Soldiers at Fort Pickett, Virginia are testing a Microsoft-designed prototype goggle, the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS). New technology offers capabilities that troops need to regain and maintain over-match in multi-domain operations on battlefields that are becoming increasingly complex and unpredictable.
US Army video by Mr Luke J Allen
ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — Scientists from the Army Research Laboratory have designed a camera drone capable of being fired from a 40 mm grenade launcher, researchers say, on the heels of a patent filed last month.
There are two variants of the Grenade Launched Unmanned Aerial System, or GLUAS, one is a is a small, paragliding system with folding blade propellers and Mylar paragliding wings to help it stay in the air, and the other is a helicopter-style that hovers on a gimbaling set of coaxial rotors, said John Gerdes, a mechanical engineer with ARL.
The GLUAS is a small projectile, 40 millimeters in diameter, can cover a long distance with a gun-launching system. The breakthrough, he said, is with how miniaturized autonomous flight hardware has become.
The drone has a 2-kilometer range with a projected battery life that could top 90 minutes, and is capable of operating up to 2,000 feet in the air, according to researchers.
After launching, the drone spreads its wings and soars at a fixed airspeed controlled by ground troops with a joystick or handheld device. On the drone, a camera is equipped to provide a video feed to a ground station below.
“In battle, there are multiple scenarios of when Soldiers would use this technology,” Gerdes said. “How it’s used depends on which theater they’re operating in.”
For example, on the mountain ranges of Afghanistan, if Soldiers found themselves under sniper fire, they could deploy the drone to check over the area and determine the enemy’s location.
The lightweight GLUAS drone is designed to increase Soldier lethality by giving them a bird’s eye view of the battlefield, he explained, and will easily integrate into most kits carried by Soldiers in the field.
“This device provides an autonomy and intelligence platform to help Soldiers perform useful missions while having a lookout from hundreds of feet in the air,” Gerdes said. “This integrates modern types of intelligence.”
“[GLUAS] is aligned with Army modernization priorities,” said Hao Kang, another mechanical engineer with ARL. “We’re trying to provide capabilities to individual Soldiers. The most exciting part of this is the viability of this platform, coupled with its gun-launched deployment capabilities.”
“Things like GPS receivers and flight controllers are very feasible to install [onto the GLUAS], which makes it easy to maintain a position or follow a ground unit,” Gerdes said. “Basically, if there is something you want to look at, but you have no idea where it is yet, that’s where the drone comes in.”
Although they’re making technological breakthroughs at ARL, the scientists aren’t working on the same timelines as other developers, Kang said.
“We’re here to develop innovative concepts for the warfighter’s needs, which generally means we bring the size and weight down of a device, and push up the range and lethality,” Gerdes said. “At ARL, we’re typically focused on the basic innovation and discovery aspects of research.”
ARL is part of the Combat Capabilities Development Command. As the Army’s corporate research laboratory, ARL discovers, innovates and transitions science and technology to ensure dominant strategic land power.
By Thomas Brading, Army News Service
The Army is supporting the nation’s fight against the COVID-29 pandemic which is led by FEMA. One of their initiatives is the xTech COVID-19 Ventilator Challenge which seeks a low-cost, readily manufacturable emergency ventilator to quickly augment ventilator capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic. The technology solution must provide a rapid response breathing apparatus capable of short-term, rugged field operation.
The prize competition will evaluate technology proposals immediately upon submission and award novel solutions with a prize of $5,000 to present a virtual pitch of the technology concept to the xTech COVID-19 panel, and award prizes of $100,000 to solutions accepted by the panel to develop a concept prototype. Select technologies may receive follow on contracts for additional production and deployment.
The total prize pool is $1,000,000.00.
• Application Part 1: White Paper – $5,000
• Application Part 2: Technology Pitches – $100,000
Virtual pitches for selected companies will begin April 13.
Details here.
Submit here.
xTechSearch is a competition sponsored by the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics andTechnology (ASA(ALT)), targeting small businesses.
GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFNS) —
The 312th Training Squadron’s Special Instruments Training course instructors have begun using their skills to 3D print prototypes to supply the medical facilities in the area with N95 face masks and face shields.
