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DARPA Opens Its Toolbox to Santa

DARPA has launched the High-speed Optimized Handling of Holiday Operations (HO HO HO) initiative to help Santa Claus and his elves more quickly and efficiently complete their various holiday duties. HO HO HO offers St. Nicholas and his helpers access to research from numerous DARPA programs, including Memex (upper left), Open Manufacturing (upper right), Micro-Technology for Precision Navigation and Timing (lower left), Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System (ALIAS) (lower right) and Z-man (center).
The holiday season is an important time for military Service members and veterans to enjoy time with their families. Ensuring that the right gifts arrive for the right people on time is key to maintaining morale and force effectiveness. To do its part, DARPA has launched the High-speed Optimized Handling of Holiday Operations (HO HO HO) initiative, which is designed to help Santa Claus and his elves more quickly and efficiently complete their holiday duties.  Article 
DARPA has launched the High-speed Optimized Handling of Holiday Operations (HO HO HO) initiative to help Santa Claus and his elves more quickly and efficiently complete their various holiday duties. HO HO HO offers St. Nicholas and his helpers access to research from numerous DARPA programs, including Memex (upper left), Open Manufacturing (upper right), Micro-Technology for Precision Navigation and Timing (lower left), Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System (ALIAS) (lower right) and Z-man (center).
FLA 144

Zoom in, Zoom out: Speedy, Agile UAVs Envisioned for Troops in Urban Missions

Shield 

Military teams patrolling dangerous urban environments overseas and rescue teams responding to disasters such as earthquakes or floods currently rely on remotely piloted unmanned aerial vehicles to provide a bird’s-eye view of the situation and spot threats that can’t be seen from the ground. But to know what’s going on inside an unstable building or a threatening indoor space often requires physical entry, which can put troops or civilian response teams in danger. Article 

ElectRX

ElectRx Has the Nerve to Envision Revolutionary Therapies for Self-Healing

ElectRX 

Many chronic inflammatory diseases and mental health conditions affecting military Service members and veterans involve abnormal activity in the peripheral nervous system, which plays a key role in organ function. Monitoring and targeted regulation of peripheral nerve signals offer great promise to help patients restore and maintain their health without surgery or drugs. Current neuromodulation devices are typically used as a last resort, however, because they are relatively large (about the size of a deck of cards), require invasive surgical implantation and often produce side effects due to their lack of precision. DARPA’s Electrical Prescriptions (ElectRx) program is seeking innovative research proposals to help transform neuromodulation therapies from last resort to first choice for a wide range of diseases.  Article 

Soil 144

Tiny, Cheap, Foolproof: Seeking New Component to Counter Counterfeit Electronics

DARPA’s Agnostic Compact Demilitarization of Chemical Agents (ACDC) program aims to develop technologies for a transportable, prototype disposal system that converts any chemical warfare agent into safe organic compounds, such as harmless soil, using minimal consumables in the process and creating no hazardous waste. The system would enable safe destruction of chemical stockpiles on site without need for transportation. 

Destroying chemical warfare agents in bulk is a challenge for the military and international community. Current methods of eradication, such as incineration or hydrolysis, create toxic waste that requires further processing. And the logistics required to transport large stockpiles from storage to a disposal site can be risky and expensive. Additionally, different types of chemicals require different methods to make them safe, so each agent requires a specific neutralization procedure – one size doesn’t fit all. To address these challenges, DARPA has announced the Agnostic Compact Demilitarization of Chemical Agents (ACDC) program and issued a Broad Agency Announcement solicitation today: Article

Virtual Lab 144

DARPA Virtual Lab Advances DoD’s Ability to Test Critical Microelectronics

Pinpoint Analysis and Precision Repair: a) Photoemission electron microscopy (PEM) was used to isolate abnormal circuit function to a region, b) Laser Voltage Imaging was used to further isolate the abnormal functioning transistors, c) Laser Assisted Device Alteration was used in identify the failure mechanism and d) This FIB cross-section shows the area where a laser repair was used to correct the failure, enabling the performers’ to continue with research activities. 

Under the auspices of DARPA’s Integrity and Reliability of Integrated Circuits program, researchers from the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) and Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) are collaborating in powerful new ways to determine the reliability and integrity of microchips embedded in the some of the nation’s most critical military weapon and cyber systems.  Article

DARPA-funded research in soft, air-filled robotics helped inspire Baymax in Disney’s film Big Hero 6

DARPA-Funded Inflatable Robotics Helps Spark Idea for Silver Screen Star

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The giant, balloon-like inflatable robot named Baymax in Disney’s “Big Hero 6” has its roots in real-world research conducted by iRobot Corporation, Carnegie Mellon University and Otherlab under DARPA’s Maximum Mobility Manipulation (M3) program. The film’s co-director, Don Hall, has said he was inspired to cast Baymax as an air-filled, soft robot after he saw an inflatable robotic arm on a visit to Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Institute. Carnegie Mellon’s work in soft robotics has been supported by DARPA and the National Science Foundation.  Article
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