ATI Courses Logo

Training Rocket Scientists

Since 1984 Sign up for Enews

Category: innovation

Excitement and Despair

Posted on by Bob
In the past week, we have seen two extremes with respect to the exploration of the moon.  We have seen despair from Russia when it’s Luna 25 Spacecraft crash-landed on the moon.  And, we have seen excitement from India when it’s Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft successfully landed on the moon.  For Russia, it will be the end […]

In the past week, we have seen two extremes with respect to the exploration of the moon.  We have seen despair from Russia when it’s Luna 25 Spacecraft crash-landed on the moon.  And, we have seen excitement from India when it’s Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft successfully landed on the moon.  For Russia, it will be the end of the mission, and all that is left is trying to figure out what went wrong.  For India, it is the start of a period of exploration with the rover that is designed to traverse the lunar surface.  Both countries were hoping for the best, but it does not always work out that way.  Although a serious disappointment for Russia, there are valuable lessons that will be learned, even from failure. 

The Space Environment is very harsh, and any miscalculation in that environment can have very serious consequences.

Tom Zurbuchen, former NASA head of science, tweeted that no one in the industry “wishes bad onto other explorers.”  He continued “We are reminded that landing on any celestial object is anything by easy and straightforward.  Just because others managed to do it decades ago, does not guarantee success today.” 

Although our spacecraft may have become more advanced over the decades, the space environment remains a very hostile place where anything can happen, even to more advanced spacecraft.

To learn more about how adverse interactions between the space environment and a spacecraft may lead to a degradation of spacecraft subsystem performance and possibly even loss of the spacecraft itself, consider enrolling in the upcoming 2-day ATI course Space Environment: Implications for Spacecraft Design.  You can learn more about the course, and register for it here.

Sonar From The Air

Posted on by Bob
I spent most of my career in the sonar business.  It was always assumed that sonar can only work when both the transmitter and the receiver were in the same body of water; air to water sonar was not possible because sonar can not break the air-water interface.   Sure, there were planes that could “dip” […]

I spent most of my career in the sonar business.  It was always assumed that sonar can only work when both the transmitter and the receiver were in the same body of water; air to water sonar was not possible because sonar can not break the air-water interface.   Sure, there were planes that could “dip” a device into the water that would transmit and receive sonar signals, but that is still considered a water-water sonar.  Thanks to the innovative minds of Stanford University, there may now be a way to transmit and receive sonar from an airborne platform.  Who would have thought?

Stanford engineers explain that the Photoacoustic Airborne Sonar System, or PASS, fires a laser into the surface of the water, its intensity pulsed to the desired acoustic frequency, and as this laser energy is absorbed, it creates ultrasonic waves in the water that can act as effective sonar waves, bouncing off underwater objects before returning up to the surface.  “If we can use light in the air, where light travels well, and sound in the water, where sound travels well, we can get the best of both worlds”

This can be a game changer for Anti Submarine Warfare.  Aircraft would be able to search for submarines without dropping sensors into the water.  This would be advantageous because aircraft could search an area more quickly, and the splashing sound of the sensors would not give away the presence of the aircraft.

If sonar interests you, or if you work with sonar, consider taking the upcoming ATI course “Sonar Principles and ASW Analysis.”  This three-day course provides an excellent introduction to underwater sound and highlights how sonar principles are employed in ASW analyses. The course provides a solid understanding of the sonar equation and discusses in-depth propagation loss, target strength, reverberation, arrays, array gain, and detection of signals. 

To learn more about this course, and to register, you can go here.

And, to learn more about other courses offered by ATI, please go to www.aticourses.com

Machine Learning on Steroids

Posted on by Bob
As the Science and Technology Advisor for Applied Technology Institute, I am assigned the task of writing a weekly blog to discuss some upcoming course being offered by ATI.  I am supposed to be knowledgeable in most areas, so imagine my surprise when I was directed to write about our upcoming course entitled Deep Learning […]

As the Science and Technology Advisor for Applied Technology Institute, I am assigned the task of writing a weekly blog to discuss some upcoming course being offered by ATI.  I am supposed to be knowledgeable in most areas, so imagine my surprise when I was directed to write about our upcoming course entitled Deep Learning Architectures for Defense & Security.  Due to the nature of my background, I was unfamiliar with this topic, but I did know it was somehow related to Machine Learning and Neural Nets.  I dutifully went to old textbooks and google.com to learn as much as I could.  I really wanted to find a single, concise, explanation which would make me instantly smart, but no such single, concise answer was to be found.  So, for anyone else who needs that concise explanation, let me tell you what concise explanation would have been helpful to me before I spent hours on this topic.  Machine Learning is the most basic form of Artificial Intelligence, and Deep Learning is Machine Learning on steroids.  It’s just that simple, but let me explain. 

