How GPS changed airdrops

by Airman 1st Class Autumn Velez
7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs

8/19/2015 - DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas  -- When thinking of the Global Position System or GPS, satellites orbiting the earth may come to mind; but at Dyess, the 317th Airlift Group is using GPS to enhance the accuracy of airdrops.

"The term JPADS basically encompasses precision airdrops," said Capt. James Morris, 40th Airlift Squadron C-130J Super Hercules weapons officer said.  "It's a more precise way of employing airdrop capabilities by using GPS."

There are two types of Joint Precision Airdrop Systems; guided JPADS and Improvised Container Delivery System. Both applications begin with the deployment of a sonde.

A sonde is a GPS receiver that is dropped by a loadmaster and makes its way down an air column using its own parachute over the planned drop zone during the aircraft's first pass. The release point is calculated by a computer through climatology and meteorological information. The sonde then collects coordinates for its position as it moves through the air column. These points are transmitted back to the aircraft system.

"As the sonde falls to the ground, it takes snap shots, so here I am, here I am, all the way down," Morris said. "With that data, we can determine what the actual, no kidding winds are."

While traditional methods have a predetermined drop point, the sonde allows aircrews to take the information collected and calculate a better release point. This results in equipment landing closer to its targeted location.

The difference between a guided JPADS and I-CDS airdrop comes in once the sonde is dropped.

A guided JPADS, also referred to as a guided-bundle, is a bundle that has an Autonomous Guidance Unit attached to the top of it. The AGU contains a battery power pack, a GPS receiver, and guidance, navigation and control software package. Together, the AGU works to relay the bundle's position to the servomechanism, a device that communicates to the parachute to make the appropriate adjustments to reach the drop zone.

"Think of a paratrooper under a parachute," Morris said. "The box makes calculations to steer the bundle to a target on the ground just as human would."

Sondes are used in addition to the AGU to provide an accurate release pass, which ensures the airdrop is as accurate as possible.

On the other hand, there is I-CDS. I-CDS is a type of bundle that derives from the container delivery system bundle. Traditionally, I-CDS bundles drop at a predetermined point with the intention to meet the point of impact on the drop zone.  Even though this method is more accurate than traditional CDS airdrop, especially from higher altitudes, they aren't necessarily as accurate as JPADS.

With the addition of the sonde, aircrews are able to get a better idea of the effects of the air column.

"We have been using container delivery systems for years," Morris said.  "When JPADS rolled around, we thought, 'Hey we are going to take these methods and improve traditional CDS.'"

With the help of GPS, the 317th can accurately accomplish the mission.

"Being able to use JPADS greatly enhances my job by allowing me to accurately and effectively deliver much needed equipment and supplies to our ground forces throughout our area of operation," said Senior Airman Jaime Richards-Granger, 39th Airlift Squadron loadmaster.

As GPS celebrates its 20th year, Robins' 567th EMXS maintains units used by Air Force, Navy

by Jenny Gordon
78th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

7/20/2015 - ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- For the last 20 years, the world has experienced the unique capabilities of a satellite precision navigation and timing system that has enhanced the quality of our everyday lives. The technology's fast-tracking, real-time capabilities, used by civilians as well as the military as part of national and global security efforts.

This month we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the GPS, or global positioning system -- July 17, 1995, when Air Force Space Command declared full operational capability of the system.

During this time, a shop in the 567th Electronics Maintenance Squadron here has been responsible for repairing and testing receivers used on various weapon systems supported by the Air Force and Navy.

Bathed under bright lights and a maze of wires and work stations, there's a shop in the 567th EMXS responsible for repairing and testing several types of receivers used to communicate with GPS satellites.

John Fullington, a 402nd Electronics Maintenance Group electronics technician, has been at Robins since 1989. He said he remembers the shop getting its first assets in 1990, starting with prototypes.

"We've been going pretty strong ever since," he said.

He remembers the shop busily repairing receivers after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and the workload is still active today. In 2014, nearly 500 units came through the shop.

Technicians use one of several test stations to test individual circuit cards located inside a receiver. Among several receivers tested by one of the shop's seven technicians is the 12-channel 3A SAASM receiver, which has been modified over the years to use less circuit card space, making it lighter and more efficient.