A neurosurgeon in Billings, Montana, worked with a dental company to create reusable plastic N95 masks using 3D printers. In an effort to help protect those caring for sick individuals around the world, he made a model available online for a free 3D printable, high-efficiency filtration mask with a design that allows reuse of the mask several times due to the replaceable filtration device.
U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Donald Kramer, 312th Training Squadron Special Instruments Training course instructor supervisor, cuts the clear, plastic shield for the 3D printed face shields at the Louis F Garland Department of Defense Fire Academy on Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas, March 31, 2020. Many SPINSTRA instructors have personal 3-D printers home, providing more resources to the project. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Robyn Hunsinger)
Instructors got the idea from Air Force Quarantine University, a public Facebook group for innovative learners to connect during the COVID-19 crisis, where they saw other organizations modeling and printing these supplies.
“We saw other people 3D printing medical supplies and we thought we should try printing things like face masks and face shields,” said Master Sgt. Manuel Campo, 312th TRS SPINSTRA flight chief.
SPINSTRA has an innovation lab containing four 3D printers as well as 3D modeling software. Although they are unsure of the needs of the 17th Medical Group and surrounding hospitals, they plan to continue to create these medical supplies in case they are needed in the future.
“We plan to present what we have created to the medical group to see if we can meet their needs and print what they need,” said Staff Sgt. Jonathan Bahr, 312th TRS SPINSTRA instructor.
Medical professionals wear personal protective equipment to protect themselves and minimize exposure. This PPE usually consists of a face mask, gloves, and goggles or a face shield.
“The most realistic option for us to make was the face shields,” Bahr said. “The purpose of the face shield is to extend the use of the face mask. The goal is to reduce the number of masks being used and thrown out after one use.”
In the future, if more masks and shields are needed to be printed, they plan to allow students to begin assisting in this project. Instructors have also reached out to other facilities on Goodfellow AFB with 3D printers to provide more medical supplies. There are even instructors with personal 3D printers providing more supplies from home.
“If we can use our skills to help, we plan to do so,” Campo said. “We want to do everything we can to help.”
By Airman 1st Class Robyn Hunsinger, 17th Training Wing Public Affairs
MCAS FUTENMA, Okinawa, Japan. – For Staff Sgt. Michael P. Burnham and Sgt. Blaine E. Garcia, a trailer-sized workspace filled with sweltering heat and the constant whine of over a dozen machines running at full speed is simply the setting for just another day. This day, however, sees these leaders bringing 3D printing to the fight for 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, using their manufacturing skills against COVID-19.
For Burnham, who originally joined the Marine Corps as a machinist working with ground ordnance, and Garcia, who started his career working on jet engines, the process of 3D printing has become less of an unexpected turn in their service and more of a passion. Garcia alone has several 3D printers of his own, once used for hobbies and now put into the effort by III Marine Expeditionary Force to print the frames for thousands of masks and face shields. Posters surround the machines churning away, each one highlighting a success story for 3D printing in 1st MAW and an example of the sort of additive manufacturing both Marines have spent years perfecting.
Today, Burnham and Garcia have put their experience into the fight against the COVID-19 virus. In their workspace on Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, the two have turned their workspace, ordinarily used for 3D printing parts for aviation maintenance, into a PPE factory. The goal of the overall effort, Burnham explained, is to reduce the need for medical-grade masks and respirators by providing an alternative supply of frames for masks and face shields to Marines and Sailors assigned to III MEF and its supporting units, particularly those directly engaged in first-line medical care and screening.
The plastic frames being printed, Burnham said, started as 3D models on a computer, designed with input from medical professionals and incorporating open-source ideas from others in the 3D printing community. Once the design is settled, a program “slices” the model into a series of programs for the 3D printer, which can then assemble a complete object from up to thousands of layers of two-dimensional patterns formed by cooling jets of molten plastic. The mask frames themselves can be created in a number of different plastic materials, and create a complete mask using elastic bands, cords, or other fasteners, along with an easily washable and readily available cloth cover. The plastic frame creates a seal around an individual’s mouth and nose, as demonstrated by Garcia, wearing the end result amidst the 3D printers at work.
