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Ford’s SmartLink OBD Accessory Adds Connected Features to Older Cars

Connectivity features are increasingly included as standard on new vehicles, with cellular modems in particular becoming a popular feature included even in base level trim. Now, connectivity is so important to Ford, that the automaker is actually offering an easy retrofit option to add connected features to Ford and Lincoln vehicles from model years between

Army Researchers Focus on Readiness at Global Force Symposium

Delivering Capabilities for Multi-Domain Battle was the focus at the 2017 Association of the United States Army Institute of Land Warfare Global Force Symposium and Exposition held Mar. 13-15 in Huntsville, Alabama. This year, the U.S. Army Materiel Command hosted the Army”s participation in the symposium. The supporting theme throughout the three-day conference –Science and

Army Researchers” Invention Reclaims Unrepairable Parts, Saves Money

The U.S. Army Research Laboratory and the South Dakota School of Mines through a joint ownership agreement commercialized a system to reclaim unserviceable parts and reduce the amount of maintenance required by military and commercial sectors. VRC Metal Systems, a start-up company from SDSM, manufactures the cold spray system. ARL”s Victor Champagne and Dr. Dennis

Army Revamps Strategy to Acquire Robotic Mules

The Army intends to buy 20 robotic mules from manufacturers and send them out with brigades for a year-long operational test and evaluation, the service’s program manager in charge of unmanned ground systems said March 23. Bryan McVeigh, project manager for force protection, said a recent Army Requirements Oversight Council looking at the squad multipurpose

Saving Air Superiority

Forget about a family of systems. Next-generation air dominance will require an aircraft with a family of advanced technologies. The Air Force is racing the clock to preserve its ability to control the air. As new adversary fighters and air defenses develop—and are already challenging USAF’s ability to go anywhere and strike any target—the service

Liquid Metal 3D Printing Could Revolutionize Manufacturing

A father and son team in the START-UP NY program have invented a liquid metal printing machine that could represent a significant transformation in manufacturing. A breakthrough idea five years ago by former University at Buffalo student Zack Vader, then 19, has created a machine that prints three-dimensional objects using liquid metal. … Vader Systems

”Near-Zero-Power” Temperature Sensor Could Make Wearables, Smart Home Devices Less Power-Hungry

Electrical engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a temperature sensor that runs on only 113 picowatts of power — 628 times lower power than the state of the art and about 10 billion times smaller than a watt. This “near-zero-power” temperature sensor could extend the battery life of wearable or implantable

Simulations Pinpoint Atomic-Level Defects in Solar Cell Nanostructures

Heterogeneous nanostructured materials are widely used in a variety of optoelectronic devices, including solar cells. However, due to their heterogeneous nature, these materials contain nanoscale interfaces exhibiting structural defects that can affect the performance of these devices. It is very challenging to identify these defects in experiments, so a team of researchers at the Department

Batteries From Scrap Metal

Chinese scientists have made good use of waste while finding an innovative solution to a technical problem by transforming rusty stainless steel mesh into electrodes with outstanding electrochemical properties that make them ideal for potassium-ion batteries. As reported in the journal Angewandte Chemie , the rust is converted directly into a compact layer with a

Why Every Research Portfolio Should Include Basic Science

The side prepared to fight is the side that wins the battle—and basic science research provides the first step in being prepared. Like all aspects of the military, the research and development sector thrives on a foundation of cause and effect. Applied research questions more easily match this formula because you can make concrete claims

World’s First Operational 3D Printed Excavator

For the past two years a conglomerate of trade associations, industry, government and academia have been collaborating on the world’s first operational 3D printed excavator. That project made a giant leap forward with the recent printing of a prototype that leveraged large-scale additive manufacturing technologies and further explores the feasibility of printing with metal alloys.

How Can Cyber Contribute to Multi-Domain Battle?

The military is beginning to organize around a principle of multi-domain battle — the notion that effects, planning and operations will converge seamlessly among the five domains of warfare: land, sea, air, space and cyber. Rather than thinking about war from a domain-centric perspective, future battles will be fought with a combination of effects. The