Military & Aerospace
Agilent Technologies Awarded $35 Million Contract by U.S. Army for Microwave Signal Generators
October 21, 2010 6:17 am | News | CommentsAgilent Technologies Inc. announced that it has been awarded a $35 million contract by the U.S. Army. Under the terms of the contract, Agilent will deliver up to 1,600 MXG microwave analog signal generators over seven years, to the Army as part of its Test Equipment Modernization (TEMOD) program.
Krayden Releases Huntsman’s Epocast 1617 A-B Aerospace Epoxy
October 21, 2010 5:58 am | Product Releases | CommentsKrayden, Inc., a leading distributor of engineered materials, introduces Huntsman’s Epocast 1617 A/B Aerospace Epoxy. The easy to handle Epocast 1617 epoxy syntactic from Huntsman is a low-density, self-extinguishing compound used for edge sealing honeycomb structures.
Curtiss-Wright Controls Awarded Contract from General Dynamics Land Systems
October 21, 2010 4:26 am | News | CommentsCurtiss-Wright Controls, Inc. today announced that it has received a contract from General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) to provide rotary potentiometers for the U.S. Army’s STRYKER armored combat vehicle. The estimated value of the contract is up to $300 thousand per year for the lifetime of the STRYKER vehicles...
Canada gets cold feet over F-35
October 19, 2010 9:53 am | by Jason Lomberg, Technical Editor | Blogs | CommentsA report released by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives calls Canada’s planned procurement of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter “fundamentally flawed.” According to the CCPA, “Canada does not need the F-35, either for North American/domestic roles or for expeditionary roles.”
Space Tourism Rocket Achieves Flight
October 12, 2010 5:22 am | by LabEquipment | Videos | CommentsVirgin Galactic's space tourism rocket SpaceShipTwo achieved its first solo glide flight Sunday, marking another step in the company's eventual plans to fly paying passengers. SpaceShipTwo was carried aloft by its mothership to an altitude of 45,000 feet and released over the Mojave...
Fire Tests for Moon-Bound Robot
October 11, 2010 6:23 am | by LabEquipment | Videos | CommentsThe Robotic Lunar Lander Development Project at the Marshall Center performed a series of hot-fire tests on two high thrust-to-weight thrusters -- a 100-pound-class for lunar descent and a 5-pound-class for attitude control. The team used a lunar mission profile during the test of the...
Private Spacecraft Completes First Manned Glide Flight
October 11, 2010 5:47 am | News | CommentsVirgin Galactic, a US company developing commercial manned space flight system and tourism, announced the successful completion today of the first piloted free flight of SpaceShipTwo, named the VSS Enterprise.
Navy Awards IDEAL with Five-Year Contract for LanTEK II Network Cable Certifier
October 8, 2010 11:16 am | News | CommentsThe United States Navy has awarded a 5-year contract to IDEAL INDUSTRIES, INC. that will provide the Navy and other U.S. federal government agencies with contract pricing on the IDEAL LanTEK II network cable certifier.
Officials launch two advanced cyberspace courses
October 8, 2010 4:56 am | News | CommentsOfficials at the Air Force Cyberspace Technical Center of Excellence here are conducting the first official Cyber 200 and 300 courses beginning Oct.12. On Oct. 28, more than 100 students will graduate from the Air Force Institute of Technology's newest educational courses designed to develop the Air Force's cyber workforce.
Air Force officials kick-off energy awareness month
October 7, 2010 9:44 am | by 2nd Lt. Meredith Kirchoff, U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs | News | CommentsThe undersecretary of the Air Force helped launch the federal government's energy awareness month at the U.S. Air Force Academy here Oct. 1. Erin C. Conaton, accompanied by Terry Yonkers, the assistant secretary of the Air Force for installations, environment and logistics, chose the Academy as the location to highlight the Air Force's energy efforts...
Voltage regulators maximize efficiency in space applications
October 7, 2010 6:59 am | International Rectifier | Product Releases | CommentsInternational Rectifier introduced the SBB Series of non-isolated, radiation hardened (RAD-Hard) Point-of-Load (POL) voltage regulators. The new devices are designed to maximize efficiency in space applications including satellites requiring long mission life up to 15 years or 100Krads of total ionizing dose (TID).
MicroTCA Platform Includes Four Double-width Full-size AdvancedMC Modules
October 4, 2010 12:48 pm | Product Releases | CommentsKontron introduced its MicroTCA platform OM6040D, which is designed for up to four high-end AdvancedMCs and features a 10 Gbit/s Ethernet switched backplane enabling high data flow rates. In the maximum configuration with 4x Kontron AM5030 processor modules, the 5U platform
President Obama proclaims Cybersecurity Awareness Month
October 4, 2010 9:34 am | by Jim Garamone, American Forces Press Service | News | CommentsAmericans everywhere prosper because of the nation's digital infrastructure, and therefore all citizens must defend it, President Barack Obama said Oct. 4. October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and in a proclamation released, President Obama said all Americans must understand they have a responsibility to secure cyber networks.
