View allAll Photos Tagged Precision
A highlight of graduation week at the US Naval Academy each year is a performance by the Blue Angels--a flight demonstration squadron comprised of both Navy and Marine aviators. This 2007 photo was taken during my son's graduation.
7DWF - Theme: "Order"
The T40s (or Trekkers) were a product of precision Swedish engineering. Manufactured in droves for the purpose of large scale geological surveying. They would be sent out in packs to scout Northern Sweden for adequate drill sites and military installations. It’s signature processor and odd central hub design was widely perceived as impractical by the military world. But the large hub made space for many compact systems, including remote 3D remodeling, geological surveillance systems from radiation recording, density sensors and ore locator interfaces, creating the perfect surveillance drone. These small Trekkers roamed the cold north in a semiautonomous mode, navigating with their own AI interface, then remotely controlled from a central command station for vital operations or at important locations. After roughly 5 years of constant service, these drones were overworked and many simply malfunctioned in the field do to being in poor care for such harsh conditions. In an attempt to utilize these drones past their seemingly expired service days, the Swedish government utilized them and their navigational functions to service city workers and the elderly. Many were stolen very easily during this time. Mostly by militias who gave these drones the attention they deserved, many of these eastern European militias were able to turn these small bots into weapons of precision. Their wide bodies serving as blank templates for armaments and repurposed transportation. The perfect companion in this day’s dangerous environment.
These finely-detailed ceramic parts have been 3D printed using simulated lunar regolith as part of an ESA-led investigation into how 3D printing could be used to support a lunar base.
“These parts have the finest print resolution ever achieved with objects made of regolith simulant, demonstrating a high level of print precision and widening the range of uses such items could be put to,” comments ESA materials engineer Advenit Makaya. “If one needs to print tools or machinery parts to replace broken parts on a lunar base, precision in the dimensions and shape of the printed items will be vital.
“They are the work of innovative Austrian company Lithoz, working on 3D printed ceramics.
“Normally their print process is based on materials such as aluminium oxide, zirconium oxide or silicon nitride. What we’ve demonstrated here is that it can also work with raw regolith, which is a collection of various different types of oxides, chiefly silicon oxide but also aluminium, calcium and iron oxides, among others.”
Ground and sieved down to particle size, the regolith grains are mixed with a light-reacting binding agent, laid down layer-by-layer then hardened by exposing them to light. The resulting printed part is then ‘sintered’ in an oven to bake it solid.
Johannes Homa, CEO of Lithoz added: “Thanks to our expertise in the additive manufacturing of ceramics, we were able to achieve these results very quickly. We believe there’s a huge potential in ceramic additive manufacturing for the Moon.”
As a next step, the parts will be tested to check their strength and mechanical properties, with the idea that similar parts could one day be employed to replace parts in a lunar base without requiring replacements from Earth.
This work was carried out as part of the URBAN project, supported through ESA’s Discovery and Preparation Programme.
Credits: ESA–G. Porter, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
Fog and dew this morning—almost as shot except for slight curves. That's all white dewy web behind the foreground web, suspended from a stick across wet grass. Busy little spider.
Inspired by Flickr Friday's #Precision theme.
Nikon D810, Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 VR
1/200 sec; f/9; ISO 400
Manual exposure, yoga mat. wet elbows
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Lins and I love Old Bay seasoned boiled shrimp and it's usually a Friday night thing for us. A couple dozen boiled shrimp and some awesome 'fancy' sweet tea.....mostly sweet tea vodka and a wee amount of tea, but it's good!!! Come on FRIDAY!!!
Northbound UP MASCH freight is a few miles north of Villa Grove with four units on the head end. Thanks to Union Pacific's glorious "precision" railroading plan, the first and last units of this train are on the chopping block. In the near future, instead of four units on a train, it'll most likely be one!
Probably oil-filled gear case until taken apart for this exhibit.
National Air Force Museum of Canada in Trenton, Ontario. A wide ranging collection, including an outdoor section. Needs a good half day.
A GBU-54 laser-JDAM waits to be loaded on an AV-8B Harrier at MCAS Yuma during Weapons and Tactics Instructor course 1-24, the final course to produce Harrier WTIs.
Mamiya 645 1000s : 150mm Mamiya-Sekor f/3.5 : Ilford HP5 Plus : Pyrocat HD
First frames from a new-to-me 150mm lens for the Mamiya 645's. In my experience these Mamiya-Sekor lenses are unfailingly excellent, and this one is no exception...
PACIFIC OCEAN (March 18,2021) The Independence variant littoral combat ship USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10) launches a Naval Strike Missile as part of shipboard operational testing and evaluation. The Naval Strike Missile is a long-range, precision strike weapon that can find and destroy enemy ships. (U.S. Navy Photo)
The early morning glow of golden hour lighting up a Variable Oystercatcher hunting for shellfish at low tide.
A hand pan or hang drum. The process starts with a flat disc of steel, manually hammered into a smooth shell, much like a large cooking wok. Then precise dimples are added, and – with even greater precision – the steel is minutely stretched and compressed and manipulated with the precise skill of a studied craftsman and the trained ear of an experienced musician. Eventually, after heat treatments and fine tuning, the top half is glued to a bottom half to create an instrument with such ethereal sonic beauty the angels show up to dance and laugh.
See below for some additional photos of Logan rough tuning the top half of this hand pan in process.
In this image, fire is not wild or chaotic. It is focused, refined — tamed. The blue flame rises with quiet intensity, a product of complete combustion, of chemistry done right. It speaks of fire not as destruction, but as a tool. A companion to human progress.
Fire, one of the oldest elements we’ve harnessed, lives at the intersection of nature and technology. From ancient campfires to the tip of a blowtorch, it remains essential. This single blue flame — nearly silent, nearly invisible in daylight — can melt metal, shape glass, or seal connections that hold our modern world together.
Yet, behind its calm form lies potential for chaos. The contrast between flame and darkness in this frame reminds us: fire’s gift is always conditional. Control it, and it builds. Lose control, and it consumes.
Here, the element of fire is captured in a moment of discipline.
Not a wildfire, not a candle — but a tool in hand. A spark of precision.
And still, it holds all the power of its untamed ancestors.
Fun facts about Fire:
🔥 Blue flame = hotter flame
A blue flame like this one is typically hotter than a yellow/orange one. It indicates complete combustion, meaning fuel is being burned efficiently.
🔥 Fire needs three things: The "fire triangle" consists of heat, fuel, and oxygen. Remove one, and the flame dies.
🔥 It’s plasma, not just gas:
Though it looks like a glowing gas, fire is actually a form of plasma — the fourth state of matter!
🔥 No gravity? No flame shape.
In zero gravity, fire burns in a blue spherical blob because there’s no convection to draw the flame upward.
🔥 Ancient symbol of life and destruction:
Across cultures, fire is a paradox — both a giver of life (warmth, cooking, light) and a force of destruction.
Sweetwater Precision Weapons – Precision Line – MP5SB
Designed around a 10mm Heckler and Koch MP5 upper receiver, the MP5SB opens a new chapter for one of the world’s most popular weapon platforms.
With versatility the priority of the SB project, SPW’s engineers have built a number of key features into the platform including integral suppression, ambidextrous controls, collapsible stock and interchangeable front foregrip/RIS.
The MP5SB offers operators a compact, accurate and highly reliable package without sacrificing stopping power.
Credit to Barcel PL for the HK logo and Shock for the base of the fire selector.
Remember to view in Lightbox for crisper details.
HD images here:
RHS – i.imgur.com/5ZWnLhY.png
LHS – i.imgur.com/b1wPjlj.png