This robot could be your new shipmate
April 17th, 2012 | Industry Science and technology | Posted by Sam Fellman
The hull crawler, here on display at the annual Navy League symposium, can aid sailors by crawling into a ship's hard-to-reach spots. // Photo by Sam Fellman
Meet the hull crawler. Think Roomba robot, but for your ship’s hull — a remote rover that could keep sailors from having to squeeze into tight spaces or going over the side.
It’s a shoe-box-sized robot that clings to a ship’s hull with magnets, a device initially built to scout out the underwater mines divers could place along a ship’s hull. But now, designers are looking for additional uses that may assist sailors in more mundane tasks, like spotting corrosion along the hull or motoring into hard-to-reach places like tanks and voids.
The system — which is not in the fleet — can be controlled by a crew member or rove autonomously, sending back a video feed from the camera mounted on its arm. Two tanklike treads move it along surfaces about 10 feet per minute.
The robot — designed by QinetiQ and the Applied Research Laboratory at Pennsylvania State University, and displayed at the Navy League’s annual Sea-Air-Space symposium outside Washington, D.C. — could also have a laser affixed and be dispatched to clean tanks and voids, a tough job that normally falls to nimble, young sailors, according to its developers.
“It’s actually quite slick,” Curt Brockelman, a program manager with QinetiQ, said of the laser, which is being tested. “It’s like a butter knife.”
The possibilities don’t end there. Hull crawler could even be deputized as a boatswain’s mate — touching up gray paint on the hull here and there with a brush on its robotic arm.
Disney looking to hire veterans
March 15th, 2012 | Blogs Entertainment Industry Navy Veterans Video | Posted by Blair Tomlinson
The Walt Disney Company is looking to hire 1,000 veterans over the next three years. Company President and CEO Bob Iger announced the company wide initiative called “Heroes Work Here” on Tuesday, March 13th.
There is much more to the new program than just hiring vets. Disney will hold career fairs, offer training and volunteer opportunities.
And don’t think you have to head to Orlando just to work at Disney. The company owns ESPN and ABC. Here is a full list of the companies in the Disney family.
Want to make your dreams come true? Check out the Disney Careers website.
So much for retirement …
January 4th, 2012 | Admirals Industry Navy Retired Navy | Posted by Bill McMichael
A Canadian security firm has added the former commander of Navy Region Mid-Atlantic to its board of directors.
On Jan. 3, security and identity management company Route1 Inc. announced the appointment of Rear Adm. Mark S. Boensel, who retired Jan. 1 after more than 33 years of service.
Boensel, who spent his last four years of active service at Mid-Atlantic Region, had an exceedingly diverse career that included years as a naval flight officer and flight instructor — he accumulated more than 3,200 flight hours and more than 600 carrier arrested landings — as a military assistant in the office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, as director of the Chief of Naval Operations Environmental Readiness Division and as commander of Navy Region Southeast.
Boensel also holds post-graduate degrees in Business Administration, International Relations, and National Security and Strategic Studies.
“It gives me great pleasure to welcome Admiral Boensel to the board of directors of Route1,” said Route1 Chairman Michael D. Harris. “He brings a wealth of knowledge and will make an excellent addition to our board.”