Machine Learning is a form of artificial intelligence which allows the machine to train with diverse datasets, and then predict based on those experiences.  Machine Learning uses automated algorithms to predict decisions for the future.  Most importantly, all of the analysis and algorithm tweaking is supervised by a human being whose goal is to improve the quality of the Machine’s performance.  One Example of Machine Learning would be speech Recognition, where an algorithm hears a spoken word and determines what that word is.  Through Machine Learning, the Engineer will help the algorithm improve, and get more and more words correct over time.

With Deep Learning, there is a constant focus on improvement and flexibility by using Algorithms which duplicate the thinking of the human brain, and do not require the constant supervision of a human.  Through use of multiple layers of neural networks ( yep, neural, just like in the human brain ), the algorithms learn to make decisions as a human would, or perhaps better than a human would.  To go back to our example from above, while Machine Learning would be used for an application like voice recognition, Deep Learning and neural nets would be used to go much further, such as with virtual assistants like Alexa or Cirri.  The algorithms must not only covert the spoken word, but the algorithm must understand the meaning of questions, and then compose an intelligent response.  Deep Learning is Machine Learning on Steroids.   

As daily life becomes more complicated, as systems become more complex, and as manpower becomes harder to secure, the importance of Deep Learning will continue to rise.  Today’s engineers need to continue making advances in Neural Nets and Deep Learning, so that “toys” as well as our essential machinery will be able to support the future needs of mankind. 

If you would like to learn more about how Deep Learning can be applied to your work in Defense and Security, please consider taking the ATI short course entitled Deep Learning Architectures for Defense & Security.  You can learn more about this course, and register for it, here.

Also, you may want to take a look at the full list of upcoming courses being offered by ATI here.

Counter UAS Operations

Posted on by Bob
A drone is an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV).  There is usually a person who has some degree of control over the drone or AUV.   Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) refers to the system which includes both the drone and the person who controls it. I often see drones being used for recreational purpose and for smart […]

A drone is an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV).  There is usually a person who has some degree of control over the drone or AUV.   Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) refers to the system which includes both the drone and the person who controls it.

I often see drones being used for recreational purpose and for smart business purposes.  Although there are a lot of good and beneficial uses for drones today, they are now also being used for more nefarious purposes.  Drones have become an integral part of most battlefield scenarios and tacticians are finding new uses for drones every day.

In the early days of drone technology, everyone was thinking about new and novel ways to do good things with drones.  Unfortunately, we are now in a time when we must also think about ways to counter some drones that may be trying to do bad things to us, both in the battlefield and in the homeland.

Robin Radar Systems recently reported on technologies which could be considered for defending against drones, referred to as Counter UAS Operations.  They discussed a wide range of methods to counter today’s systems with methods that can be implemented today.

Counter UAS Operations involve both monitoring for the presence of drones, and countermeasures to debilitate the drone once detected.

Monitoring for Drones can be done using a variety of methods.

Radio Frequency Analyzers can continuously analyze the RF spectrum and look for signals which are characteristic of drones.

Acoustic Sensors can continuously analyze the audible spectrum and look for noises which are characteristic of drones.

Optical Sensors ( Cameras ) can continuously look at the area and search for objects that look like drones either, automatically, or with the help of an operator.

Radar can also be used to emit energy into the airspace and look for active returns that are characteristic of signals expected from a drone, again either automatically or with the help of an operator.  

Once a drone has been detected, the Counter UAS System needs to debilitate that drone.  This can be done by destroying the drone, or simply neutralizing the drone so that it can not accomplish its mission.  This can be done in a number of ways.

A Radio Frequency Jammer can be employed and used to transmit RF energy toward the drone interrupting communications with the controller, if there is one.  Of course, this will be ineffective if the drone is operating autonomously.

A GPS spoofer can be used to send a new GPS signal to the drone, resulting in the drone getting lost and being unable to conduct its mission.

High Power Microwave Devices can be used to generate large Electromagnetic Pulses ( EMP ) which will render most electronic devices, including drones, inoperable.

Nets and Guns can be used to shoot the drone out of the sky or catch the drone and render it inoperable.

