘military-grade’ and ‘aircraft-grade’ fall pretty much into the same trap. A $20 Smith & Wesson pocket knife and a $2,000 MacBook could both be made using aircraft-grade aluminum. However, there’s absolutely no way of guaranteeing that both materials are of the exact same quality. Let’s dive in…

What exactly DO ‘Military-Grade’ and ‘Aircraft-Grade’ mean?

Here’s the kicker. To consumers, these terms mean absolutely, quantifiably NOTHING. Sure, to the US Military, and to the FAA, the standards matter a lot… but then again, the military doesn’t really buy its gear off of Amazon or Kickstarter, does it? When used by manufacturers or retailers in military contracts, the phrase “military grade” tends to refer more specifically to materials manufactured according to United States Military Standard (MIL-STD) specifications—a set of engineering and durability requirements developed by the U.S government which must be met before any item can qualify as being suitable for use by their armed forces personnel. Similarly, with “aircraft-grade” materials and components; certain parts must meet strict requirements set by aviation authorities before being installed on planes (such as FAA regulations), but these requirements apply to the material themselves and not really the component made using these materials. For example, even though the iPhone 6 was made using ‘aircraft-grade’ aluminum, it practically folded like a lawn chair in people’s pockets, creating the entire ‘Bendgate’ controversy.

Here’s where things get even more confusing…

There are a few pretty large loopholes that create enough wiggle room for companies to throw blanket terms on their products, calling them military-grade or aircraft-grade. The first is with materials – A product could use Dupont’s Kevlar in it and dub itself as Military Grade because the military does, in fact, use Kevlar in their protective vests. However, that doesn’t mean said product is military grade. It just means the material it’s using is military-grade. The product could still have a faulty design with points of failure. It’s pretty much the same story with the Bendgate iPhone. There are a lot of grey areas with airspace-grade parts too because aircrafts are incredibly large vehicles, and even the metal used for the belt buckle in the passenger seat can be dubbed as ‘aircraft-grade’, but use that same buckle metal to make the plane’s fuselage and it would fail almost instantly. The vice versa wouldn’t make any sense either, right? Similarly, different planes have different requirements. A fighter jet and a commercial aircraft have a rather small overlap when it comes to materials, specifications, and engineering. Drones classify as aircrafts too, making matters even more complicated, because drones won’t use the same quality of materials as a stealth-fighter. However, both could use materials that are certified as ‘aircraft-grade’.

That logic carries forward to the ‘military-grade’ argument too, and with a wider scope of debate. The word military could pretty much apply to any military, couldn’t it? When a product says ‘military-grade’ without any further elaboration, it could just as easily be certified for use by the American military as it could be by the Madagascar military. The two don’t really compare at all. Moreover, aside from USA and Madagascar having completely different capabilities and sizes, they have different budgets too. Certain militaries will try to cost-cut by going for the second or third-best alternative or with the lowest bidder. They might even just buy military-grade gear that’s from a few decades ago – a great example is the M16 rifle, which was officially used by the US military since 1963 (most famously in the Vietnam war). The US military phased it out in 2015, upgrading to the M4 carbine instead, but the M16 is still procured, modified, and used by a bunch of other countries. You see where I’m going with this, don’t you? To put it concisely, the term military grade could really mean any military or even any era… and not every single military has the best gear. So what does that say about your gadget?

How marketing teams benefit from this confusion

There’s a fair chance that a small, yet pretty sizeable chunk of companies is legitimately using terms like “military-grade” or “aerospace-grade” (or even “medical-grade”, although that really calls for a separate article) with complete honesty and integrity. The inverse, unfortunately, is overwhelmingly true too. There’s no real way to measure the ‘military-grade-ness’ of a product without actually verifying that military personnel actually use it… and the last thing a military outfit would do is reveal the bleeding-edge tech they use. There’s no authoritative body that will verify whether consumer products are legitimately military-grade or not, and you can’t particularly sue a company for making the claim too, because it’s all really incredibly ambiguous.

This really opens up the market for companies looking to throw flashy words around to make their products sound durable, safe, or legit. A lot of times, they’re right, and a lot of times they’re dead wrong. As a blog, we’ve written lengthy articles about a product claiming to be military-grade or aerospace-grade, but having a warranty of just one or maybe two years. Doesn’t add up, right?! What military or airline would use a product that only guarantees to work for a maximum of two years?? Are blogs like ours to blame? I guess you could say so, but we’re also beholden to press releases that mention these words. Our bigger goal at this point is to weed out companies that don’t have a reputation for making great products. Everyone uses these terms, I guess the part where we come in is in measuring the reliability and history of the company before we write our piece. In a way, this article also serves its purpose of enabling you, the reader, to make more informed choices.

The Most Effective Solution (Hint: You won’t like it)

So how do we all collectively fix this problem? The truth is, we can’t do anything collectively. There will always be a handful of companies and marketing teams that ‘maliciously’ use vague words to indicate reliability and durability. There’s nothing we can do to really stop them from doing so. What blogs, however, can do is try to curate more responsibly (you’ll never see us hawking unbranded products from AliExpress or Wish.com), and be more forthcoming with the information we share with you.

The more effective solution, however, lies in the hands of readers and consumers like you. Prioritize human reviews, actual certifications, warranty details, pricing, and brand reliability before buying a product. In the same way that we’ve all developed an ability to identify fake news, doctored images, deep fakes, and AI-generated content on the internet, it helps to also be able to filter out marketing-speak from information-driven blogging.


Read Next: Nobody knows how Damascus Steel was originally made… all we can do is guess

The post Terms like ‘military-grade’ and ‘aircraft-grade’ are NOT indicators of good quality. Here’s why first appeared on Yanko Design.

Next-gen Casio G’zOne makes it to the FCC, reveals LTE and NFC support

Image

The last Casio G'zOne handheld to come our way was the Commando, a military-grade device that marked the company's first foray into Android smartphones. Now it seems there's another one in the works, at least if a recent FCC filing is any indication. The Casio C811 looks to be a successor to the aforementioned Commando, with its G'zOne branding and features like WiFi and GSM world phone capabilities. Notably, the FCC document reveals the phone has Verizon-flavored LTE plus NFC support, both of which lead us to believe it'll likely be a mid- to high-end handset. Not much else is divulged from perusing the filing, but we're sure that whatever the C811 turns out to be, it'll be just as tough and durable as the rest of Casio's G'zOne offerings.

Filed under: , ,

Next-gen Casio G'zOne makes it to the FCC, reveals LTE and NFC support originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Oct 2012 08:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceFCC  | Email this | Comments

Goruck Backpacks Keep Your Gear Safe While Looking Great

A well-made backpack will allow you to travel with most of your gear without breaking your back. Goruck backpacks are for serious people with serious stuff to carry around. They’ll keep your items dry and are made to be tough enough to survive your daily travels without a hitch.

goruck echo backpack military grade

Goruck offers four backpacks in sizes of 16L to 48L.  They are made from military-grade, water-resistant materials and have many compartments as well as pockets. There are also plenty of internal pockets to keep your things organized. Most of the packs have room for a tablet, laptop and other small electronics.

goruck echo backpack military grade gr1

goruck packs

They are available in tan, camo, and black. Prices start at $225(USD) for the smallest pack, the GR Echo and go up to $395 for the large-capacity GR 2.

goruck echo backpack military grade gr2

[via Uncrate]