This week on WDD’s HotSpot:

• The EPFL Mo bile Communications Laboratory understands how most people in the world today are attached to their phone. So they decided to create a drone that would help rescuers search for victims of natural disasters by locating their phones. According to the Mobile Communication Laboratory, when WiFi mode is activated, the devices emit data packets at regular intervals so that it’s possible to know various parameters, including the power received by the antenna connection. This can vary depending on the surrounding terrain, the weather or interference. It is also weaker as the layer of rubble over a person is thicker—another important factor. With the drone, it is the GPS points of the captured signals from several places that locate the phone, thus helping rescuers find the locations of victims.
• BAE Systems has unveiled its Striker II Helmet-Mounted Display (HMD), a fully digital solution that provides today’s combat pilot with exceptional night vision and target tracking technology. Integrated within a visor-projected system, the Striker II delivers breakthrough abilities for night combat with its high-performance digital night vision camera inside the helmet. The helmet reduces g-force effects on the pilot’s head and neck to improve comfort, and eliminates the need to manually configure and adjust night vision goggle, or NVG, hardware for day-to-night transitions. With its binocular visor-projected display performance, the new 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). This advanced sensor strengthens the display’s night vision acuity — bringing the system’s night vision performance to a level equal to or better than HMDs using current NVGs.
• An autonomous unmanned vessel designed to track quiet diesel-electric submarines spanning miles of ocean depths for months at a time with minimal human input is now under construction and is expected to set sail for testing in 2015. Leidos, a national security, health and engineering solutions company, has begun construction on ACTUV (Autonomous Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel) under a DARPA program for the design, development, and construction of a vessel originally conceived for an anti-submarine warfare mission. ACTUV carries other sensors and mission packages designed to allow it to conduct a variety of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance and other alternate missions. With situational sensors that can ensure safe navigation, the ACTUV trimaran has electro optics, long range and short range radar.
• Jaguar is jumping on the smart car bandwagon with its Land Rover’s Smart Assistant, designed to learn the behaviors of drivers by taking care of non-driving tasks that could otherwise absorb their attention, such as texting. The Smart Assistant identifies the driver of the car based on a smartphone or similar device and learns his or her driving style and in-vehicle habits. The information that is collected is run through an algorithm, and combined with background information like calendar, traffic conditions and current weather, to predict behavior and handle a variety of non-essential tasks. The Smart Assistant can also make certain driving changes based on what it’s learned from a driving style.