There's also JPADS, or the Joint Precision Airdrop System, which is used to direct equipment to the ground once it's deployed from an aircraft.

According to AFSPC, today's Airmen conduct resupply missions with battlefield precision airdrops to combat forces with GPS-guided parachute-delivered equipment pallets; and during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, significant contributions were made, including the delivery of 5,500 GPS-guided Joint Direct Attack Munitions with pinpoint precision.

Glenn Collins, an electronics mechanic at Robins for 33 years, has worked in the shop since its inception. He operates a 'hot mock-up' station where satellite signals are searched in real-time to make sure receivers are working properly.

"We can now see which satellites are available," he said. "I've enjoyed many years getting things out back to the warfighter. I'm proud to have been a part of this."   

The station's configuration was fabricated in the shop years ago and is still used today. Within about 15 minutes, Collins can get a quick fix on which satellites are in view at the moment, giving him a good read on whether information that's been downloaded on a receiver works or not.

Whether GPS guides stormtrackers to accurately forecast the next big storm or successfully leads troops out of harm's way, there's little doubt its benefits have impacted the world and will continue for many years.

EarthScope GPS Station, Point Loma, Calif.

HPWREN (High Performance Wireless Research and Education Network) cyberinfrastructure has enhanced the science and public service applications of the EarthScope global positioning system (GPS) station at Point Loma, San Diego, Calif.

The Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO) GPS station P475 is a strategic site for the earthquake science community. PBO is a geodetic component of EarthScope, operated by UNAVCO, and funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). EarthScope is a program that deploys thousands of seismic, GPS and other geophysical instruments to study the structure and evolution of the North American continent and the processes the cause earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

To learn more about HPWREN, also supported by NSF, visit the HPWREN website. Further information about EarthScope is available Here.

(Date of Image: 2003)

Credit: High Performance Wireless Research and Education Network (HPWREN)/http://hpwren.ucsd.edu

Naval Research Lab – The Makers Of The GPS

Did you know that the GPS was invented by scientists at the Naval Research Center ?

Well now you do.

One of NRL’s greatest accomplishments has been the invention and development of the enabling technologies that became the Global Positioning System (GPS) .

Like another towering NRL achievement in an earlier generation, radar, GPS has transformed warfare while also providing major benefits to navigation.

GPS is not only a global navigation aid, it is also the means for precision time and time transfer throughout the world, which has wide ranging and influential impact on communications and commerce; these features are a direct outcome of the technology envisioned and introduced by NRL scientists and engineers.

This bibliography  is offered as an aid to those who are interested in better understanding the NRL role in the origins of GPS.  Bibliographic citations, primarily of published works, are presented.

These are annotated with abstracts, photos, and figures to facilitate selecting which of the referenced papers to examine more closely. A timeline is provided to aid in setting the citations in their context of historical development.

Learn more about what made all our lives easier, or at the very  least, a little less lost.

You have arrived.

New Mobile App Offers “Jackpot” of Stress-Relieving Activities

By Robyn Mincher, DCoE Strategic Communications

The newest mobile application from National Center for Telehealth and Technology (T2) encourages you to get moving.

Designed for those experiencing post-combat stress, “Positive Activity Jackpot,” available for Android systems, helps users creatively plan fun activities using “pleasant events scheduling,” a behavioral health therapy used to help regulate emotions and cope with stress.

“If you have enough positive events in your week, you’re just going to feel better,” said Dr. Amanda Edwards Stewart, T2 clinical psychologist. “With this therapy, we say ‘what can you do today to make yourself feel better?’ and go through a list [of activities]. The cool thing about a mobile app is that your phone has so much more functionality than sitting with a clinician.”

The app offers many ways to find activities in your community using the phone’s GPS navigation feature. Users can use a step-by-step search function to choose an activity based on its distance, cost or one that just suits their current mood. They can also search through the app’s “Jackpot!” game-like feature where users can pull a lever on a slot-machine screen to flip through a random list of local activities in their area found by the GPS.

“If a user wants a water activity, it pairs them up with the location and contact information of a place that rents boats. They can also contact people to come with them, either through their phone contact list or social media,” said Stewart.

