 |
|
|
|||||
Drones are increasingly part of modern warfare. The aircraft, often equipped with explosives, have been deployed by both sides in Russia’s war on Ukraine. They’ve been part of recent skirmishes between India and Pakistan. And they’ve been used by Haitian government forces in the ongoing conflict with gangs around Port-au-Prince. And to take down drones before they do damage, armed forces around the world and their military contractors have developed technologies to jam or hack drone control signals, zap them with lasers, or fry them with microwaves. But in this literal arms race, where combat drone developers will inevitably try to come up with ways to make their devices impervious to each new attack, an Austin-based startup called Allen Control Systems argues that the best defense might be one that relies on basic ballistics. “We had the idea that we would use a cheap bullet to basically shoot these drones out of the sky,” says ACS President Steve Simoni, because “the drones of the future would be impervious to these [other] attacks.” ACS has developed a robotic gun system called Bullfrog that uses AI and computer vision to detect drones and precisely fire at them. It’s inspired by the human-controlled Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station (CROWS) guns that the U.S. military already mounts on vehicles and ships. The Bullfrog is based around existing gun technology and uses ordinary bullets, like the standard NATO 7.62x51mm round, which makes it easy and cost-effective to load. But while the existing guns have troops use a joystick to aim the gun and fire at targets, humans often aren’t fast enough to take down a quick-moving drone, let alone a swarm of them. [Photo: Courtesy of Allen Control Systems] “A human using a joystick isn’t good enough to do that,” says Simoni, who started his career as a naval officer before cofounding Bbot, a restaurant software and robotics startup acquired by Doordash. “So we basically redesigned that existing system from the ground up using a bunch of novel techniques in AI.” The Bullfrog uses a set of cameras to detect and precisely locate drones, letting it fire what Simoni calls “a very precise sniper shot” at the fast-moving aircraft. Traditionally, attack drones have generally emphasized speed, flying quickly at targets like truck convoys to attackgenerally moving predictably enough for the AI to easily target. But even if attackers adapt to have drones move more erratically, Simoni says ACS should still be able to fire more quickly than they can evade. “Bullets travel very fast,” he says. “From the time we see it to [the time we] shoot, there’s not many places a drone can really move in that time period.” [Photo: Courtesy of Allen Control Systems] The system, which ACS successfully demonstrated in a U.S. Army test earlier this year, where it took down all of seven target drones, still typically relies on a human in the loop. That is, when a vehicle is being attacked by drones, someone will look at a screen showing the incoming aircraft and select specific targets. But the AI and its cameras do the actual tracking and ballistics calculations necessary to accurately fire the gun and eliminate the drones. Variants may also be able to handle scenarios where there’s a bigger swarm of drones than humans can practically target, but humans would still set the “rules of engagement,” like defining a field of view where the AI is allowed to target oncoming drones or specific safety requirements, Simoni says. In general, ACS’s software also lets users define areas where they don’t want bullets to be aimed for safety’s sake. In demonstrations and tests, the company often fires at off-the-shelf drones from normal retail stores, or specific target drones provided by the military, which naturally restricts outside drones on its bases. As new drones evolve, ACS can also make virtual models of them, giving the AI practice recognizing and firing at them in a simulated environment. Using technology like Unreal Engine, the video game development tool, the company can create renderings of the drones in a variety of weather conditions and scenery, all without needing to fire any actual bullets or destroy any physical drones. The same approach can also teach the AI to distinguish other types of flying things, like birds and planes. And while Russian and Ukrainian forces have already begun to circumvent drone jamming technoogy by replacing radio communications with long, thin fiber optic cables, and microwave attacks can be disrupted by adding conductive material to the right places on the drone, Simoni believes it’s just not physically feasible to build a drone that can reliably withstand bullets and still be light enough to nimbly fly. “There’s not enough armor you could put on a drone to stop a bullet like that,” he says. An effectively armored drone would simply be too heavy. The gun systems, on the other hand, are designed to be lightweight at about 200 pounds, and easy to bolt onto existing military vehicles and connect to vehicle power sources. Simoni says he envisions the system will be practical for both the U.S. and allies with smaller vehicles, where the guns can be mounted on a truck bed. [Photo: Courtesy of Allen Control Systems] And while they can be used as “last lines of defense” for stationary targets like bases or power stations, Simoni says the Bullfrog is currently most practical for vehicles, thanks to its current range of about a kilometer. “That’s a little too close for comfort for a base,” he says. “They want to probably engage the drones further out if they could.” The technology also isn’t ideal for civilian use cases like protecting stadiums and events, where bullets aren’t the safest technology to stop errant drones, Simoni says. Alternatives like net guns might be a better solution there, he suggests. ACS’s systems are slated for more military testing this year, demonstrating compatibility with a variety of military vehicles, with an eye toward battlefield deployment in early 2026. The company in March announced a $30 million Series A led by Craft Ventures along with existing investors Inspired Capital and Rally Ventures. Without revealing exact potential pricing, the company predicts its technology can lower the “cost per kill” to just a few dollars per drone. Simoni says the company aims to help the military prepare for a future where machines, not humans, do the bulk of fighting. “The future of conventional warfare is mostly going to be robots shooting at other robots,” he says. “It is far too dangerous to be out there, so I don’t think there’s going to be a lot of human engagement.”
