Q: What challenges in security do engineers face when designing electronics for the military? By Cary Eskow, vice president, Avnet Lightspeed Just a few weeks ago, the U.S. Government Accountability Office published its report, “Weapon Systems Cybersecurity” to the Senate Committee on Armed Services. They identified cybersecurity threats in a wide range of weapon systems…

Welcome to First Look, brought to you by DigiKey and Maxim Integrated. The revolution in the power systems marketplace has brought a lot of advantages to the electronics industry, with higher power densities, wider input voltage acceptance, and higher conversion efficiency. This is a good thing because the convergence of smart portable devices and the…

Wearable health monitors and the environments these devices are demanded to perform in put pressure on the system designer to ensure that these systems are always accurate and reliable. This is especially critical in medical-crossover applications like wellness monitoring and performance training, where inaccurate information can lead to possible physical damage. A major issue is…

Q: In what ways are manufacturers preparing for 5G? By Michael Chinn, Deputy General Manager ICT Group, Electronic Components Sales & Marketing Group, Senior Vice President, TDK Referred to as the enabler of the “Fourth Industrial Revolution,” 5G facilitates wireless solutions for applications across many industries by reliably connecting massive numbers of devices, providing ultra-low…

Q: How can the design of embedded systems be improved to reduce security threats? Guillaume Crinon, Global IoT Strategy Manager, Security & Connectivity, Avnet EMEA Embedded systems are the heart and brains of most machines and devices that we use every day, such as cars, coffee machines, elevators, factory belts, and robots, to name a…

Rich Fitzgerald, Vice President, Business Operations, Avnet Embedded About a decade ago, I read the Thomas Friedman book, The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century. When I consider everything currently going on in the military, I think the book should be called, The World Has Been Turned on Its Head. Today’s…

Simon Fried, Co-founder and Chief Business Officer, Nano Dimension One of the most promising new opportunities for 3D printing lies at the intersection of electronics and additive manufacturing. This convergence holds staggering potential for the electronics industry—particularly around rapid prototyping of professional printed circuit boards (PCBs) and also in antennas and MIDs (Molded Interconnect Devices).…

The Striker II night vision helmet from BAE Systems aims to free up the pilot by integrating night vision within the helmet itself. According to the company, the system “integrates a center-mounted ISIE-11 sensor based on Intevac Photonics’ patented advanced imaging sensor technology, known as the electron bombarded active pixel sensor (EBAPS).” Read: This helmet…

It weighs 16 g, can fly for up to 20 minutes, and fits in the palm of your hand. It’s the Prox Dynamics PD-100 Black Hornet, a mini helicopter which uses embedded cameras and a digital data link to provide real-time video for ground troops. Read: This Army helicopter can fit in your pocket Ever…

The Navy’s robo-tuna, designed by Boston Engineering, is a 4-foot long unmanned undersea vehicle designed to blend in with marine life and perform military functions. Watch: Engineering Update Episode 66: The Navy’s robo-tuna This “biometric” autonomous vehicle moves just like a fish, flipping its tail to propel itself. With its lithium ion battery, the bio-tuna…

The F-35B, intended for the Marines, follows in the tradition of other vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft, the most famous being the British Harrier Jump Jet. With the ability to take off from a short — or nonexistent — ramp, VTOL systems like the F-35B offer a degree of flexibility to military planners. But with…

An intrepid DIYer built a quadcopter made of at least 40% chocolate. The best part is: This chocodrone actually flies! Read: This drone is made from chocolate The unnamed artiste filmed the creation process – and the ensuing flight – using a GoPro Hero 3. She coats the wings in a thick layer of cocoa…

Taking a cue from comic books, the U.S. military has been developing an exoskeleton that looks suspiciously like Iron Man. The armor is known as the Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit (TALOS), and the team is supposedly turning to professional engineers, students, and even, what they described as local “garage tinkerers” for help. See: Engineering…

