Robotics and the Future of International Asymmetric Warfare

In the post-Cold War world, the world's most powerful states have cooperated or avoided conflict with each other, easily defeated smaller state governments, engaged in protracted conflicts against insurgencies and resistance networks, and lost civilians to terrorist attacks. This dissertation explores various explanations for this pattern, proposing that some non-state networks adapt to major international transitions more quickly than bureaucratic states. Networks have taken advantage of the information technology revolution to enhance their capabilities, but states have begun to adjust, producing robotic systems with the potential to grant them an advantage in asymmetric warfare

Design, Modelling and Analysis of Satcoms for UAV operations

Η ανάγκη για άμεση συνεισφορά, απόκριση και ακρίβεια των αποτελεσμάτων οδήγησε στην είσοδο των drones και ιδιαίτερα των μη επανδρωμένων εναέριων οχημάτων (UAV) ως νέα τεχνολογικά οχήματα. Ωστόσο, η ενσωμάτωση ενός τόσο κολοσσιαίου τεχνολογικού αποκτήματος δεν είναι καθόλου εύκολη υπόθεση. Πολλές απαιτήσεις εμφανίζονται σε διάφορους τομείς όπως τηλεπικοινωνίες, προβλήματα ωφέλιμου φορτίου που πρέπει να φέρει το UAV και σχέδια λειτουργίας, απαιτήσεις που πρέπει να πληρούνται για την αποφυγή προβλημάτων ασφάλειας, αποφυγή σύγκρουσης, ασταθείς συνδέσεις και άλλα. Σκοπός της παρούσας διπλωματικής εργασίας είναι να μελετήσει όσο το δυνατόν καλύτερα και αποτελεσματικότερα τη συμβολή των δορυφορικών επικοινωνιών στην επίτευξη αξιόπιστων και ανθεκτικών επιχειρήσεων Μη Επανδρωμένων Αεροσκαφών (UAV). Θα παρουσιαστεί μια ανάλυση τριών επιπέδων που θα αφορά τον Σχεδιασμό, τη Μοντελοποίηση και την Ανάλυση δορυφορικών επικοινωνιών σε συνδυασμό με λειτουργίες UAV με τρόπο που η αποτελεσματικότητα της ζεύξης θα είναι μέγιστη εφικτή. Σε τελική ανάλυση, θα πραγματοποιηθεί ένα πείραμα που θα συζητηθούν τα αποτελέσματα και οι παράμετροι που χρησιμοποιούνται προκειμένου να υπολογιστεί η αποτελεσματικότητα του προϋπολογισμού των ζεύξεων. Είναι σημαντικό να γνωρίζουμε ότι οι κυψελοειδείς επικοινωνίες έχουν παίξει μέχρι στιγμής τον πιο σημαντικό και ακριβή ρόλο τόσο στις επίγειες όσο και στις αεροπορικές επικοινωνίες. Αυτό πρόκειται να αλλάξει καθώς οι δορυφόροι υπόσχονται χαρακτηριστικά που δεν μπορούν να ανταγωνιστούν τα επίγεια δίκτυα, με αποτέλεσμα την ενοποίηση των UAV με τις δορυφορικές επικοινωνίες. Ωστόσο, τα πράγματα είναι ασαφή και οι κίνδυνοι που ενέχουν είτε από την άποψη των προσωπικών δεδομένων είτε από την ασφάλεια και την υγεία μπορούν να λειτουργήσουν ως εμπόδιο στην ανάπτυξη και την αναβάθμιση των επικοινωνιών.The need for immediate contribution, response, and accuracy of results has led to the entry of drones and especially Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) as new technological vehicles. However, the integration of such a colossal technological acquisition is by no means an easy task. Many requirements appear in various areas such as telecommunications, payload problems that the UAV must carry, and operations plans, requirements that must be met to avoid safety issues, collision avoidance, unstable connections, and so more. The purpose of this thesis is to study as best as possible and most effectively the contribution of satellite communications to achieve reliable and durable Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) operations. A three-level analysis will be presented which will concern the Design, Modeling, and Analysis of satellite communications in combination with UAV operations in a way where efficiency of the link will be maximum. After all, an experiment will take place that results and parameters used will be discussed in order to compute the efficiency of the link budget. It is important to know that cellular communications have so far played the most important and accurate role in both terrestrial and air communications. This is about to change as satellites promise features that cannot compete with terrestrial networks, resulting in the integration of UAVs with satellite communications. However, things are unclear, and the risks posed either from the point of view of personal data or from safety and health can act as an obstacle in developing and upgrading communications

Social work with airports passengers

Social work at the airport is in to offer to passengers social services. The main methodological position is that people are under stress, which characterized by a particular set of characteristics in appearance and behavior. In such circumstances passenger attracts in his actions some attention. Only person whom he trusts can help him with the documents or psychologically

Bordering From Above: Aircraft, Enforcement, and Territorial Anxiety at the US-Mexico Border

