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This paper describes an approach to integrating high-fidelity vehicle dynamics with a high-fidelity gaming engine, specifically with respect to terrain. The work is motivated by the experimental need to have both high-fidelity visual content with high-fidelity vehicle dynamics to drive a motion base simulator. To utilize a single source of terrain information, the problem requires the just-in-time sharing of terrain content between the gaming engine and the dynamics model. The solution is implemented as a client-server with the gaming engine acting as a stateless server and the dynamics acting as the client. The client is designed to actively maintain a locally cashed terrain grid around the vehicle and actively refresh it by polling the server in an on-demand mode of operation. The paper discusses the overall architecture, the protocol, the server, and the client designs. A practical implementation is described and shown to effectively function in real-time.

In alignment with the U.S. Army's Climate Strategy and the broader trend in automotive technology, there is a strategic shift towards electrification and hybridization of the vehicle fleet. While a major goal of this effort is to mitigate the carbon footprint of the U.S. Army's vehicle operations, this transition also presents an opportunity to harness advancements in automotive electrification. Among the key vehicles in focus are tactical wheeled vehicles, which provide military forces with versatile and rugged transportation solutions for various combat scenarios, ensuring mobility, protection, and adaptability on the battlefield. This study investigates the potential of electrified tactical wheeled vehicles by conducting a survey involving a diverse group of vehicle operators across various ranks within the U.S. Army.

In recent years, the increasing complexity of modern aerospace systems has driven the rapid adoption of robust Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE). MBSE is a development methodology centered around computational models, which are instrumental in supporting the design and analysis of intricate systems. In this context, the Architecture Analysis and Design Language (AADL) and Systems Modeling Language (SysML) are two prominent modeling languages for specifying and analyzing the structure and behavior of a cyber-physical system. Both languages have their own specific use cases and tool environments and are typically employed to model different aspects of system design. Although multiple software tools are available for transforming models from one language to another, their effectiveness is limited by fundamental differences in the semantics of each language.

Abstract In the last decades we have witnessed an increasing number of military operations in urban environments. Complex urban operations require high standards of training, equipment, and personnel. Emergency forces on the ground will need specialized vehicles to support them in all parts and levels of this extremely demanding environment including the subterranean and interior of infrastructure. The development of vehicles for this environment has lagged but offers a high payoff. This article describes the method for developing a concept for an urban operations vehicle by characterization of the urban environment, deduction of key issues, evaluation of related prototyping, science fiction story-typing of the requirements for such a vehicle, and comparison with field-proven and scalable solutions. Embedding these thoughts into a comprehensive research and development program provides lines of development, setting the stage for further research.

Success in metal additive manufacturing (AM) relies on the optimization of a large set of process parameters to achieve materials whose properties and performance meet design and safety requirements. Despite continuous improvements in the process over the years, the quality of AM parts remains a major concern for manufacturers. Today, researchers are starting to move from discrete geometry-dependent build parameters to continuously variable or dynamically changing parameters that are geometry- and scan-path aware. This approach has become known as “feedforward control.” Process Control for Defect Mitigation in Laser Powder Bed Fusion Additive Manufacturing discusses the origins of feedforward control, its early implementations in AM, the current state of the art, and a path forward to its broader adoption. Click here to access the full SAE EDGETM Research Report portfolio.

This standard defines requirements for the preparation and execution of the audit process. In addition, it defines the content and composition for the audit reporting of conformity and process effectiveness to the 9100-series standards, the organization's QMS documentation, and customer and statutory/regulatory requirements. The requirements in this standard are additions or represent changes to the requirements and guidelines in the standards for conformity assessment, auditing, and certification as published by ISO/IEC (i.e., ISO/IEC 17000, ISO/IEC 17021-1). When there is conflict with these standards, the requirements of the 9101 standard shall take precedence.

Abstract Letter from the Guest Editors

Abstract Fighter pilots must study models of aircraft dynamics before learning complex maneuvers and tactics. Similarly, autonomous fighter aircraft applications may benefit from a model-based learning approach. Instead of using a preexisting physics model of a given aircraft, a machine learning system can learn a predictive model of the aircraft physics from training data. Furthermore, it can model interactions between multiple friendly aircraft, enemy aircraft, and the environment. Such a system can also learn to represent state variables that are not directly observable, as well as dynamics that are not hard coded. Existing model-based methods use a deep neural network that takes observable state information and agent actions as input and provides predictions of future observations as output. The proposed method builds upon this approach by adding a residual feedforward skip connection from some of the inputs to all of the outputs of the deep neural network.

The gear lubricants covered by this standard exceed American Petroleum Institute (API) Service Classification API GL-5 and are intended for hypoid-type, automotive gear units, operating under conditions of high-speed/shock load and low-speed/high-torque. These lubricants may be appropriate for other gear applications where the position of the shafts relative to each other and the type of gear flank contact involve a large percentage of sliding contact. Such applications typically require extreme pressure (EP) additives to prevent the adhesion and subsequent tearing away of material from the loaded gear flanks. These lubricants are not appropriate for the lubrication of worm gears. Appendix A is a mandatory part of this standard. The information contained in Appendix A is intended for the demonstration of compliance with the requirements of this standard and for listing on the Qualified Products List (QPL) administered by the Lubricant Review Institute (LRI).

As powertrain hybridization technologies are becoming popular, their application for heavy-duty military vehicles is drawing attention. An intelligent design and operation of the energy management system (EMS) is important to ensure that hybrid military vehicles can operate efficiently, simultaneously maximize fuel economy and minimize monetary cost, while successfully completing mission tasks. Furthermore, an integrated EMS framework is vital to ensure a functional vehicle power system (VPS) to survive through critical missions in a highly stochastic environment, when needed. This calls for situational awareness and dynamic system reconfiguration capabilities on-board of the military vehicle. This paper presents a new energy management and control (EMC) framework based on holistic situational awareness (SA) and dynamic reconfiguration of the VPS.

