Since ALAFF’s last article on the ERA technopolis, it’s time to summarize some of its work, started, in fact, in the late summer of 2018. Over the past five months, the development of the ERA technopolis has been marked by several important events. The military «intellectual incubator» of the Defense Ministry of the Russian Federation was also present in the information sphere. So let’s look at some of the events.
November 22, 2018. The lab of the ERA technopolis, which employs dozens of researchers engaged in the development of breakthrough innovations for the army, is testing innovative material — the analogue of human skin.
In addition, according to scientists involved in this project, there is another task. It consists in refusing to conduct experiments on animals and work for these purposes on models of tissues and various organs. Source.
December 10, 2018. The first 79 operators of scientific companies completed military service in the ERA technopolis. The soldiers arrived in Anapa from all over the country to contribute to the innovative developments of technopolis.
During this time, operators have issued 2 patents for inventions, developed 1 rationalization proposal, submitted 3 applications for obtaining certificates of registration of computer programs, published over 100 articles in scientific journals and digests.
37 operators plan to continue military service, including in the ERA technopolis. Source.
December 20, 2018. Scientists of the South-Russian State Polytechnic University (SRSPU) will create a joint laboratory with technopolis ERA. The agreement on this was signed in Anapa by the heads of the SRSPU and the Military Innovation Technopolis ERA.
The parties agreed to cooperate in the implementation of joint projects in the field of research and experimental work, the development of breakthrough technologies for the creation of military and dual-use products, and also to establish strategic cooperation, including for the selection of qualified personnel from among graduates of SRSPU.
The university rector noted that medicine, IT, robotics and chemical technologies are the main areas in which the university is ready to cooperate with the Military Innovation Technopolis ERA already now. Source.
January 30, 2019. It is reported, that the youngest operators of scientific companies are 24 years old. A prerequisite for urgent military personnel is the presence of higher education. Candidates are selected according to special criteria: one need not only to have basic knowledge, but also to have experience in research activities. The competition for service in the ERA is about 8 people per seat. The most sought-after specialties in ERA are IT technologies, robotics, and biotechnology.
Currently, 160 operators of conscripts are serving in the ERA. The work of the complex is in full swing. Scientific directions are set. Four scientific companies are engaged in research. Soon, the technopolis will face major changes in infrastructure: the number of scientific companies will increase, there is already a decision by the Russian Defense Minister to establish the fifth scientific company, staffing of which is planned at the expense of graduates of leading universities and young engineers of relevant enterprises of the Tula region. Construction works of the second stage will be carried out, after which the number of scientific companies will be increased to 10.
The second testing laboratory of energy and technology of devices and machines is one of the divisions where research is being conducted. Here they study the properties of fuel — from the usual car, to high-tech, which is used when launching rockets. Tests and studies include processes for more energy-efficient combustion of fuels, creating more wear-resistant oils. Source1 / Source2.
February 13, 2019. Information security, telecommunication systems, life support devices are only a small part of what the young scientists of MIT ERA are working on.
Thus, in a testing laboratory monitoring vital functions and prevention, operators are experimenting with a fundamentally new type of diagnostic device. Specialists develop a portable module for recording and preprocessing an ECG signal. Similar developments in military medicine already exist, but the essence of this development is that the device is completely autonomous. In fact, a soldier may not be in a medical office, but in military exercises. A smart device counts vital signs from sensors and sends data via satellite communications to a medical center.
Another promising direction in the military industry is robotics. Modern machines are able to perform a number of tasks, including combat, at remote distances without attracting manpower. The ERA technopolis is developing a unified intelligent motion control system for the autonomous unmanaged boat operating in undefined areas with moving and fixed obstacles and implementing the desired strategies for handling movements, in accordance with a given range of research tasks.
35 enterprises have already become ERA residents, as well as about 20 scientific organizations of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
It is reported that soon specialists of the military innovation technopolis ERA will be engaged in the development of weapons on new physical principles of operation. These developments will be one of six additional promising areas of research in the ERA. In addition, technopolis experts intend to develop small spacecraft, military geo-information platforms, hydro-acoustic object detection systems, meteorological and geophysical equipment, as well as artificial intelligence technologies in the interests of developing weapons and military and special equipment. Source1 / Source2.
February 26, 2019. Operators of the scientific company of the Military Innovation Technopolis ERA created a virtual project that allows one to visit the facilities of the Moscow Patriot park and get acquainted with samples of weapons and military equipment presented in the framework of the static exposition.