The invention of powered flight altered both mobility across territorial borders and states’ ability to govern or enforce those borders. This thesis examines the incorporation of three types of aircraft—airplanes, helicopters, and drones—into the US apparatus of enforcement at its border with Mexico, through qualitative analysis of newspaper archives, pilot histories, and interviews with humanitarian aid activists. A close study of the roles and functions of aircraft within the broader system of border enforcement illuminates the technologically-provoked anxiety that motivates border intensification, the close but complex links between public representations and bordering practices, and the importance of larger political-economic circumstances in determining the means of enforcement

Civil Uses of Remotely Piloted Aircraft

The technology effort is identified and assessed that is required to bring the civil uses of RPVs to fruition and to determine whether or not the potential market is real and economically practical, the technologies are within reach, the operational problems are manageable, and the benefits are worth the cost. To do so, the economic, technical, and environmental implications are examined. The time frame is 1980-85. Representative uses are selected; detailed functional and performance requirements are derived for RPV systems; and conceptual system designs are devised. Total system cost comparisons are made with non-RPV alternatives. The potential market demand for RPV systems is estimated. Environmental and safety requirements are examined, and legal and regulatory concerns are identified. A potential demand for 2,000-11,000 RPV systems is estimated. Typical cost savings of 25-35% compared to non-RPV alternatives are determined. There appear to be no environmental problems, and the safety issue appears manageable

Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Ecological Informatics: translating ecological data into knowledge and decisions in a rapidly changing world: ICEI 2018

The Conference Proceedings are an impressive display of the current scope of Ecological Informatics. Whilst Data Management, Analysis, Synthesis and Forecasting have been lasting popular themes over the past nine biannual ICEI conferences, ICEI 2018 addresses distinctively novel developments in Data Acquisition enabled by cutting edge in situ and remote sensing technology. The here presented ICEI 2018 abstracts captures well current trends and challenges of Ecological Informatics towards: • regional, continental and global sharing of ecological data, • thorough integration of complementing monitoring technologies including DNA-barcoding, • sophisticated pattern recognition by deep learning, • advanced exploration of valuable information in ‘big data’ by means of machine learning and process modelling, • decision-informing solutions for biodiversity conservation and sustainable ecosystem management in light of global changes

Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Ecological Informatics: translating ecological data into knowledge and decisions in a rapidly changing world: ICEI 2018

The Conference Proceedings are an impressive display of the current scope of Ecological Informatics. Whilst Data Management, Analysis, Synthesis and Forecasting have been lasting popular themes over the past nine biannual ICEI conferences, ICEI 2018 addresses distinctively novel developments in Data Acquisition enabled by cutting edge in situ and remote sensing technology. The here presented ICEI 2018 abstracts captures well current trends and challenges of Ecological Informatics towards: • regional, continental and global sharing of ecological data, • thorough integration of complementing monitoring technologies including DNA-barcoding, • sophisticated pattern recognition by deep learning, • advanced exploration of valuable information in ‘big data’ by means of machine learning and process modelling, • decision-informing solutions for biodiversity conservation and sustainable ecosystem management in light of global changes

Information technology and military performance

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Political Science, 2011.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 519-544).Militaries have long been eager to adopt the latest technology (IT) in a quest to improve knowledge of and control over the battlefield. At the same time, uncertainty and confusion have remained prominent in actual experience of war. IT usage sometimes improves knowledge, but it sometimes contributes to tactical blunders and misplaced hubris. As militaries invest intensively in IT, they also tend to develop larger headquarters staffs, depend more heavily on planning and intelligence, and employ a larger percentage of personnel in knowledge work rather than physical combat. Both optimists and pessimists about the so-called "revolution in military affairs" have tended to overlook the ways in which IT is profoundly and ambiguously embedded in everyday organizational life. Technocrats embrace IT to "lift the fog of war," but IT often becomes a source of breakdowns, misperception, and politicization. To describe the conditions under which IT usage improves or degrades organizational performance, this dissertation develops the notion of information friction, an aggregate measure of the intensity of organizational struggle to coordinate IT with the operational environment. It articulates hypotheses about how the structure of the external battlefield, internal bureaucratic politics, and patterns of human-computer interaction can either exacerbate or relieve friction, which thus degrades or improves performance. Technological determinism alone cannot account for the increasing complexity and variable performances of information phenomena. Information friction theory is empirically grounded in a participant-observation study of U.S. special operations in Iraq from 2007 to 2008. To test the external validity of insights gained through fieldwork in Iraq, an historical study of the 1940 Battle of Britain examines IT usage in a totally different structural, organizational, and technological context.(cont.) These paired cases show that high information friction, and thus degraded performance, can arise with sophisticated IT, while lower friction and impressive performance can occur with far less sophisticated networks. The social context, not just the quality of technology, makes all the difference. Many shorter examples from recent military history are included to illustrate concepts. This project should be of broad interest to students of organizational knowledge, IT, and military effectiveness.by Jon Randall Lindsay.Ph.D

Sea Mines and Countermeasures: A Bibliography

This compilation was prepared for the Dudley Knox Library, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA