DARPA Unveils an Android-Based Ground Sensor Device 28
DeviceGuru writes "DARPA announced a sensor reference system device based on a new Android-based sensor processing core called the ADAPTable Sensor System (a.k.a. ADAPT). The initial ADAPT reference device, called UGS (unattended ground sensor), is designed as the basis for a series of lower-cost, more upgradable sensor devices for military applications. The ADAPT program is part of larger effort by the U.S. military to reduce the costs and speed production schedules for military equipment, using an ODM process similar to that of the commercial smartphone industry. Potential applications for the technology include swarms of hive-mind UAVs or robots, or perimeter security sensors hidden at a deployed airfield or underground, all networked together and capable of transmitting video."
JEOPARDY QUESTION (Score:2)
WTF is a Ground Sensor??
Re: (Score:2)
"Lower-cost" was a criterion. Just compile natively with the Android NDK [android.com] in C/C++ or any compatible language.
Re: (Score:2)
They couldn't use iOS even if they wanted to because Apple isn't licensing it. And they can write C code under Android.
Quite the opposite: C/C++ code is at risk for memory leaks. People occasionally retain pointers in Java, but those problems are easy to track down. More importantly, with Java, there is no risk of memory corruption.
Android? (Score:2)
Why Android?
I mean I'm a big proponent of embedded Linux, but I just can't understand why every big company or government that deals with embedded devices wants Java on there. I understand the need for high level APIs and using common systems, but still. Android is a monster designed for tablets and phones. If you stripped out the UI you wouldn't really have android any more. You'd just have an embedded Linux platform with a few Java APIs on top.
That isn't to say Android is useless. It's designed for t
what alternative do they have? (Score:4, Insightful)
They want a mainstream, widely used platform for the developer, tool, and libraray support. They don't want to use C/C++ as their primary language (but have the option of using it when necessary). For R&D, an embedded UI is useful. For audio and video applications, they need an ARM chip anyway (as opposed to a smaller, cheaper embedded chip). And Android is actually optimized for long battery life, audio, video, and sensing (since that's what phones do). Realistically, what other choices are there?
Re: (Score:2)
All those distributions are designed for desktop use; they aren't optimized for low battery usage or embedded applications and they have a huge footprint. None of them currently mainstream Linux GUIs are lightweight, and the Linux GUI space is changing again in unpredictable ways. None of them have an obvious mainstream IDE that you can sit an average programmer in front of and say "start coding". Furthermore, if they'd go that route, they have to program in C/C++, which they don't want. Java on Linux is bl
Re: (Score:3)
You might programming to the metal would be better for military, but they are targeting upgradability. They want to be able to load same "apps" on different platforms without recompilation.
Re: (Score:2)
The reason agile isn't used is because it doesn't work with security very well. You must establish high level security properties and track them down to low level enforcement mechanisms. Agile says to build essentially a dirty snowball and when you are done, you will have no clue as to what security is actually provided except some ad hoc mechanisms thrown into an ad hoc design.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Android is safer than Linux because you can set permissions on a per-app basis.
Does not say what h/w they are using... (Score:4, Informative)
Linked articles not very informative...one of the many SoCs available, I suppose. A little more info here, but not much.
http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Releases/2013/05/29.aspx [darpa.mil]
Not sure why they need the Android layer; what does that bring above the many distros already available? (Thinking of things like Pi, Arduino...)
What next, DARPA play store?
BTW, for those of you wondering, ODM=Original Design Manufacturers...
Ground Sensor (Score:2)
A Ground Sensor is pretty cool. Now, if they could get a Voltage Sensor too, each Android could store a single bit! Watch out human race, here we come!
Great for spying on Americans (Score:2)
They could have had this in 2011 (Score:1)
The ancient history of ground sensors (Score:2)