The face shields are a more complicated product, also developed in concert with the U.S. Naval Hospital on Okinawa. Garcia has designed the face shield frames himself, with hospital public health officials providing quality assurance. “We start with a number of different prototypes,” he explained, demonstrating a number of designs that public health experts had directed alterations to. “We look at all the ideas, and each prototype goes through the QA process.”
The final design, he said, is deliberately simple but effective, an arc-shaped piece of plastic with a series of pegs and hooks along the outside edge. “We send the frames to the hospital,” Garcia explained, demonstrating the process of making a face shield with the frames using a plastic sheet protector. “They’ll clean them and use a plastic similar to the overhead transparencies they use in schools, with holes punched in them to fit over the knobs on the front.”
MALS-36 will be producing the face shield frames going forward, as part of III MEF’s overall effort, with other elements producing mask frames at a similar rate beyond the 1,000 already produced by MALS-36. This is nothing new, from Garcia’s considerable experience in the burgeoning field. “Any part that we print for an aircraft goes through reviews by engineers and experts,” Garcia said, “ensuring that [the parts] fit the tolerances needed and can stand up to the conditions. Once that’s done, it’s available to every Marine and Sailor who can print,” allowing the services to rapidly disseminate the designs that make the cut.
This division of labor, with different units producing parts and medical personnel taking the mass-produced frames for masks and face shields and overseeing the distribution, allows the MALS-36 team to focus on rapid and sustained production. 3D printing, Garcia noted, has a longer lead time initially than simply ordering parts that are in-stock, but once the initial design is finished, it allows for faster, cheaper, and more responsive delivery of parts – and it allows entirely new items to be created from scratch in remote conditions.
Around the clock, Burnham and Garcia oversee the process of production. Maintaining their distance from each other in both time and space, the two Marines work in shifts, with Garcia laboring to keep the morning’s mask and face shield production going and Burnham arriving in the afternoon, after Garcia has departed, to remove the finished products from their print beds and begin the process yet again. Despite the long hours, Burnham emphasized that 3D printing is not necessarily labor-intensive once production has begun. “We print them in stacks,” Burnham said, against the backdrop of another set of mask frames being printed. “Most of the time, if there’s a mistake, it’s in the first layer, so we can tell right away if we need to stop the machine and reposition.”
From there, the frames can be left alone, the workspace growing noticeably hot inside as a dozen nozzles spread heated plastic out in an exacting pattern. After 11 hours, the frames are ready to remove from the printer and separate into individual items – and at two to four stacks of ten mask frames each per machine, this adds up quickly, allowing any similarly-appointed workspace to create over 800 mask frames per day.
This output, according to Burnham, is a process that can be kept up 24/7. To accomplish it, the machine’s print head moves from side to side, while the print bed itself, the large plate upon which the object is printed, moves forward and back. Each layer of the object is painstakingly assembled by the minute, programmed motions of the print head, feeding a heated stream of molten plastic precisely into place. The smaller machines print more slowly, but use a smaller filament, allowing for finer detail to be captured.
The entryway to Garcia and Burnham’s workspace is decorated by evidence of this fine detail, with everything from rocket parts and ornate, twisting test pieces to minutely-detailed decorations arrayed on tables in 3D printed wood, metal, and plastic. Even the fixtures within the workspace are 3D printed, with the handles suspending first aid kits and most plastic parts of the 3D printers themselves bearing the fine striations that mark a 3D printed product.
“With 3D printing,” Garcia said, “you’re really limited only by your imagination.”
Story by 1st Marine Aircraft Wing COMMSTRAT
We received this note from? Forward Thinking Solutions regarding their 3D Printer File For Valve Covers for 3M Masks.