After they participate in an activity, one can rate it to record how it helped their mood. If they don’t want to partake in an activity at the moment, users can schedule a future event on the app’s calendar. The app also links directly to contact information for the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline in case a user wants to talk to a trained professional.

While the app isn’t intended to replace provider treatment, it encourages positive thinking and promotes resilience by being proactive.

“When you don’t have enough that is positive in your day-to-day life, it can impact your mood,” Stewart said. “In order to help build resilience to face tough times and keep your mood up during stress, you need enough positive events in your week. It helps you cope with stress easier and keeps your mood up.”

The app is the latest mobile resource that T2, a Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury center, developed using unique technology to advance psychological health in the military community. These apps not only make resources more accessible, they encourage help-seeking behavior.

“We’re providing ways people can get mental health care that minimize stigma,” Stewart said. “Putting this app in a service member’s hands gives them tools to help themselves and helps connects them to providers when needed.”

T2 offers a clinician’s guide for the “Positive Activity Jackpot” mobile app that explains pleasant events scheduling therapy and helps navigate through the app’s features. Download the app and let us know what you think.

NASA $1.5 Million Robot Competition Rolls Onto WPI Campus June 14-17

David E. Steitz

Headquarters, Washington                                   

202-358-1730

david.steitz@nasa.gov

 

Janet L. Anderson

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.

256-544-0034

janet.l.anderson@nasa.gov

 

Tom Bradley

Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, Mass.

860-967-5357

tbradleypr@yahoo.com

 

WASHINGTON -- Autonomous robots created by 11 teams of engineers from across the country will compete for a NASA prize purse of $1.5 million on the campus of Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), in Worcester, Mass., June 14 -17. The challenge: design and develop the next generation of robots to explore the landscapes of other worlds.

The NASA-WPI Sample Return Robot Challenge requires the competing teams to design and build an autonomous robotic system that will locate and collect a set of specific objects from a large area and return the "planetary samples" to the starting zone.

The innovative technologies the teams bring forward can help NASA in future exploration of distant planets while also potentially benefiting life here on Earth. Earthly benefits could include areas such as disaster recovery and mitigation and remote exploration and mapping of hazardous terrains.

The NASA-WPI Sample Return Robot goals are to discover innovative new technologies to advance robot navigation and sample collection without human control, and demonstrate robotic transportation over varied terrain without the aid of GPS or other Earth-based systems. The competition also will empower educators and people of all ages by introducing robotics and how they work, where they work, and real-world applications of how robots will be used the future.

The competition's roving area includes open rolling terrain, soft soils, a variety of rocks and immovable obstacles such as trees, large rocks and water hazards. Teams will be given maps with appropriate orbital resolution, including the location of the starting position and a pre-cached sample, but will have no control of the robots during the competition.

Robots will have to identify and collect samples and return them to their starting point. Samples will have different point values. Prizes will be determined based on the scores for the number and point value of samples collected and returned to the starting location.

During the first phase of the competition, a robot must autonomously navigate and retrieve a pre-cached sample within 15minutes. Teams will compete for portions of a $50,000 total prize purse, with a maximum winning value of $5,000 per team.

In the second phase, a robot must autonomously navigate and retrieve pre-cached samples as well as other, more difficult samples distributed over the roving area within two hours. Teams will compete for up to $1.5 million during this phase, with awards depending on the amount of points scored and number of successful competing finalists.

WPI is the first university selected as host and manager for one of NASA's Centennial Challenges Programs, which promotes technical innovation through novel prize competitions. NASA chose WPI to run this Centennial Challenge because of its proven experience managing robotics competitions, its academic expertise in robotics engineering, and its leadership in science, technology, engineering and mathematic education.

NASA uses prize competitions to establish important technical challenges without having to specify the approach that is most likely to succeed, while only paying for successful results. These competitions increase the number and diversity of individuals, organizations and teams that are addressing a particular problem or challenge of national or international significance. These challenges stimulate private sector investment many times greater than the cash value of the prize.

Media wanting to attend the NASA-WPI Sample Robot Return Challenge should contact Tom Bradley of WPI at 860-967-5357 or at tbradleypr@yahoo.com for press credentials.

The Centennial Challenges are part of NASA's Space Technology Program. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/challenges.

For more information about WPI, visit http://www.wpi.edu and http://touchtomorrow.wpi.edu.

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