By analogy with the present park, the territory of the virtual site is divided into clusters of branches of service and types of the Armed Forces. The exposition is represented by 3D models, executed in full size. A total of 40 samples of the Airborne Forces, the Strategic Missile Forces, as well as the Ground Forces and the Aerospace Forces are presented in the virtual park.
The software is a domestic development that was carried out under the general guidance of the Main Directorate for Research and Development and Technological Support of Advanced Technologies (Innovative Research) of the Russian Ministry of Defense in the framework of research related to the introduction of multi-touch technologies in the interests of the military department. The use of technology allows the user to interact with a computer with greater speed and quickly assimilate information through a variety of sensors. Source.
March 14, 2019. In the Military Innovation Technopolis ERA the first conference «Informatics and Computer Equipment» was held. The agenda of the event covered a range of issues related to the development of information technologies in the interests of the Russian Defense Ministry.
The event was attended by about 100 participants: the leadership of the military authorities, universities and research organizations of the Ministry of Defense of Russia, as well as representatives of civilian universities, research centers, industrial enterprises-partners of Technopolis.
The conference was organized in two main sections. The first was devoted to the discussion of methods, models and algorithms for computer processing of textual information and images in military affairs. The second section dealt with promising areas of development of mathematical, software and technical support of authorized control systems for military purposes.
The guests of the conference were introduced, in particular, with the peculiarities of the operation of an electronic-quantum random number generator, designed for automated information protection systems. This development from the company «Quantum Intelligent Technologies» in the near future is designed to significantly improve the level of data protection from potential cyber attacks.
In addition, participants were presented an updated version of the high-speed communication network ANGARA — the first Russian interconnect.
The special block of the conference was the achievements of operators of scientific companies. Under the guidance of scientists from the ERA technopolis, 15 young scientists in uniform were presenting their achievements. Among the interesting topics were such as: the use of a neural network for detecting network attacks, a systems for managing groups of small unmanned aerial vehicles, face and object recognition using the PYTHON and Computer Vision Annotation Tool. Source.
March 25, 2019. In the military technopolis ERA, the tests of the Data Processing Center (DPC), an information and telecommunications center with a quantum supercomputer, have been completed. Experts created it on an area of 600 m² in a record two months.
According to its characteristics, the supercomputer is one of the best samples of Russian high performance computer hardware. At the moment, the first supercomputer segment is launched, followed by a multiple increase in computing power. The work of all DPC systems is based on the Russian software Astra Linux, adopted for supply to the Defense Ministry of the Russian Federation.
The implementation of this project in a record short time of two months in collaboration with the state corporation «Rostec» was carried out by the Russian Federal Nuclear Center-VNII of Technical Physics named after Academician E.I. Zababakhin (RFNC-VNIITF).
The main task of the new DPC is to solve the problems of modeling mathematical processes in the interests of the laboratories working as part of the technopolis. Today, enterprises of the military-industrial complex — residents of the ERA technopolis have already made bids to use the resources of this supercomputer for use in scientific activities.
Today, the most promising research conducted in the ERA laboratories includes the development of a new domestic microprocessor, which at the hardware level will have computing support when working with neural networks and graphic information, finalizing advanced installations for water purification and desalination, the creation of technologies of automatic detection and classification of land and surface objects on radar images using neural networks and the development of new methods for applying cellular technologies for the regeneration of human organs and physiological materials. Source1 / Source2 / Source3.
March 29, 2019. In the military technololis ERA they talked about the project of the automatic UAV «Aerobot». According to Vitaly Lopota, head of the robotics program of the innovation institution of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, «Aerobot» is a quadrocopter capable of vertical take-off and landing, as well as equipped with technical vision systems and powerful onboard computing systems.
The UAV is designed to research methods, approaches to the autonomous high-speed operation of an unmanned aerial vehicle in various conditions, including the absence of signals from auxiliary navigation systems; global navigation system such as GPS, GLONASS; limited optical visibility — night, smoke, fog; distorted magnetic field of the Earth; limited space of complex configuration — forest, industrial facilities, residential premises.
Also, Vitaly Lopota noted that such devices can be useful in the work of rescuing drowning people on the water; cargo delivery; monitoring of the situation in a mass gathering of people; control over illegal activities; monitoring of construction of area and linear objects, including power lines. Source.
March 31, 2019. The Military Medical Academy named after S.M. Kirov and the Military Innovation Technopolis ERA signed a cooperation agreement. The document is a detailed plan for further work in terms of research conducted in the jointly created three laboratories that were presented to Vladimir Putin in November last year.