Network Analyzer Handles Gapless Measurements from 10 MHz to 110 GHz
September 30, 2010 6:48 am | Product Releases | CommentsThe Rohde & Schwarz ZVA110 high-end network analyzer covers the entire frequency range from 10 MHz to 110 GHz. Its dynamic range, high output power and measurement speed make the analyzer appropriate for
PC-104, 1 GHz SBC Supports Networking and Communications
September 30, 2010 6:17 am | Product Releases | CommentsWinSystems introduced a PC/104-compatible 1 GHz single board computer (SBC), dubbed the PCM-VDX-2-512. It is designed for headless space- and power-limited systems. It has two Ethernet, four USB 2.0, and four asynchronous serial channels plus
Raytheon unveils wearable exoskeleton suit
September 28, 2010 12:20 pm | by Jason Lomberg, Technical Editor | Blogs | CommentsCoinciding with the release of Iron Man 2 on Blu-Ray/DVD, Raytheon unveiled a real-life wearable robotic suit. The second-generation exoskeleton (XOS 2) purportedly is lighter, faster and stronger than its predecessor, yet it uses 50 percent less power. Before one conjures Sci-Fi fantasies of space marines, it’s worth pointing out what the XOS 2 is not—it isn’t a futuristic robotic battle suit.
Multi-input Power Supply Operates From Line Voltage or From 12 VDC Inputs
September 28, 2010 8:06 am | Product Releases | CommentsDigital Power Corporation has developed a portable 90 W converter that can be powered from many different sources. It is intended for use with a wide variety of mobile devices in a wide variety of environments. The mobile switcher can
Reference Designs Enable Energy Efficiency Through Digital Power
September 28, 2010 7:50 am | Microchip Technology Inc. | Product Releases | CommentsMicrochip Technology Inc. announced two digitally controlled DC/DC converter reference designs with advanced, high-efficiency topologies. Complete documentation — including software, Gerber files, MATLAB® models, Webinars and application notes — can be downloaded for free from Microchip’s Web site. These new reference designs are
Virtex-6 FPGA Modules Target Radar and Communication Applications
September 28, 2010 6:12 am | Product Releases | CommentsPentek, Inc., today announced a major expansion of its popular Cobalt family of data acquisition modules for high-performance applications.
Raytheon XOS 2 exoskeleton
September 28, 2010 5:23 am | by theworacle | Videos | CommentsRaytheon has unveiled its second-generation powered exoskeleton, the XOS 2, coinciding with the release of Iron Man 2 on DVD. The XOS 2 is ligher, faster and uses 50% less power than the XOS 1 proof-of-concept robotic suit. Powered by an internal-combustion engine driving hydraulic...
Rugged Enclosure Designed to MIL-STD-810F, DO-160E and MIL-STD-461E standards
September 23, 2010 6:42 am | Product Releases | CommentsDawn VME Products announces its CCE-3VX4 ruggedized 4 slot conduction cooled enclosure for VPX 3U modules.
First-Ever Ornithopter Soars
September 23, 2010 5:22 am | by LabEquipment | Videos | CommentsAviation history was made when the Univ. of Toronto's human-powered aircraft with flapping wings became the first of its kind to fly continuously. The "Snowbird" performed its record-breaking flight on August 2 at the Great Lakes Gliding Club in Tottenham, Ont., witnessed by the...
Vote for your Favorites in the ECN Readers Choice Tech Awards
September 17, 2010 10:48 am | Articles | CommentsThis has been a good year for the electronic design community, with advances in hardware, software, materials, and technology. Take a moment to nominate your favorites for the 2010 ECN Readers Choice Tech Awards.
Broadband RF Power Amplifier Serves Defense Applications From 25 to 1000 MHz
September 16, 2010 10:35 am | Product Releases | CommentsBC Systems, Inc., today introduced Model RF-30001 compact RF power amplifier module based on the latest GaN RF power transistors that delivers at least 20 W CW RF output power over a wide frequency range of 25 to 1000 MHz.
3U cPCI Module Features Freescale Dual-Core QorIQ P2020 Processor
September 15, 2010 11:39 am | Product Releases | CommentsExtreme Engineering Solutions (X-ES) announced the availability of its XPedite5530, a conduction- or air-cooled 3U CompactPCI single board computer based on Freescale Semiconductor’s dual-core QorIQ P2020 processor. The SBC provides
