Tag Archives: guns

US Army Developing Robotic Exoskeletons?

Posted on by Christopher Files
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Whenever I hear a new piece of tech which is being developed with the aim of blurring the lines of real life and science fiction, I am curious, but it’s then sometimes followed by a groan when you realize it’s for the purposes of war, destruction and general super power posturing. A new Robotic Exoskeleton is being developed by yes the US army to assist in the training of soldiers and their shooting accuracy.

A gentleman by the name of Dan Baechle who is a mechanical engineer is testing MAXFAS, a mechatronic arm exoskeleton at the Army Research Laboratory in the United States. As you can see by the image below, this device contains a motor for the MAXFAS cable which is driven behind the wearer. This in turn pulls the cables that are attached to arm braces; the effect of this would be similar to a puppeteer who pulls strings to make certain objects move. The braces are constructed from carbon fibre; this is useful because it adds very little weight to the arm. Always amuses me when you’re handling a potentially lethal object but always remember to wear goggles.

By having sensors placed onto the braces it feels and corrects any shaking in the arm by sending signals to the motors. By doing this, the arm would be able to focus without the slightest of human tremors and therefore improves shooting accuracy at a faster rate, which is fantastic for the shooter, perhaps not so much for the target.

This design has the potential to be implemented outside of military circles, for example, if an individual has Parkinson’s disease and has a constant tremor, this might be able to help manage this. I also feel that perhaps the US government should lend its researchers and dev team to produce cutting edge tech with the aim of assisting the general public, after all, finances should be allocated for not only war but peace.

Thank You army.mil for providing us with this information

GTA V: Ill-Gotten Gains Part 2 DLC Release Date Revealed

Posted on by Chad Parry
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Rockstar has confirmed that GTA will be getting a part 2 to its Ill Gotten Gains pack, the pack features and array of new vehicles, which will launch on Wednesday the 8th of July. The new vehicles include the SUV Coil Brawler, the Lampadati Toro speedboat, the Progen T20 Supercar, the Vapid Chino with a custom plate, the Dinka Vindicator superbike and a new Inverto Coquette black fin model.

The DLC pack will also feature two new weapons for players to use the knuckle dusters for some more hand to hand carnage and an engraved marksman pistol, the pack will also be dropping with an array of new clothing and accessories and the Lab radio station. Rockstar have more plans to release another Ill-Gotten gains weekend starting the 10th of July. Plenty of more free content coming your way to Los Santos.

The pack offers a good amount of content and a few more hours of fun to the game not to mention adding more vehicles to collect and modify it’s great to see a continuous support of free content for the player base and hope to see more interesting DLC packs.

Do you look forward to the new array of vehicles and goodies?

Thank you VG24/7 for providing us with this information

No Packing Heat With Your Cab To Go

Posted on by Christopher Files
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Since its inception in early 2009, Uber prides itself on being at the forefront of both convenience and also cutting edge technology which has made the relatively mundane task of requesting a cab as simple as ordering a Mocha Choca Latte (I checked and as long as I don’t put “Ya Ya” at the end, this does not infringe a Lady Marmalade lyric) Anyway, by tapping an app to request a cab, Uber has expanded into 57 countries and has generated over 8 million users and counting.

But as a recent policy change shows, Uber would like its cab drivers and also customers to be more approachable and has subsequently placed a “No weapons policy” within the Legal section of its terms and conditions. This certainly differs from Uber’s previous stance which stated in April 2015 that it was fine to carry a firearm as long as the country or state law permits it.

So why has Uber had a sudden change of heart? Well as is often the case with an unexpected policy change, it’s more reactionary and is in response to an Uber driver who shot a man who was firing a pistol into a gathering of people in Chicago.

From a spectators point of view it’s interesting to see two very different worlds collide, one which is up to date tech and the other fairly primitive. Uber would have made this decision to avoid any potential incidents like the one in Chicago, but the effectiveness of this policy change may be questionable considering Uber cannot influence or monitor both drivers and customer’s actions.

Thank You Uber for providing us with this information

Image courtesy of misiongeek and BizPac

Army Exoskeleton Makes Gunshots More Accurate

Posted on by Ashley Allen
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The US Army has developed a revolutionary new exoskeleton that improves a soldier’s aim with a gun. The Mobile Arm Exoskeleton for Firearm Aim Stabilization (MAXFAS) automatically steadies a soldier’s gun arm, cancelling out trembling without locking the limb, leaving it free to point at other targets at will.

“Army soldiers have to be able to hit a target at over 300 yards away,” Daniel Baechle, co-creator of MAXFAS and mechanical engineer for the U.S. Army Research Laboratory in Aberdeen, Maryland, said. “That’s more than three football fields put end-to-end. Prior to basic training, many soldiers have never tried to hit a target that far away.”

“Using the Army standard M16 rifle, moving the muzzle by just one-sixteenth of an inch will result in the shot being off target by more than 17 inches at 300 yards away,” Baechele explains. “So even small tremors can result in huge aiming errors.”

Early studies on soldiers using MAXFAS show a shooting accuracy improvement of up to 27%, and Baechele hopes to improve the technology even further.

“The far-future concept I envision is that MAXFAS could become an untethered device, perhaps with motors, power supply, and control computer all in a backpack,” he predicts. “MAXFAS could then be worn on the battlefield to improve soldier aim. Alternatively, the tremor-damping algorithms could be incorporated into an existing or future exoskeleton.”

Couple MAXFAS with the recently-developed smart bullets and the US could be building the next generation of super soldiers.