A high energy laser can be used to destroy the drone.

Birds of Prey can be trained to hunt and destroy drones.

Robin Radar Systems points out the most effective Counter UAS strategy does not involve a single monitoring method or a single countermeasure method, but a combination of both.  By doing so, you take advantage of the benefits of some methods and hedge your bets against the weaknesses of others.

To learn more about Counter UAS operations, consider taking the upcoming ATI course titled Counter UAS Technology and Techniques.  This three-day course delivers a thorough overview promoting an understanding and building a successful Counter Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) architecture. You can learn more about the course, and register for it here.

And as always, a full listing of all the courses in the ATI catalogue can be found at www.aticourses.com

Artemis I Mission Success, Bring on Artemis II

Posted on by Bob
Mankind has always been fascinated with exploring the Moon, and that will probably always be the case.  At first, in the time leading up to the famous first moon landing in 1969, the goal was simply to reach the moon, and spend a short time looking around, and return to earth safely.  Now, 50 years […]

Mankind has always been fascinated with exploring the Moon, and that will probably always be the case.  At first, in the time leading up to the famous first moon landing in 1969, the goal was simply to reach the moon, and spend a short time looking around, and return to earth safely.  Now, 50 years later, the goal is more ambitious since technology can support so much more.  The first objective today is to reach the moon, and stay there.  The next goal would be to use the moon as a landing pad to support exploration of things beyond the moon, most notably Mars.  The NASA Artemis Missions will be the way these objectives are accomplished.

The Artemis Mission is comprised of six projects which together will allow NASA to accomplish its goals of reaching the moon, staying on the moon for long term exploration, and getting closer to the ultimate goal of being able to send men and women beyond the moon.  The six projects include:

Ground Systems – Upgrading Earth ground systems to support the larger rockets which will be needed

Space Launch System – The new and more powerful rocket that will launch man toward the moon and beyond

Orion – The spacecraft that will bring astronauts to the moon’s orbit, and return them to earth from the moon’s orbit

Gateway – The outpost spacecraft which will orbit the moon and be living quarters for the astronauts when they are not on the moon surface

Lunar Landers – The spacecraft which will transfer astronauts between the Gateway and the moon Surface, and

Space Suits – The new and improved suits that the astronauts will need to carry out their mission.

The timeline for this mission has three major milestones, namely:

Artemis I – a now-complete unmanned flight to test the Space Launch System and Orion

Artemis II – a planned manned flight to test the Space Launch System and Orion

Artemis III – A planned manned flight to the moon that will return man to the moon.

Artemis I, the mission whose goal was an unmanned flight of Orion to the moon, is now successfully completed.  The Launch was flawless in mid-November, showing the advanced capabilities of the Space Launch System.  Orion reached the moon on November 25 without any issues and orbited the moon.  On December 1, 2022, Orion will started its trip back to earth, and on Dec 11, the Artemis I mission ended with a successful splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

Although Artemis I is now one for the history books, there are additional Artemis missions being planned, and we hope that they will all be as spectacular and as successful as Artemis I.

ATI offers a plethora of courses which relate to Space exploration.  Check out our list of Space related courses here.    If you are interested in the legal aspects of Space exploration, you can express interest in our Astropolitics Seminar which will be offered in conjunction with the 2023 Space Symposium. 

Although the author thinks Space Exploration is exciting and important, and I fully endorse all of the goals of the Artemis Mission, I can’t help but wonder why the Government is not spending at least as much money on exploration of the deep oceans.  I would challenge the US to start investing more money in Ocean Exploration, but not at the expense of Space Exploration.  Both are important.  I am curious what readers think about this issue, please leave your comments below.

And, if you are interested in Ocean Exploration, ATI has a few courses which may be of interest to you too.  Please check out our full list of offerings here.

And if you simply want to learn more about the Artemis Mission, you can go to the NASA Artemis site that describes the mission in more detail. 

Advances in Satellite Antenna Technology

Posted on by Bob
Most people know what Origami is.  In case you don’t, the goal of Origami is to transform a flat square sheet of paper into a finished sculpture through folding and sculpting techniques.  Modern origami practitioners generally discourage the use of cuts, glue, or markings on the paper.  So, you ask, how could Origami possibly be […]

Most people know what Origami is.  In case you don’t, the goal of Origami is to transform a flat square sheet of paper into a finished sculpture through folding and sculpting techniques.  Modern origami practitioners generally discourage the use of cuts, glue, or markings on the paper.  So, you ask, how could Origami possibly be related to anything of interest to rocket scientists?  As you will see, there most certainly is a connection between Origami and Antenna technology.

