(Credit:
DARPA)
A Silicon Valley company has integrated iLink, a social network analytics technology, into three online military communities in hopes of improving the way users, ranging from Army wives to platoon leaders, share critical information across a wide variety of domains.
iLink is a machine learning-based system that models users and content in a social network and then points the user to relevant content, discussions, and other network members with shared interests and goals across a broad range of scenarios.
"iLink learns to deliver the right answers to the right people at the right time," SRI International's David Gutelius said in a press release. "It identifies needs, questions, and issues as they emerge in online communities and matches them with highly relevant resources and people. The goal is a more adaptive, effective problem-solving military."
The technology was developed as part of CALO (Cognitive Agent that Learns and Organizes), funded under the DARPA PAL (Personalized Assistant that Learns), a program to develop an "enduring personalized cognitive assistant." (PDF) CALO, from the Latin word "calonis," means "soldier's servant."(PDF)
The military is currently evaluating the technology and how it can be applied to solve battlefield problems, promote professional development, and support military families, according to SRI International (PDF). The goal is to create online communities where soldiers can troubleshoot, converse, and brainstorm with each other in social networks, using software that learns from its users. One site is devoted to information exchange and mutual support between U.S. Army lieutenants, another is for captains, and the third assists families in dealing with the challenges of military life.
(Credit:
SRI)
SRI International has announced the development of a wall-climbing robot that uses a new electrical adhesive technology called "compliant electroadhesion" that can stick to anything from brick to glass--even damp, dirty glass.
(Credit:
SRI International)
Electroadhesion, or electrically controlled electrostatic attraction, is an electrically controlled adhesion technology that induces an electrostatic charge using a power supply connected to pads placed on the robot allowing it to scale walls, even those covered with dust or moisture, SRI says.
"Recent events such as natural disasters, military actions, and public safety threats have led to an increased need for robust robots--especially ones that can move in three dimensions," said SRI mechanical engineer Harsha Prahlad. "The ability to climb walls and other structures offers unique capabilities in military applications, such as urban reconnaissance, sensor deployment, and installation of network nodes in an urban environment."
Electroadhesion lends itself to a variety of wall-climbing robots, including tracked "tank"-style robots, as well as the more biomimetic-inspired, legged and inchworm-type robots, according to the company. The robots are simple, low-cost, easy to clean, and readily conform to different surfaces like bumps, corners, or cracks. And they're quiet, unlike other wall-climbers that use suction technology.
(Credit:
SRI International)
Don't book just yet--soon you'll be able to take a space cruise and get a face lift at the same time.
This month, researchers from SRI International and the University of Cincinnati will conduct the first-ever robotic surgery in simulated zero-gravity aboard a NASA C-9 aircraft flying 34,000 feet over the Gulf of Mexico, it was announced yesterday.
(Credit:
SRI International)
The C-9, aka the "Weightless Wonder," will simulate the microgravity of space and variable gravity of military critical care air transports by performing 40 parabolas per flight, each 18 to 25 seconds long.
The experiment will compare the precision and speed with which both human and robot surgeons can cut and stitch an incision, among other things. The SRI-developed software will help robo-doc compensate for the "errors in movement" that could be expected whether flying through space or over a battlefield in a medivac flight.
The SRI telerobotics allow the robot surgery to be controlled from thousands of miles away. When perfected, this system would allow patient care to begin the minute they close the ambulance door, according to Silicon Valley-based SRI.
"In remote telesurgery, a surgeon controls a multi-armed robot located at the patient's bedside from a distant location using a telecommunications network," SRI's Thomas Low said. "This has the potential to provide emergency medical and surgical care to astronauts during space flights, soldiers injured in battle and patients living in remote regions on Earth where there are no physicians."
SRI has already demonstrated its remote robotic surgery capabilities as part of NASA's Extreme Environment Mission Operations on the Aquarius Underwater Laboratory, 60 feet below and off the coast of Key Largo.
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