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The mysterious Raider will be the Air Force’s first new bomber in more than 30 years.


The U.S. Air Force and Northrop Grumman have released the first new image of the B-21 Raider bomber in nearly four years. The image, designed to show the plane in hangars at air bases across the country, shows a few more details of the stealthy bomber. According to aviation experts, the new plane looks like the B-2 bomber—with some key differences.

The three images show the plane sitting in hangars at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota, Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, and Dyess Air Force Base in Texas. Ellsworth and Dyess are currently home to B-1B Lancer bombers, while Whiteman is home to America’s fleet of B-2A Spirit bombers. The B-21 Raider will eventually replace both types.

The Ph.D. thesis by Daniel Teso-Fernández de Betoño of the UPV/EHU Faculty of Engineering in Vitoria-Gasteiz has resulted in a mobile, collaborative platform capable of performing tasks in motion at the Mercedes-Benz plant in the capital of Alava. The research opens up a new field for improving the ergonomics of these workstations and for the robot and human to collaborate by performing tasks together.

The idea of collaborative robotics with autonomous navigation to perform screwdriving tasks in motion emerged at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Vitoria-Gasteiz. To develop his Ph.D. thesis, Daniel Teso-Fernández de Betoño sought to investigate, develop and implement an adequate, efficient technology within the lines of work, and which would cooperate with the workers.

On the Mercedes-Benz final assembly lines, the vast majority of tasks require manual operations. It is also an area where everything is in motion, which means that not all types of people can opt to work in these spaces.

We were all promised the future would be like the Jetsons, with push-button flying cars. What happened? Well, multiple firms are developing flying cars right now, but the inhibiting factor for widespread adoption may not be in the hardware or software: but due to an unlikely source: insurance. These vehicles are expected to be radically different from either helicopters or fixed wing aircraft, and as such insurance industry has little baseline data on which to assess risk. The obvious implications of vehicle falling a crowded downtown street make this a serious issue. What can be done? Jim has a definite opinion on the subject.

Manufacturing veteran James Anderton expresses his compelling and unique opinions about the state of the manufacturing sector. He shares his thoughts and insights to help engineering and manufacturing professionals navigate through the challenges of world events, the blending old with new technologies, evolving processes, gaps in skilled labour, in an effort to help maximize productivity of their daily operations.

James is a former editor of trade publications in the automotive, metalworking and plastics industries with contributions to a wide range of print and on-line publications. He also brings prior industry experience in quality and manufacturing for a Tier One automotive supplier.

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