CubeSat is a miniaturized satellite, or nanosatellite, intended for space research.  Due to their small size, large numbers of CubeSats generally perform their unique tasks by working together in large constellations.  To date, there are about 1500 CubeSat satellites in orbit.

Although technology advances have allowed satellites to be effectively miniaturized, the antenna associated with each CubeSat can not be miniaturized; the laws of physics simply do not permit the antenna to be any smaller than it is.  And, since the antenna must remain large, it would not fit in the small area inside the miniature satellite.   Since the antenna is necessary to allow the satellite to communicate with other satellites, and with earth stations, there needed to be a way to get the large antenna into the small satellite. 

As explained here, Dr. Kim and his colleagues at Pusan National University and the University of Alabama, USA, developed a new deployable antenna for CubeSats.  Inspired by the mathematics which are the root of Origami, the team designed an antenna which could be folded and stored inside the Cubesat.  Once in orbit, the antenna would be deployed, and unfolded to its full and functional size.  This new advance in Antenna design now allows nanosatellites to be part of our satellite fleet.

So, although many may have thought that antenna design could not be pushed any further, Dr. Kim proved them wrong.  What other previously unimagined advances in antenna technology are yet to be imagined?

To learn more about Antennas, consider taking the upcoming ATI course entitled Antenna and Array Fundamentals.  You can learn more about this offering, and register, here.

Lastly, as always, a full listing of ATI’s courses can be found here.

The Four Shuns

Posted on by Bob
I was watching an old episode of Star Trek today, and Captain Picard and his landing party Teleported to some dangerous place.  For non-trekkies, Teleporting is a way that people get from one place to another by having their bodies vaporize in one location, and get reconstituted in a different location.  They were accompanied by […]

I was watching an old episode of Star Trek today, and Captain Picard and his landing party Teleported to some dangerous place.  For non-trekkies, Teleporting is a way that people get from one place to another by having their bodies vaporize in one location, and get reconstituted in a different location.  They were accompanied by one crew member that I did not recognize, so as any Star Trek Fan knows, that crew member is the sacrificial goat who gets killed in this dangerous place.  As I watched the Teleportation of the landing party, it reminded me of a conversation I had many years ago with someone who, at the time, was a high school senior starting a Summer Internship with me. 

I asked Alex what he dreamed of doing in what would surely be a long and successful career as an engineer.  Alex told me that he was going to design and build the first real Teleportation device, and that would change the way modern man thinks about traveling.  I thought Alex was joking, and I laughed at him.  After he explained that he was not kidding, I had a serious conversation with him explaining why Teleportation was something that was only found in Science Fiction movies, and that it was contrary to all Laws of Physics, and that it could never actually happen. 

I regret that I handled the conversation that way that day.  Who was I to tell Alex what he could not do?  What may have happened if someone had told Alexander Graham Bell that man would never have telephones, or if someone had told Neil Armstrong that man would never walk on the moon? 

The rate at which technology has advanced in the last 50 years is mind-boggling, and technology will certainly advance at the same pace, or faster, in the next 50 years.  Fifty years ago, one could not have imagined the technology we would have today.  So, why should man today even attempt to imagine the technology that will be common-place 50 years from now.  And, although I do not personally expect to be around in 50 years, my Intern Alex should still be around. 

Ambition is the source of innovation, and innovation is the source of radical technology.

We cannot imagine what Alex and his peers will have in store for us in the future.

If you want to advance your skills in areas that will allow you to innovate into the future, consider taking one of the many courses offered by ATI.  You can find our full catalog of courses on our home page.

Most of our courses are being offered Live-Virtual at the moment, but as we leave COVID behind us, we will be offering more courses Live again.  With Live Courses, students will need to travel to get to the facility where the course is being offered, but with luck, you may be able to Teleport to the classroom someday soon.

As a closing and encouraging footnote, I reached out to Alex today, and reminded him of the conversation we had so many years ago.  I was happy to hear that Alex is still working hard and enthusiastic about his goal to someday invent a Teleporter.  When he does that, his name will be associated with other pioneers like Graham Bell and Armstrong.

So, what are the “The Four Shuns”, you ask.  AmbitION, nurtured by EducatION, allows innovatION, and maybe TeleportatION