I believe in the Navy's mind the functionality and usefulness of the platform is going to depend heavily on what existing weapons packages it can deliver -- almost all of which are less-feasibly deployed on any platform which is significantly smaller. Any approach which reduces the procurement cycle time to achieve weapons on the water (WITHOUT locking us into an early-obsolescence cycle) has a positive design criteria satisfaction gradient -- and iterating toward smaller special purpose platforms is STILL feasible.
I'm still anticipating the RP-jetski with various alternative load packages of torpedo and drone launchers, and probably a range of warhead delivery options.
I'm surprised that they appear to be aiming at full-sized versions of existing ships (39' in this case). The Air Force, on the other hand seems to be concentrating their efforts on drones that are substantially smaller than the manned version. Is there a reason for this?
The advantage I see here is that the Navy can complement their other efforts with these type of devices. For example, the current push is to get away from the massive battleship size and focus on the newer littoral combat ships, which allow action much closer to land and up smaller rivers. It seems that, properly scaled, these could enhance those capabilities in the same way the drones have done for the Air Force.
That is is nice test in calm water. It's much more impressive if you have a crew on board in rough seas.
If you check the other videos, you will see some of the boat handling training in rough water with 4 or 5 crew members onboard. I recall a show on Discovery Channel or History Channel that showed a boat roll over and right itself in the rough conditions while doing training. The crew was 'strapped in' for their safety and survival.
The whole notion of a self-righting boat was so interesting, I had to see it for myself. Here's what I found: A Coast Guard video of a self-righting boat. Very cool:
The flotation systems are passive. The weight and flotation are distributed to have the boat turn uptight. (Many weighted keel sailboats will do this, too.) As for the other systems on the boat, I must defer to others.
The Coast Guard has had some self-righting boats for several years. The 47 foot motor life boats have been in service since 1997. This boat self-rights in 15 seconds with all equipment fully functional. The new 45 foot medium response boat that began entering service in 2008 is self-righting but is not designed for conditions as severe as the motor life boat.
I wonder how many other areas this concept could be used in, Beth. So far there is the Air Force and UAVs, the Navy and water-based UOVs (unmanned ocean vehicles), nuclear remote robots, and mine-detecting/mine destroying robots. There must be unlimited opportunities for the next Steve Jobs who will find the next application. I hope I'm him...
For 3D printing to make the jump from rapid prototyping to manufacturing, engineers will need to find easier ways to move products from their CAD screens to their printers.
Gigabit and PoE are two networking technologies moving ahead in tandem as industrial users power remote Ethernet devices such as IP security cameras at 1,000 Mbps over existing CAT5 cable.
New versions of BASF's Ecovio line are both compostable and designed for either injection molding or thermoforming. These combinations are becoming more common for the single-use bioplastics used in food service and food packaging applications, but are still not widely available.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
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I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
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For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
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