5 ms·

Now you see them: DARPA's Stealth Revolution (2008) [pdf]

31 points by godelmachine 9y ago

melling 9y ago
DARPA has dozens of projects. http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Technology-Article.asp?ArtNum=59 http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Technology-Article.asp?ArtNum=... We have self-driving cars and the Internet because of DARPA. It sort of like a government sponsored X-Prize.
- godelmachine 9y ago
  Self driving cars because of DARPA? Hmmmm. Interesting. Gotta read up on that. May I ask name of the Genesis project for self driving cars?
  - dogma1138 9y ago
    I was the Autonomous Land Vehicle (ALV) program and it lead to the pioneering of neural networks by CMU. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilP4aPDTBPE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilP4aPDTBPE http://repository.cmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2874&context=compsci http://repository.cmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2874&c...
    - melling 9y ago
      The idea of neural networks go back a lot further than CMU. http://www.andreykurenkov.com/writing/ai/a-brief-history-of-neural-nets-and-deep-learning/ http://www.andreykurenkov.com/writing/ai/a-brief-history-of-...
      - dogma1138 9y ago
        I should’ve been more clear IIRC ALVINN was the first ANN based computer vision decision making implementation in the world at the time. It was also one of the first practical applications of an ANN in general.
  - melling 9y ago
    The DARPA Grand Challenge. NOVA has a special on it. It might be on YouTube too.’ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/darpa/ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/darpa/
    - godelmachine 9y ago
      Oh yes this is it!! I was trying to remember DARPA Grand Challenge as a possible candidate for one of the DARPA programs to pioneer Computer Vision in self driving vehicles. Also had Sebastian Thrun lingering in my subconscious. But then thought the real DARPA program that gave us self driving cars must be somewhere in 70's or 80's
- systematical 9y ago
  DARPA needs to be unleashed on global warming. Their has to be a means of "scooping" CO2 and other green house gases out of the sky with autonmous solar powered drones and breaking them down, for instance breakdown CO2 to Carbon and Oxygen. The idea may sound absurd but I believe it threads the needle of the GOPs love for defense spending and opposition to negative economic impacts, with everyone elses desire to save the planet.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - jwatte 9y ago
    The machine that turns CO2, sunlight, and water into sugar and oxygen is already invented. Unfortunately, we're poisoning the most important instance (in the oceans) and clearing another (in developing countries) wholesale, leading to less biomass where there needs to be more.
    - cryptonector 9y ago
      Forests are coming back and have been for a while. Back in the 90s the Clinton Administration made a big deal of this during the Kyoto negotiations.
montrose 9y ago
"Management at Lockheed’s Skunk Works soon learned of the DARPA competition. Lockheed had not been invited to participate because they had not produced a fighter in nearly 20 years and DARPA was unaware of their work on the A-12/SR-71 aircraft."
- godelmachine 9y ago
  The only question lingering in my mind is what would had the been the structural shape of Lockheed Have Blue, had they had more computing power?
  - ThenAsNow 9y ago
    If they'd had both the computational power AND the numerical modeling approaches/theory that were later developed, e.g., modified method of moments, then the vehicles would look a lot more like more contemporary "stealth" aircraft, e.g., B-2, JSF, YF-23, etc. Note that it's a lot easier to get an efficient aerodynamic and low observable platform when you can appropriately harness curvature. If you have enough interest to go beyond these documents that are "web length" and would like to delve into the engineering and programmatic details, I cannot recommend enough the AIAA book "Have Blue and the F-117A: Evolution of the "Stealth Fighter": https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/book/10.2514/4.867958 https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/book/10.2514/4.867958 . It is easily one of the best books out there on the development of an advanced technology / rapid prototyping aircraft, and you'll marvel at how little context any of the usual web length writeups or TV shows actually give you.
    - godelmachine 9y ago
      "Have Blue and the F-117A: Evolution of the Stealth Fighter" I swear to God I'd noted this book in my to-read list today itself. There's no pic attach menu available here, else I would post a snapshot of my to-read list. Apart from that, I had also noted these two - "Area 51 Black Jets A history of the aircraft developed at Groom Lake" "Inside the stealth bomber" Had you had the opportunity to read these two? Thanks for the suggestion.
godelmachine 9y ago
The most inspiring para for me -> Under HAVE BLUE, Lockheed built two manned technology dem- onstrators to validate Lockheed’s pole model results. Even though these test vehicles made use of conventional o -the-shelf compo- nents and subsystems, they were truly revolutionary. Their shap- ing and materials were so important that their impact on aircraft survivability changed the way the U.S. Air Force ghts. Technologies nurtured by DARPA included RCS reduction, RAM development, infrared shielding, reduced visual signatures, low-probability-of- intercept radar, inlet shielding, exhaust cooling and shaping, and other signature reduction disciplines. First ight occurred in April 1977, and both aircraft were tested extensively. Eventually both were lost during ight test mishaps, but the results were clear. On Nov. 16, 1978, Lockheed received a contract for full-scale engineering devel- opment of what would become the F-117.