The roundtable participants had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the technopolis and its material capabilities, as well as with the new military hospital opened in 2018. Heads of scientific directions reported on their achievements and development prospects.
Invited as experts, members of the Russian Academy of Sciences, representatives of military authorities, the Federal Medical-Biological Agency, the Advanced Research Foundation, leading academics and teaching staff of the Academy took an active part in the discussion, expressed their proposals for scientific cooperation and further ways of developing the implemented research areas. Source.
April 8, 2019. The «Roselectronica» Holding and the «Rosatom» State Corporation completed the creation of the computing complex of the information and telecommunications center (ITC) of the Military Innovation Technopolis ERA in Anapa.
Supercomputer allow operators of scientific companies to be quickly prepared to work with a large amount of data and advanced programming methods.
NICEVT has developed system software for the data center computing complex, a high-speed communication network, and carried out commissioning works for the complex. The experts of the RFNC-VNIITF named after academician E.I. Zababakhin were responsible for completing computing modules, integrating computers into the infrastructure of the MIT ERA, and conducting tests.
At present, ITC employees are trained to work with supercomputer and will continue to ensure its full-fledged work.
The data processing center is located in a separate building of more than 600 m², which is specially built for the needs of its infrastructure, taking into account the innovative saturation. Source.
April 15, 2019. The research potential of the Military Innovation Technopolis ERA is reaching its design capacity. This was stated by the acting director of the technopolis, Igor Drobot. It is not only about the creation of absolutely new systems, but also about the modernization of existing developments in such applications as technical vision, support and decision-making systems, microelectronics.
To date, 26 enterprises have placed their laboratories in varying degrees of readiness in the technopolis. Another 45 organizations confirmed their readiness to deploy their laboratories in the near future.
Currently, ERA is implementing 55 research projects, including joint development with partners. The focus is on developments in the field of artificial intelligence. The most interesting topics within the projects are related to technical vision and pattern recognition, development and evaluation of radar performance indicators of a number of stations, solving problems of analyzing a large amount of data in the creation of neural network technology, intelligent data processing systems obtained in the optical and radar ranges. Technopolis enterprises also specialize in projects in the fields of energy supply (creation of powerful portable sources of electricity), robotics, information security, biotechnical systems (medical complexes) and nanomaterials.
Specialists of the «Kalashnikov» concern are developing new robotic complexes (ground robots, drones), improving the face recognition technology. PJSC «Sukhoi» conducts research in the field of aerodynamics and improving the accuracy of aviation ammunition.
One of the key tasks assigned to ERA is import substitution in the field of software and hardware. Residents of technopolis are developing a new electronic component base, nodes and various computing systems. In particular, a joint laboratory of the Ministry of Defense and JSC «MCST» (which develops domestic processors «Elbrus«) was deployed on the territory of the cluster. Source1 / Source2.
The scientific base of the technopolis consists of six research departments, which are aimed to research and development in all life cycles of weapons, military and special equipment. The scientific potential of the MIT ERA is currently six doctors of science, 15 candidates of science. Research departments are staffed with a permanent composition of 80 percent. The technopolis continues to hold contests for the filling of vacant posts.
In the laboratory building laboratories are now deployed and function in eight priority areas of science and technology. The laboratory base has about 1,400 units of modern equipment for more than 500 items. With its help, the technopolis conducts world-class research in collaboration with leading enterprises of the defense-industrial complex, institutes of the Ministry of Defense, the Russian Academy of Sciences, universities and research institutes of Russia.
It is reported that with the commissioning of the second stage facilities, the research and development potential of MIT ERA will change significantly. In particular, an experimental mini-production will be deployed, which will allow technopolis residents to produce prototypes and experimental designs of designed products. It is likely that in some cases it will be possible to manufacture small batches of innovative products. Emphasis will be placed on the implementation of breakthrough ideas and their introduction into production.
Speaking about the prospects for further development, it should be noted that in the technopolis it is planned to further develop cooperation in the framework of the commissioning of the MIT ERA facilities of the second stage. In particular, it is planned to deploy several medical laboratories. Source.
April 17, 2019. In the military innovation technopolis ERA the first conference on the topic «Information Security» was held. The main purpose of the conference was to exchange information on new scientific and technical developments in the field of promising information protection technologies in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
Scientists and specialists from leading defense companies, higher educational institutions of the Russian Ministry of Defense and research organizations of Russia, as well as representatives of the office of the Chief Designer of the communications system of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (in total about 80 participants) presented the latest achievements in the field of quantum technologies, artificial intelligence, neurotechnologies, distributed registry systems and wireless communications.