Thank you Popular Science for providing us with this information.

Woman Shoots 50-Inch TV to Stop Her Kids Watching

Posted on by Ashley Allen
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40-year-old Jennifer Ullery was so sick of her kids being glued to the family television that, while the three children (6, 11, and 15-years old) were watching a Primus music video, she drew a Ruger .22 rifle and fired multiple shots into the 50-inch Panasonic flat screen TV.

Ullery (pictured above), of Illinois, USA, was charged with three counts of endangering the health and safety of a child, unlawful possession of a firearm without a Firearm Owner Identification (FOID) card and a felony charge of recklessly discharging a firearm. There were no physical injuries related to the incident, discounting the poor TV.

Deputy Chief Andrew Doles of Algonquin Sheriff’s Department, said of the incident, “A music video by Primus set Mom off and she opened fire. Mom didn’t say anything, she just walked into the room and started shooting the TV.”

In court, Ullery pleaded not guilty to all charges. She will return to court, after being released on $1,500 bail, at the end of April. If she cites Primus as her defence, she might be in with a chance.

Source: Digital Trends

New the Evil within DLC Has Zero Guns and More Cats!

Posted on by Gabriel Roşu
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The Evil Within’s latest DLC takes a completely different approach to the game and its stealth/action gameplay. First of all, the most important thing to notice is that the gameplay has no guns whatsoever, forcing the player to use only stealth.

The DLC, named The Assignment, sees a chapter from Juli Kidman’s perspective. A peculiar fact about the game and its gameplay is that the player has to save the game… by petting a cat! Though it may sound strange, if you played the original game, petting a cat is nothing compared to the weirdness found in the game.

As previously mentioned, the DLC focuses mainly on stealth, having removed all weapons inside the one hour gameplay. The players need to rely on sneaking, hiding and distractions to get through, but Tango Gameworks made sure you have all the features required at your disposal. They even added a shouting feature in order to aid players in progressing through the game, as well as new puzzles which rely on Kidman’s flashlight.

There have been a lot of controversy from players who prefer to use the action gameplay when playing the game, however fans of the more stealthy approach will be keen on giving this DLC a try.

Thank you Kotaku for providing us with this information

Gun Group Refused Sale of Carbon Fibre 3D Printer; Offers $15K Reward for One

Posted on by Ashley Allen
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Fabrication startup MarkForged has excited many by developing the world’s 3D printer, the Mark One, that can produce items using carbon fibre; a material as light as plastic, but as tough as metal. US political group Defense Distributed were one such enthusiastic party, with organisation founder Cody Wilson placing a pre-order of $8,000 for the 3D printer.

However, after Wilson boasted about how he was to use the device to construct firearms, MarkForged cancelled his order, citing terms of service that forbid private citizens from using the printer to build guns. Now, Wilson has posted a video to YouTube, offering a $15,000 “bounty” to anyone who can get him a carbon fibre printer. In it he says, “I’m going to get this printer. I’m going to make a gun with it. And I’m going to make sure everyone knows it was made with a MarkForged printer.”

Defense Distributed has a history of trying to procure 3D printing technology to make its own firearms. The group had a firearm 3D printing fundraiser banned from IndieGoGo back in 2012, while Stratasys has refused a request from them to hire a 3D printer that it intended to use to manufacture guns.

MarkForged insists that, had the company known who was trying to purchase one, it would have denied the pre-order immediately, telling WIRED, “Our website automatically took Mr. Wilson’s pre-order, and we certainly regret that we did not catch this sooner. We are expediting his refund with interest.”

Source: WIRED

US Defense Department Develops Bullet That Can Change Direction Mid-Air

Posted on by Ashley Allen
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The US Defense Department has developed a laser-guided bullet that can change its trajectory in mid-air to follow a moving target. The .50-calibre EXACTO bullet – and acronym for EXtreme ACcuracy Tasked Ordnance – has an inbuilt sensor that can track its target from the mounted laser on the sniper rifle it’s fired from.

“The EXACTO system seeks to improve sniper effectiveness and enhance troop safety by allowing greater shooting standoff range and reduction in target engagement timelines,” reads DARPA’s statement on the advanced round, boasting that its “specially designed ammunition and real-time optical guidance system help track and direct projectiles to their targets by compensating for weather, wind, target movement and other factors that could impede successful hits.”

Source: WND

German Police 3D Print Some Guns For Testing

Posted on by Peter Donnell
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People around the world have been saying that 3D printing is a national threat, not because people can craft that missing Lego brick that they really need, but because they can use it to print an untraceable, unregistered and potentially lethal weapon such as a gun. German police have taken up the challenge to test just how dangerous these weapons really are by 3D printing a range of their own.

There have been fears of 3D printed guns ever since Cody Wilson of Defence Distributed made a crude 3D printable gun and made the blueprints for the 3D model available for download. The prints were downloaded around 100,000 times before the US Office of Defence Trade Controls Compliance shut them down, although given how the internet works I doubt they’ve been able to remove them completely. What’s worse is that the gun, known as the Liberator was made using a 3D printer that cost just $8000, a price that has likely reduced since the original was created.

The German police have been busy testing how easy or hard it is to sneak the weapon through security checks and other such systems, naturally they haven’t really shared their results on that part. Yet the have told us that while the gun can fire a standard bullet 17cm into a standard firing block, the gun also has a habit of exploding when fired, it is after all just made from plastic.

Thank you Fudzilla for providing us with this information.

Image courtesy of The Register.