Autonomous Airborne Multi-Rotor UAS Delivery System

Within current combat environments, there is a demand for rapid and extremely precise re-supply missions. Typical combat airdrops require long periods of planning and can produce a large signature in an operating environment which relies on stealth for various mission sets. Team Hermes, made up of four members from the West Point graduating class of 2019, offers a new re-supply method to answer this demand. The design will allow for the delivery of a quadcopter carrying 1.5 pounds of cargo within a 5-meter radius of an impact point on the ground

Malocclusion and Hair Loss: An Intimate Relationship

In the dental industry, it seem no one has entertained the thought that if a dislocated mandible, in a Class II Skeletal relation could occlude or block the blood flow in in the STA.*  Therefore stopping or impeding blood flow to the vertex of the head and therefor causing balding.  Taking into consideration that in a healthy Class I Skeletal relation the clearance between the base of the skull and the eminence of the condyle is only 3.5mm.Pic 1  Orthodontic experience tells us that mandibles 3.5mm retrognathic and more are very common. The intent of this paper is to expose the facts and evidence that show the Class II Skeletal mandible is the cause of balding by blocking blood flow through the S.T.A.  Balding of vertex can be avoided.  A large array of research has been, and continues to be conducted to determine the causative agent for hair loss. Traditionally such investigation has focused on a number of varying topics, including but not limited to chromosome composition, genotype, and subsequent phenotype expression. However, little or no investigation has been conducted to deduce what effect the skeletal relationship has upon the initial development of hair loss. Through a series of observational case studies, it is evident that there is a relationship between malocclusion and hair loss. Specifically, through analysis of dental records, cephalometric radiographs, and visual observation of patients, there appears to be a correlation between Class II Skeletal malocclusion and subsequent hair loss. Further investigation yields that vascular anatomical differences between different skeletal schemes is associated with the development of hair loss.  Keywords: Craniofacial Anomalies, Pediatric Dentistry, Orthodontics, Hair Loss, Baldnes

Spin Stabilization of an Air Ambulance Litter

This paper proposes a new approach to stabilize the spin of a suspended litter during air ambulance rescue hoist operations. Complex forces generated by the helicopter’s downwash may cause a patient suspended in a rescue litter to spin violently. In severe cases, the spin destabilizes the suspended load, risks injury to the patient, and jeopardizes the safety of the aircrew. The presented design employs an anti-torque device to arrest the spin that is safer and faster than a tagline and is without the tactical constraints of the tagline. The device follows tailored control laws to accelerate a flywheel attached to the litter, thereby generating sufficient angular momentum to counteract the spin and stabilize the suspended litter. An inertial measurement unit (IMU) measures the position, angular velocity, and angular acceleration of the litter and delivers this information to a microcontroller. The research and prototype design were developed under the support of the U.S. Army 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR)

Corrosion Evaluation of a Navy MK50 Weapon Station Friction Brake Assembly

The presence of corrosion on or within structures is of major concern as corrosion reduces the integrity of the materials which could potentially result in large-scale failures of structures and equipment. The United States Navy is an organization that actively works to prevent large equipment failure due to corrosion. One such problem is the corrosion of the friction brake assembly on the MK50 Weapon Station, which has recently been experiencing corrosion between the friction brake and its set screw preventing it from operating correctly. The friction brake was known to be stainless steel; however, the set screw was of unknown composition. Through elemental analysis it was determined that the MK50 Weapons Station friction brake set screw was similar in composition to commonly available black oxide coated steel screws. Electrochemical polarization measurements of the friction brake assembly components revealed that the set screw and the friction brake were electrochemically dissimilar metals which resulted in the galvanic corrosion of the assembly when out at sea. The electrochemical polarization measurements of a stainless steel screw showed a corrosion potential similar to that of the friction brake; therefore, replacing the current set screw with a stainless steel screw would decrease the galvanic potential difference between the set screw and the friction brake. This proposed solution is expected to slow or prevent further corrosion of the MK50 Weapon Station ensuring the combat readiness of the equipment

DOD Acquisition Structures for a Dynamic World: A Case Study of Land Warrior vs TALOS

The United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) is revolutionizing the capabilities of the warfighter with the Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit (TALOS) program. The program will equip USSOCOM operators with a powered, armored, exoskeleton to enhance their survivability, lethality, and mobility. The project launched in 2013, with a functional prototype scheduled to be complete in 2018. The aggressive development timeline necessitated that USSOCOM use a novel acquisition structure—the Joint Acquisition Task Force (JATF). The JATF structure mandates a government team as the lead integrator, consisting of acquisition personnel, engineers, and users. This study compared the TALOS acquisition structure to that of Land Warrior, a similar project in regards to scope that used a traditional acquisition structure. The Land Warrior program launched in 1993, underwent numerous scope changes, and was eventually cancelled in 2007 with only limited fielding. This study identified that a root cause for Land Warrior’s cancellation is that its acquisition structure failed to capitalize on commercial innovations and changing requirements. These issues are critical considering the increasingly rapid advances in technology and the dynamic nature of the global socio-political climate. Meanwhile, the JATF structure allowed USSOCOM to avoid many of the pitfalls that Land Warrior experienced. This study analyzed developments to date to collect lessons learned from the TALOS project, focusing on its ability to capture innovation. This analysis found that the JATF structure allowed TALOS to foster innovation and account for changing requirements in a dynamic world

Maximizing object detection using sUAS

This paper examines optimal look-angles for a camera which is mounted on a small unmanned aerial system (sUAS), that provides for maximized object detection on the ground. Using a generic convolutional neural network (CNN), this research identifies the best angle for detecting a ground target from an aerial perspective. The study involves altering camera angles on an sUAS that is flown along a fixed trajectory and then determining the angle which provides the highest detection rate of predefined objects, which are emplaced at known locations on the ground. The experiment is conducted in simulation and validated on a physical quadcopter. The results of this paper directly influence the U.S. Army’s research efforts on training neural networks and developing object detection algorithms

REBUF: Jam Resistant BBC based Uncoordinated Frequency Division

One of the central tenants of information security is availability. One common form of attack against the availability of information in wireless networks is jamming. Currently, the most common techniques to provide jam-resistant communication, such as frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS), are based on the use of a symmetric shared secret. However, there are theoretical approaches to jam resistance without a pre-shared secret. One theoretical approach using concurrent codes, called the BBC algorithm, was developed at the United States Air Force Academy. We developed and tested the effectiveness of REBUF, a Jam Resistant BBC based Uncoordinated Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM) system. REBUF is the first known implementation of the BBC algorithm in a simultaneous frequency division multiplexing system. The contributions of this paper include: demonstrating the practical use of a BBC based FDM system, the ability of such a system to jam traditional orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems, and the resilience of such a system to some common forms of jamming

Wait, I\u27m tagged?! Toward AR in Project Aquaticus

Human-robot teaming to perform complex tasks in a large environment is limited by the human’s ability to make informed decisions. We aim to use augmented reality to convey critical information to the human to reduce cognitive workload and increase situational awareness. By bridging previous Project Aquaticus work to virtual reality in Unity 3D, we are creating a testbed to easily and repeatedly measure the effectiveness of augmented reality information display solutions to support competitive gameplay. We expect the human-robot teaming performance to be improved due to the increased situational awareness and reduced stress that the augmented reality data display provides