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have transformed warfare as we know it. One of the biggest trends is the idea of light or small UAVs, including AAI Corporation’s RQ-7 Shadow, as seen above. Read: Light UAVs serve both military and civilian missions The AeroVironment RQ-11 Raven is a…

The Rotary Bat is an unmanned helicopter system that combines Northrop Grumman’s autonomous control systems with Yamaha Motor’s RMAX remotely-piloted helicopter. See: Engineering Newswire: The R-Bat unmanned helicopter system The R-Bat is a medium altitude, multi-mission unmanned aircraft system, with a payload of 3.2 cubic feet, and it launches from a pneumatic/hydraulic rail launcher. The…

Earth-orbiting spacecraft are now so prevalent they could easily be taken for granted. Since April 2011, engineers at Kennedy have partnered with the SSCO at Goddard to develop robotic satellite servicing technologies necessary to bring in-orbit inspection, repair, refueling, component replacement and assembly capabilities to spacecraft needing aid. The project could also lead to life…

On March 20, 2014, Dassault Aviation organized a first of its kind formation flight, including a nEUROn unmanned combat air vehicle, a Rafale twin-engine fighter, and a Falcon 7X business jet. The occasion marks the first time in the world that a combat drone flew in formation with other aircraft. See: Engineering Newswire 87: Combat…

The Sukhoi T-50 is a prototype for the fifth-generation Russian stealth fighter, the PAK-FA, which many experts claim could outperform the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Read: Think tank: Russian stealth fighter is superior to the F-35 With its advanced avionics, large fuel capacity, “extreme plus agility”, and ability to avoid detection, the PAK-FA could become…

NASA recently unveiled the Low Density Supersonic Decelerator, a disc-shaped spacecraft which could potentially deliver supplies for future manned Mars missions. See: Engineering Update 54: NASA to send flying saucers to Mars In theory, NASA’s flying saucer would, upon descent, deploy a 100-foot-wide parachute to decelerate from a Mach 3.5 descent down to about twice…

Hammacher Schlemmer has introduced possibly the coolest RC “toy” of all time: A remote-controlled, fire-breathing dragon. I put “toy” in quotations because of the obvious safety risk and the exorbitant price: This bad boy will set you back 60 grand. See: Hotspot: Remote-controlled, fire-breathing dragon But it’d be money well-spent. The dragon can fly up…

Aviation pioneers Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg recently unveiled the Solar Impulse 2 which, in 2015, will become the first solar-powered aircraft to circumnavigate the globe. See: Solar-powered plane can “fly forever” The Solar Impulse 2 will fly non-stop for 120 straight hours without stopping for food, fuel, or supplies (or bathroom breaks). Read: Making…

Consider this an “oldie but goodie.” The V-22 Osprey is the world’s first production tiltrotor aircraft. It’s also capable of both vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and short takeoff and landing (STOL). It can take off like a helicopter and fly like a conventional turboprop aircraft. See: Watch a V-22 Osprey fold itself for storage…

The Navy announced plans to install and test an electromagnetic railgun aboard a joint high-space vessel by fiscal year 2016. See: Engineering Update #53: Deploying electromagnetic railguns Using an electromagnetic force known as the Lorentz Force, the railgun rapidly accelerates and launches a 7 pound projectile at hypersonic speeds up to 2.4 kilometers per second,…

In December 2012, the Pentagon, in conjunction with NASA and Boeing, launched the X-37B unmanned spacecraft into orbit, where it remained for more than a year – 469 days, to be exact – breaking its own longevity record. See: Engineering Update #52: Secret Pentagon spacecraft stays in orbit for 469 days The spacecraft, measuring over…

The Soviet Union established a dolphin training program back in the ‘60s with the goal of using the marine mammals to detect mines and other items of military interest off the coast. The dolphins were based in the Crimean city of Sevastopol, but after Russia annexed Crimea, the cetacean mammals became the property of the…