Category:
E-Commerce
Honolulu’s coastal Ala Moana Boulevard is a critical road in the Hawaiian capital, but it’s also a major hindrance. With six lanes of fast-moving traffic and few easily accessible crossing points, it’s effectively a hurdle between the city and its main public space, Ala Moana Park, and the broad beach there. Now, a stunning new pedestrian bridge has opened to make it easier to cross that rushing road. Winding its way from the edge of downtown Honolulu over the highway to a boat harbor and the corner of Ala Moana Park, the pedestrian bridge is an elegant piece of urban infrastructure, accented by artwork and connected to a series of paths cutting through a lush tropical landscape. It’s part of Victoria Ward Park, a two-phase publicly accessible open space connected to Ward Village, the 60-acre mixed use development that aims to redefine the urban realm in this part of the city. Developed by Howard Hughes, Ward Village is a blank slate development on former warehouse land that will add, over the course of decades, more than 5,000 units of housing, nearly 1 million square feet of retail, and more than three acres of public greenspace. Several condo buildings are fully occupied and many future condos are already pre-sold, representing more than $6 billion in revenue, according to Howard Hughes’ 2024 annual report. Beyond its Honolulu project, the company made more than $1.75 billion in revenue in 2024, according to Pitchbook. [Photo: courtesy Ward Village] Building a bridge to downtown Greenspace, primarily in the form of Victoria Ward Park, is a key part of the company’s strategy for luring residents and businesses, and turning Ward Village into a new model for urban development in Honolulu. “A goal for Ward Village is to make the overall neighborhood significantly more walkable, comfortable, and safe,” says Doug Johnstone, president of the Hawaii region for Howard Hughes. Born and raised in Honolulu, Johnstone says that while the city is full of world-class amenities, its urban realm can sometimes be lacking. “It’s inherently a little disjointed and difficult to get around,” Johnstone says. [Photo: courtesy Ward Village] That’s why the Ward Village developmentestimated to cost several billion dollars over a planned implementation period that runs through the 2030sset aside the space for the park, and spent a considerable amount of time coordinating with state and local officials to get the pedestrian bridge built. Costing a total of $17.8 million, the bridge is technically a project of the state’s Department of Transportation. It was mostly funded by a federal grant, and Howard Hughes helped pay for the 20% portion of the budget required from local sources, donating land, funding the bridge design and providing environmental documentation. “There’s a lot of folks wearing different hats that are trying to see it through, and making sure also it’s done well aesthetically and experience-wise,” Johnstone says. “It’s complementary to what we’re doing in Ward Village, but also something Honolulu can be proud of.” [Photo: courtesy Ward Village] Ocean-to-inland Making the bridge possible is the existence of Victoria Ward Park, which was designed by Vita Planning and Landscape Architecture. The first phase of the park covers 1.4 acres from the edge of Ala Moana Boulevard inland, and is now open. The second phase, covering roughly 2 acres higher inland and more nestled in the Ward Village development, will finish construction later this year. This ocean-to-inland connection became a guiding concept for the Honolulu park’s design, according to Don Vita, founder of Vita Planning and Landscape Architecture. “Going back and forth from the ocean up to the mountains is a very important cultural orientation in Hawaii and that’s exactly what we did with the configuration and the location of the park,” he says.