31 points by godelmachine 9y ago

DARPA has dozens of projects. http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Technology-Article.asp?ArtNum=59 http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Technology-Article.asp?ArtNum=... We have self-driving cars and the Internet because of DARPA. It sort of like a government sponsored X-Prize.

godelmachine 9y ago
Self driving cars because of DARPA? Hmmmm. Interesting. Gotta read up on that. May I ask name of the Genesis project for self driving cars?
- dogma1138 9y ago
  I was the Autonomous Land Vehicle (ALV) program and it lead to the pioneering of neural networks by CMU. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilP4aPDTBPE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilP4aPDTBPE http://repository.cmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2874&context=compsci http://repository.cmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2874&c...
  - melling 9y ago
    The idea of neural networks go back a lot further than CMU. http://www.andreykurenkov.com/writing/ai/a-brief-history-of-neural-nets-and-deep-learning/ http://www.andreykurenkov.com/writing/ai/a-brief-history-of-...
    - dogma1138 9y ago
      I should’ve been more clear IIRC ALVINN was the first ANN based computer vision decision making implementation in the world at the time. It was also one of the first practical applications of an ANN in general.
- melling 9y ago
  The DARPA Grand Challenge. NOVA has a special on it. It might be on YouTube too.’ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/darpa/ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/darpa/
  - godelmachine 9y ago
    Oh yes this is it!! I was trying to remember DARPA Grand Challenge as a possible candidate for one of the DARPA programs to pioneer Computer Vision in self driving vehicles. Also had Sebastian Thrun lingering in my subconscious. But then thought the real DARPA program that gave us self driving cars must be somewhere in 70's or 80's
systematical 9y ago
DARPA needs to be unleashed on global warming. Their has to be a means of "scooping" CO2 and other green house gases out of the sky with autonmous solar powered drones and breaking them down, for instance breakdown CO2 to Carbon and Oxygen. The idea may sound absurd but I believe it threads the needle of the GOPs love for defense spending and opposition to negative economic impacts, with everyone elses desire to save the planet.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- jwatte 9y ago
  The machine that turns CO2, sunlight, and water into sugar and oxygen is already invented. Unfortunately, we're poisoning the most important instance (in the oceans) and clearing another (in developing countries) wholesale, leading to less biomass where there needs to be more.
  - cryptonector 9y ago
    Forests are coming back and have been for a while. Back in the 90s the Clinton Administration made a big deal of this during the Kyoto negotiations.

montrose 9y ago

"Management at Lockheed’s Skunk Works soon learned of the DARPA competition. Lockheed had not been invited to participate because they had not produced a fighter in nearly 20 years and DARPA was unaware of their work on the A-12/SR-71 aircraft."

godelmachine 9y ago
The only question lingering in my mind is what would had the been the structural shape of Lockheed Have Blue, had they had more computing power?
- ThenAsNow 9y ago
  If they'd had both the computational power AND the numerical modeling approaches/theory that were later developed, e.g., modified method of moments, then the vehicles would look a lot more like more contemporary "stealth" aircraft, e.g., B-2, JSF, YF-23, etc. Note that it's a lot easier to get an efficient aerodynamic and low observable platform when you can appropriately harness curvature. If you have enough interest to go beyond these documents that are "web length" and would like to delve into the engineering and programmatic details, I cannot recommend enough the AIAA book "Have Blue and the F-117A: Evolution of the "Stealth Fighter": https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/book/10.2514/4.867958 https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/book/10.2514/4.867958 . It is easily one of the best books out there on the development of an advanced technology / rapid prototyping aircraft, and you'll marvel at how little context any of the usual web length writeups or TV shows actually give you.
  - godelmachine 9y ago
    "Have Blue and the F-117A: Evolution of the Stealth Fighter" I swear to God I'd noted this book in my to-read list today itself. There's no pic attach menu available here, else I would post a snapshot of my to-read list. Apart from that, I had also noted these two - "Area 51 Black Jets A history of the aircraft developed at Groom Lake" "Inside the stealth bomber" Had you had the opportunity to read these two? Thanks for the suggestion.

godelmachine 9y ago

The most inspiring para for me -> Under HAVE BLUE, Lockheed built two manned technology dem- onstrators to validate Lockheed’s pole model results. Even though these test vehicles made use of conventional o -the-shelf compo- nents and subsystems, they were truly revolutionary. Their shap- ing and materials were so important that their impact on aircraft survivability changed the way the U.S. Air Force ghts. Technologies nurtured by DARPA included RCS reduction, RAM development, infrared shielding, reduced visual signatures, low-probability-of- intercept radar, inlet shielding, exhaust cooling and shaping, and other signature reduction disciplines. First ight occurred in April 1977, and both aircraft were tested extensively. Eventually both were lost during ight test mishaps, but the results were clear. On Nov. 16, 1978, Lockheed received a contract for full-scale engineering devel- opment of what would become the F-117.