Action cameras let us see through the eyes of athletes, daredevils, and professionals, including human cannonballs. If you’d like to record that unique point of view without risking your life, check out Eclectical Engineering’s debut project.
Eclectical Engineering is a new website where tinkerers David and Ryan showcase their bizarre contraptions. They launched their site by making a pneumatic PVC cannon that can launch a variety of small objects.
But the cannon is just half of their debut project. The other half is a 3D-printed spring-loaded missile housing for GoPro’s smallest camera, the Hero 4 Session. Skip to 2:47 in the video below to see the missile’s point of view.
Head to Eclectical Engineering for more details on the cannon. As of this writing they haven’t shared the missile’s 3D files, so you’ll just have to keep an eye on the site’s downloads section.
[via 3D Print]
With the third X-51A WaveRider failing to reach hypersonic speed due to a fin failure last August, it seemed the United States Air Force would possibly forgo the fourth (and final) run. On the morning of May 1st, however, that last X-51A got its chance to soar, successfully reaching Mach 5.1 during a record 370-second flight. According to the Wright Patterson Air Force base, the aircraft's rocket booster helped it hit Mach 4.8 about 26 seconds after being released from a B-2H at 50K feet, at which point its air-fed scramjet brought it to 60,000 feet while achieving hypersonic flight. The USAF notes that "it was the longest of the four X-51A test flights [230 nautical miles] and the longest air-breathing hypersonic flight" -- surely taking some of the sting out of the $300 million program's previous shortcomings. Past flights aimed to hit Mach six, with the first and second tests only sustaining Mach five.
The aircraft made destructive splashdown landing into the Pacific as planned, but data from the whole flight was recorded. The USAF isn't planning a follow-up to the X-51A anytime soon, though the program will likely serve as a reference for future designs. You can dig into the official rundown at the link below.
Filed under: Misc, Transportation
Via: Slashdot
Source: USAF
Advances in unmanned military tools and vehicles have come on leaps and bounds, but, until now, we haven't seen a weapon firing drone operating in the seas. A recent test taking part offshore near Maryland saw several missiles launched from a new remote-controlled inflatable-hulled ship. While the Navy has used drones before for mine clearing and other defensive tasks, the small boat (similar to that pictured above) is the first experiment to involve true offensive capabilities. The almost zodiac-like craft has been an ongoing project over recent years, and contains a fully automated system which the Navy calls a "Precision Engagement Module" which uses an Mk-49 mounting with a dual missile launcher manufactured by Rafael. The hope is that such vehicles could patrol the coastline, or serve as a first defense against pirates, and other such small, fast-moving seafaring dangers. If you want to catch it in action, head past the break for the video, but don't be fooled. While it might look like a series of misses, the Navy claims this is just a trick of the camera angle, with all six missiles apparently making contact.
Continue reading US Navy tests first 11-meter missile-firing sea drone (video)
Filed under: Robots, Transportation
US Navy tests first 11-meter missile-firing sea drone (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 28 Oct 2012 05:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Rafael | Email this | Comments Wars and battles are being fought using increasingly cutting edge technology. In the future, the world may be so dependent on electronics – our soldiers might even be robots – that should a group’s systems and devices fail it might as well wave a white flag. Which is why Boeing, the US Air Force Research Laboratory and Raytheon Ktech are working on a missile that’s out to kill electronics, not organics.
The missile is called Counter-electronics High-powered Advanced Missile Project or CHAMP. I think we can all agree that the acronym is not forced and that it is not confusing at all that the missile is also a missile project. But on to the good stuff. The missile is unlike conventional missiles not just because of its intended target but also in the fact that it just needs to fly over its targets as opposed to crashing into them. The CHAMP emits high-powered microwave pulses to do its job.
I love how one computer was so knocked out it spat out the disc in its optical drive. For their next test Boeing should make CHAMP fly over thousands of s’mores or popcorns and see if it can cook them.
Forget bombs or the robopocalypse. In our minds, the most fearsome weapon is the one that disables our gadgets. That's what makes Boeing's newly tested Counter-electronics High-powered Microwave Advanced Missile Project (CHAMP) scarier than most projectiles. The missile bombards targets underneath with microwaves that shut down computers, power systems and just about anything electrical in their path. Thankfully, CHAMP's invisible payload arrives in discrete bursts and arguably makes it the world's most advanced (and likely expensive) non-lethal weapon: the prototype can target multiple individual buildings without ever having to detonate and hurt someone. Boeing is still developing CHAMP in a multi-year program and doesn't have guarantees that it will become military ordnance, which gives us enough time to accept that saving lives is far, far more important than the risk we'll have to stop fiddling with our technology.
Filed under: Misc
Boeing tests microwave missile that knocks out electronics, represents our worst nightmare (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Oct 2012 22:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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If we were making a list of terrifying airborne war machines, this would probably rank near the top. You certainly won't want to be targeted by the Fire Shadow, but from the safety of a web browser, it's impossible not to marvel at the craft's versatility. Manufactured by French developer MBDA, the Fire Shadow missile is designed to strike a stationary or moving object on command. But unlike some other UAVs, this ingenious rig can remain airborne for up to six hours before it's assigned to destroy a large vehicle (and its occupants) from a nearly vertical angle of attack. Tipping the scale at less than 440 pounds (about 200 kilograms), it has a range of approximately 62 miles (100 kilometers) and is described by MBDA as being "low cost." The British Army is said to have taken delivery of the missile in March, and will begin testing in Sweden later this year, but you can see it action today in the demo video after the break.
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
Fire Shadow missile can remain aloft for six hours before obliterating a moving target (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Jul 2012 01:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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