Tag: future technology

The Future is Here: The Avenger Tactical Laser!

Well, it finally happened. After decades of predicting ray guns and tactical lasers for the 21st century, it seems the Boeing Company – the makers of the 787 and XM1202 Armored Fighting Vehicle – have finally done it. It’s called the Avenger, and it is an air defense system that has been making the rounds in the US military.

Beginning in 2007, Boeing was looking for a directed energy weapon that could be mounted on a vehicle and used to detonate munitions from a distance. It was believed that a infra-red laser, if high-powered, would be able to intercept missiles, shells and other munitions while in flight and detonate them before they reached their targets.

By 2009, Boeing announced that their field tests were successful and all they needed was some serious government funding to make it happen. Thus far, they’ve been funding the development themselves, but have made some serious headway.

From their initial test, involving a single-kilowatt laser, the company has upgraded the weapons power to shoot in the tens of kilowatt range. Soon, they plan to unveil a 100-kilowatt laser, the same kind that would be mounted on the Enterprise, should we decide to build it (see Starship Enterprise in 20 years).

Pictured at at the top left is the fully-integrated Laser Avenger system mounted on a Humvee. Combined with ballistic weapons, such as Stinger missiles and a 20mm cannon, it is capable of taking down fixed wing aircraft, helicopters, and aerial munitions such as cruise missiles, artillery rounds and even mortar shells.

But the biggest development of late has been the company’s use of the weapon against IED’s, which have been a major concern for troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. According to company spokespeople, the Avenger has successfully detonated 50 IED’s during trials in Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama (see video below). If deployed to the field, this weapon could be a boon for bomb disposal engineers. No more bomb blast suits, no more drones, just a quick blast with the ray gun and boom! No more IED. Let’s just hope they fry anybody by accident!

 

The Future is Here!: Dream Vendor 3D Printer

Just came across this in Scoop.it and Futurist Foresight. Apparently, it’s a 3D printer that an engineering grad student and her peers came up with over at Virginia Tech. The name itself inspires a lot of mental imagery, doesn’t it? Well, its quite simple. You use a computer to generate an image of a 3D image or model. You store the image on a flash drive or data storage device, then you plug it into the printer. Press print, et voila! The printing device constructs the object by placing layer after layer of plastic together until the object is finished.

I had heard of this technology before the video surfaced, in that case it involved a gun maker who would create weapon’s cases using the same technology. And a simple internet seach will show that there are already commercial models available for sale, starting at about 20 grand! However, the concept is quite new and is making waves all over. Just think of the applications, especially if 3D printers can utilize materials other than plastic!

The Future is Here: Powered Exoskeletons!

Hello and welcome to a new segment on this site. With all the futuristic developments emerging on a daily basis, and given my own obsession with the coming singularity, I thought a segment on new inventions might be worthwhile.

And thanks go to Dave DeMar for giving me the idea for today’s post! As usual, his cheeky and fun take on the day’s events were a source of inspiration. And they also got me thinking… The clip below shows the news story on Rewalk, the latest development for paraplegics which actually helps them walk. Fans of Glee will no doubt remember it being featured in a recent episode, where the character of Artie got one for Christmas and said how an inventor in Israel was responsible for the development.

File:Hybrid Assistive Limb.jpgSeeing that again got me thinking. I’ve been fascinated with the topic of powered exoskeletons for some time, ever since I began researching it for an upcoming book of mine (the planned sequel to Data Miners: Data Pirates!). As part of the larger phenomena known as Future Soldier, it is the latest in a series of advanced technologies which are being proposed for 21st century warfare.

But of course, the civilian applications are just as interesting and a lot more endearing. Sure, giving soldiers super strength and endurance is cool, but providing the handi-capable with the means to walk and achieve the kinds of full-range of motion the rest of us take for granted is kinda more important, wouldn’t ya say?

However, the coolness doesn’t stop there. Powered exoskeletons are also likely to come in handy in an age of deep-space travel and colonization, should we ever get there. After all, acceleration inside of a ship can produce some pretty fierce stress on the human body, and there are a lot of terrestrial environments where the gravity is more than we’re used to dealing with. Suits of powered armor could be just what we need to get around and do our thing until our bodies adapt to spacing and alien environments.

Way cool! With inventions like these, things like the Iron Man suit may not be as farfetched as all that. Once more, we see the future coming faster than previously thought. But then again, science fiction becomes science fact all the time. Also, check out the clip below and prepare to be inspired!