Category:
E-Commerce
In the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, Justin Bibb was living in a tight, one-bedroom apartment in Cleveland, Ohio. He couldnt open his windows because his home was an old office building converted to residential unitsnot exactly conducive to physical and mental well-being in the middle of a global crisis. So he sought refuge elsewhere: a large green space, down near the lakefront, where he could stroll. Unfortunately, Bibb said, thats not the case for many of our residents in the city of Cleveland. A native of Cleveland, Bibb was elected the 58th mayor of the city in 2021. Immediately after taking office, he took inspiration from the 15-minute city concept of urban design, an idea that envisions people reaching their daily necessitieswork, grocery stores, pharmacieswithin 15 minutes by walking, biking, or taking public transit. That reduces dependence on cars, and also slashes carbon emissions and air pollution. In Cleveland, Bibbs goal is to put all residents within a 10-minute walk of a green space by the year 2045, by converting abandoned lots to parks and other efforts. Cleveland is far from alone in its quest to adapt to a warming climate. As American cities have grown in size and population and gotten hotter, theynot the federal governmenthave become crucibles for climate action: Cities are electrifying their public transportation, forcing builders to make structures more energy efficient, and encouraging rooftop solar. Together with ambitious state governments, hundreds of cities large and small are pursuing climate action plansdocuments that lay out how they will reduce emissions and adapt to extreme weatherwith or without support from the feds. Clevelands plan, for instance, calls for all its commercial and residential buildings to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. For local leaders, climate action has grown all the more urgent since the Trump administration has been boosting fossil fuels and threatening to sue states to roll back environmental regulations. Last month, Republicans in the House passed a budget bill that would end nearly all the clean energy tax credits from the Biden administrations signature climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act. Because Donald Trump is in the White House again, its going to be up to mayors and governors to really enact and sustain the momentum around addressing climate change at the local level, said Bibb, who formerly chaired Climate Mayors, a bipartisan group of nearly 350 mayors. City leaders can move much faster than federal agencies, and are more in-tune with what their people actually want, experts said. Theyre on the ground and theyre hearing from their residents every day, so they have a really good sense of what the priorities are, said Kate Johnson, regional director for North America at C40 Cities, a global network of nearly 100 mayors fighting climate change. You see climate action really grounded in the types of things that are going to help people. Shifting from a reliance on fossil fuels to clean energy isnt just about reducing a citys carbon emissions, but about creating jobs and saving moneya tangible argument that mayors can make to their people. Bibb said a pilot program in Cleveland that helped low- to moderate-income households get access to free solar panels ended up reducing their utility bills by 60%. The biggest concern for Americans right now isnt climate change, Bibb added. Its the cost of living, and so we have to marry these two things together, he said. I think mayors are in a very unique position to do that. To further reduce costs and emissions, cities like Seattle and Washington, D.C. are scrambling to better insulate structures, especially affordable housing, by installing double-paned windows and better insulation. In Boston last year, the city government started an Equitable Emissions Investment Fund, which awards money for projects that make buildings more efficient or add solar panels to their roofs. We are in a climate where energy efficiency remains the number one thing that we can do, said Oliver Sellers-Garcia, commissioner of the environment and Green New Deal director in the Boston government. And there are so many other comfort and health benefits from being in an efficient, all-electric environment. To that end, cities are deploying loads of heat pumps, hyper-efficient appliances that warm and cool a space. New York City, for instance, is spending $70 million to install 30,000 of the appliances in its public housing. The ultimate goal is to have as many heat pumps as possible running in energy-efficient homesalong with replacing gas stoves with induction rangesand drawing electricity from renewables. Metropolises like Los Angeles and Pittsburgh are creating new green spaces, which reduce urban temperatures and soak up rainwater to prevent flooding. A park is a prime example of multisolving: one intervention that fixes a bunch of problems at once. Another is deploying electric vehicle chargers in underserved neighborhoods, as Cleveland is doing, and making their use free for residents. This encourages the adoption of those vehicles, which reduces carbon emissions and air pollution. That, in turn, improves public health in those neighborhoods, which tend to have a higher burden of pollution than richer areas. Elizabeth Sawin, director of the Multisolving Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, said that these efforts will be more important than ever as the Trump administration cuts funding for health programs. If health care for poor children is going to be depletedwith, say, Medicaid under threatcities cant totally fix that, Sawin said. But if they can get cleaner air in cities, they can at least have fewer kids who are struggling from asthma attacks and other respiratory illnesses. All this workbuilding parks, installing solar panels, weatherizing buildingscreates jobs, both within a city and in surrounding rural areas. Construction workers commute in, while urban farms tap rural growers for their expertise. And as a city gets more of its power from renewables, it can benefit counties far away: The largest solar facility east of the Mississippi River just came online in downstate Illinois, providing so much electricity to Chicago that the citys 400 municipal buildings now run entirely on renewable power. The economic benefits and the jobs arent just necessarily accruing to the citieswhich might be seen as big blue cities, Johnson said. Theyre buying their electric school buses from factories in West Virginia, and theyre building solar and wind projects in rural areas. So cities arent just preparing themselves for a warmer future, but helping accelerate a transition to renewables and spreading economic benefits across the American landscape. We as elected officials have to do a better job of articulating how this important part of public policy is connected to the everyday lived experience, Bibb said. Unfortunately, my party has done a bad job of that. But I think as mayors, we are well positioned to make that case at the local level. Matt Simon, Grist This article originally appeared in Grist, a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Sign up for its newsletter here.
Category:
E-Commerce
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||