The gear lubricants covered by this standard exceed American Petroleum Institute (API) Service Classification API GL-5 and are intended for hypoid-type, automotive gear units, operating under conditions of high-speed/shock load and low-speed/high-torque. These lubricants may be appropriate for other gear applications where the position of the shafts relative to each other and the type of gear flank contact involve a large percentage of sliding contact. Such applications typically require extreme pressure (EP) additives to prevent the adhesion and subsequent tearing away of material from the loaded gear flanks. These lubricants are not appropriate for the lubrication of worm gears. Appendix A is a mandatory part of this standard. The information contained in Appendix A is intended for the demonstration of compliance with the requirements of this standard and for listing on the Qualified Products List (QPL) administered by the Lubricant Review Institute (LRI).

How Solid-State Technology Impacts A&D Equipment Testing The Role of Prototype/Test Systems in Next-Generation C5ISR Development Using Advanced Computational Engineering Software to Meet Aerospace & Defense Industry Challenges How Advanced Vacuum Bag Kits Streamline Composite Parts Manufacturing Replacing Multiple RF Receivers with Just One Using Channelization Air Force Technology Tracks "Sporadic E" Progress on Zirconia-Polyurea Matrix Hybrid Composites Incorporating zirconia particles into polyurea elastomers to form hybrid composites and designing them into state-of-the-art body armor has the potential to achieve lightweight ballistic efficiency. Bioenvironmental Engineering Guide for Composite Materials Developing a comprehensive baseline for identifying, evaluating, and controlling occupational and environmental hazards associated with composite fibers and materials for base-level Bioenvironmental Engineering (BE) personnel.

This document defines the minimum requirements for auditors, CBs, Auditor Authentication Bodies (AABs), Training Provider Approval Bodies (TPABs), and Training Providers (TPs) who participate in the IAQG Industry Controlled Other Party (ICOP) scheme. The requirements in this standard supplement those defined within the 9104/1, 9104/2, ISO/IEC 17021-1, and ISO/IEC 17021-3 standards. Data protection for the parties subject to this document and other relevant requirements of the ICOP scheme are managed via bi-lateral contracts between the joint controllers of the data.

Abstract The advancement in vision sensors and embedded technology created the opportunity in autonomous vehicles to look ahead in the future to avoid potential obstacles and steep regions to reach the target location as soon as possible and yet maintain vehicle safety from rollover. The present work focuses on developing a nonlinear model predictive controller (NMPC) for a high-speed off-road autonomous vehicle, which avoids undesirable conditions including stationary obstacles, moving obstacles, and steep regions while maintaining the vehicle safety from rollover. The NMPC controller is developed using CasADi tools in the MATLAB environment. The CasADi tool provides a platform to formulate the NMPC problem using symbolic expressions, which is an easy and efficient way of solving the optimization problem. In the present work, the vehicle lateral dynamics are modeled using the Pacejka nonlinear tire model.

Abstract Presently, 270 V direct current (DC) systems replace older 28 V DC voltage systems in both the civil and military aviation industry due to the requirement for more electrical power needs on board. Therefore, the existing avionics require retrofitting. The conversion from 270 V to 28 V appears to be quite promising for both old and new systems. This study aims to design an interleaved synchronous modular buck converter topology as a candidate for these requirements. Calculations for the converter design are conducted considering aviation standards. Switching with pulse-width modulation (PWM) is used to control the power converter. A double-loop feedback control system based on voltage and current feedback is designed. Therefore, the buck converter circuit with 1145 W power output is proposed, which supplies a 28 V and 41 A DC output from a 270 V DC input. The concept is verified using simulations and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) experimental results.

Why AS6500? Where did it come from? Why does it exist? Those are easy questions to answer. It came from the inspiration of angels and it exists to make your life, and your factory, more perfect. That's why, when you open the standard, you can still hear the faint echoes of the singing of angels. Actually, experts were gathered from across the country, both from the Defense Department and from industry to create the new document. They toiled away until the perfect product emerged from the fruit of their labors: Aerospace Standard AS6500, "Manufacturing Management Program," published in November 2014. How to Manage the Perfect Factory combines education and instruction with fun, laughter and motivation. The book gently pokes fun at the people and organizational barriers that the Manufacturing function must overcome to make those obstacles seem more surmountable while providing key information on implementing AS6500.

Abstract Threat identification and security analysis have become mandatory steps in the engineering design process of high-assurance systems, where successful cyberattacks can lead to hazardous property damage or loss of lives. This article describes a novel approach to perform security analysis on embedded systems modeled at the architectural level. The tool, called Security Threat Evaluation and Mitigation (STEM), associates threats from the Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC) library with components and connections and suggests potential defense patterns from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication (SP) 800-53 security standard. This article also provides an illustrative example based on a drone package delivery system modeled in AADL.

The “holy grail” for prognostics and health management (PHM) professionals in the aviation sector is to have integrated vehicle health management (IVHM) systems incorporated into standard aircraft maintenance policies. Such a change from current aerospace industry practices would lend credibility to this field by validating its claims of reducing repair and maintenance costs and, hence, the overall cost of ownership of the asset. Ultimately, more widespread use of advanced PHM techniques will have a positive impact on safety and, for some cases, might even allow aircraft designers to reduce the weight of components because the uncertainty associated with estimating their predicted useful life can be reduced. We will discuss how standard maintenance procedures are developed, who the various stakeholders are, and – based on this understanding - outline how new PHM systems can gain the required approval to be included in these standard practices.