Many of the organizations participating in the conference are already partners of the Military Innovation Technopolis ERA. Participation in the events of the technopolis allows developers to implement their ideas in the interests of creating promising samples of weapons, military and special equipment. Source.
In the middle of April, on Zvezda TV channel (owned by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation) a large report was published about the ERA technopolis. Video is above.
From the report one can gather useful information. Thus, it is reported that the activities of the ERA technopolis are coordinated by GUNID — the General Directorate for Research and Development and Technological Support of Advanced Technologies (Innovative Research) of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the Russian equivalent of DARPA.
Movement on the territory of the ERA is carried out only on electric vehicles, the use of cars is prohibited, because the technopolis zone is an ecological zone. Soon, electric vehicles will start working in an automated mode. Residents of technopolis are provided with five meals a day — breakfast, lunch, dinner, plus afternoon snack, plus pre-lunch coffee. Food is free.
The cluster complex includes the following buildings:
- «Kalashnikov» (hostel) — named in honor of M. Kalashnikov.
- «Korolev» (hostel) — named in honor of S. Korolev.
- «Tupolev» (scientific and laboratory building, in fact the center of the technopolis — here are industrial enterprises, research laboratories, research workers etc.) — named in honor of A.Tupolev.
- «Kurchatov» (administrative business building) — named in honor of I. Kurchatov.
- «Chebyshev» (innovation programming center) named in honor of P. Chebyshev.
The best specialists in their field come to the technopolis and give lectures. For example, one of the topics is 3D-bioprinters. Such printers allow one to print not only fragments of bone tissue, but also fragments of soft tissue. A group of Russian scientists have already created machines for bio printing. In some nomanations (for example, the criterion of functionality), these machines are the best in the world.
For example, one of the scientists is Vladimir Mironov, a professor at the Virginia Commonwealth University (USA) and a scientific adviser to «3D Bioprinting Solutions» company (Russia). Professor Mironov is co-inventor of the first Organovo bioprinter. The first articles on this topic were also written by him in collaboration with other pioneers. In the video, Professor Mironov talks about his work in the ERA technopolis:
Also, the technopolis is planning to create a marine laboratory where they will not only study the use of robotized marine complexes, but also adverse factors affecting the sea-based armament and military equipment (salt water, prolonged exposure to the aquatic environment etc), plus such issues as scuba divers, diving services etc.
It is planned to test boats, including unmanned. The laboratory of robotics is developing models of such boats — surface and underwater. In technopolis they demonstrated models of such boats:
Another development is a laboratory sample of a water purification device, which tests various types of membrane modules for installation, which will be made in a laboratory. The installation is created by «iOteh» company (Russia). One can take in the sea a ton of dirty water, after an hour it becomes clean drinking, despite the fact that purification installation is so compact that only 6 people can carry it.
ERA technopolis also conducts research in the field of fire safety. Institutes working in cooperation with ERA are already offering young military scientists the development of completely new fire-fighting technologies. Their essence in the use of chemicals that absorb oxygen. Work in this area is the responsibility of the Institute of Engineering Physics (IEP) from the city of Serpukhov. In addition, scientists of this institute, together with operators of scientific companies, plan to grow supercrystals for quantum computers. Such computers can instantly solve problems for which the most powerful modern devices spend years.
It is reported hat soon the number of laboratories in ERA will double, design factories will appear that design the appearance of the technology of the future, and a scientific building for gifted children will be created. Source.
May 1, 2019. In the ERA technopolis, robotics competitions «RTC Cup» were held, at which schoolchildren from Anapa won prizes. Young engineers won four awards from six and secured a place in the final. The winners of the competition received useful prizes — parts and tools for robotics, as well as commemorative figurines and certificates. Now the best teams of the Southern Federal District will take part in the final of the «RTC Cup», which will be held in Moscow at the end of the year.
30 teams of the Southern Federal District took part in the «RTC Cup». The Foundation for the Promotion of Innovations and the ERA Technopolis helped in organizing the competitions. They plan to hold a competition for talented professionals in Anapa annually.
Cup finalists will present their achievements at the exposition of the international forum «Army-2019». Source1 / Source2.
ALAFF will follow the development of a unique military technopolis ERA.
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