The Cover-Inhalation Port, Gen 4 (CIP-Gen4) is a bayonet cap that will shut off one of the two inhalation ports on the 3M 6000 series half face respirators. Given current circumstances affecting the world, PPE, and especially respirators have quickly become high need items that are in limited supply. While there are better gas masks and tactical respirators, the 3M 6000 series half face respirators are extremely common and many people already own one in their workshop. Made from silicone, these 3M respirators are far more comfortable than the sharp-edged N95 Particulate Respirators we see cutting into the faces of the hard working health care specialists and first responders on the front lines of the pandemic. The 3M 6000 series masks are first and foremost designed for comfort, protection and breathability. But due to their dual filter cartridge design, they’re not ideal for someone who may need to shoulder a rifle. The mask’s filter cartridge on the shooter’s dominant side always impedes a natural presentation of the rifle’s optics.
The goal of the CIP was to block one of the two inhalation ports securely, while also being minimalist in profile. We certainly weren’t the first to conceive of an inhalation valve cover. 3M makes a port cover (part number 6880) but they are limited in availability. Others have put out their own versions of a 3D printable port cover, however many of the ones we‘ve seen are not as low profile as we desired.
The CIP-Gen4 is the forth revision of our current design and features:
• Knurled outer perimeter to aid in installation and removal
• Low profile design
• 3M filters are always sold in pairs. Using just one filter cartridge means you can make your filter cartridge supply last longer
• Inner plug* with an o-ring for additional sealing
*The CIP inner plug’s o-ring is optional. Once the CIP is locked down into the mask’s inhalation valve’s bayonet interface the flat bottom face of the CIP forms a seal with the inhalation gasket. The o-ring just provides a secondary seal and therefore additional protection (Note: the CIP’s o-ring is optional, but the orange OEM 3M inhalation-port-gasket ring MUST be used). O-ring size is dash 112 (we’ve been using nitrile o-rings, silicone are probably fine also). You can size up or down if you find the fit with the o-ring to be loose or too tight. We’ve seen slight tolerance variations on the 3M 6000 series mask over various years of production.
FTS has uploaded the CIP’s 3D design on Thingiverse, free for anyone to download and 3D print. If someone doesn’t have a 3D printer they can have a 3rd party company like Shapeways 3D print it for them. When printing the CIP it is highly recommended it is printed using an antimicrobial filament. If printed with a filament material like PETG it’s recommended to wash it occasionally with soap+water (or just dunk it in alcohol) and then allow to dry to ensure any bacteria build up is eliminated. If 3D printed on a SLS type printer be aware that those printers leave considerable nylon dust in the recesses of the printed part and will require thorough cleaning to ensure that’s not particulate you’re inhaling. For obvious reasons, you shouldn’t print these with carbon fiber filament or any other material harmful if inhaled.
As with any PPE, you will need to test it throughly first each time prior to use to ensure an appropriate seal and function is present.
All our best to the first responders fighting hard everyday for the rest of us.
Thank you. Truly.
Arc’teryx has partnered with other Vancouver-area companies Mustang Survival, Boardroom and Kendor Textiles to create Level 3 medical gowns for local healthcare workers who are facing a shortage due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The team received direct input from local health care professionals to design the gowns. Sewers, sample makers, pattern makers and engineers will be brought into Arc’One next week to fulfill the first order of 500 Level 3 medical gowns.
The health and safety of the team remains the top priority as they set up Arc’One for production.
The team working on this will be following strict social distancing practices, with workstations arranged to further distance themselves in addition to wearing masks and gloves while they are working.
Before the gowns go into service, they will be washed and treated by K-Bro Linen Systems, a laundry and linen service for hospitals and healthcare providers across Canada.
Canadian marine company turns from survival suits to isolation gowns for health professionals.
Burnaby, BC – Mustang Survival®, the Canadian brand known for innovative solutions for the most demanding marine environments, has been saving the lives of water professionals for over 50 years. And now, they’re turning their attention to saving lives on land.
As a design, engineering and manufacturer of life vests, survival suits and dry suits for both Military, public safety professionals and marine recreational users, in light of the global pandemic Mustang Survival is shifting their focus inland – to PPE gowns for front line healthcare workers.
At 11:00am today, April 1, the Mustang Survival factory in Burnaby, BC officially went into production of the first 500 Isolation Gowns; a level 3 certified (PPE), fully waterproof gown designed and engineered to bring new levels of safety to frontline healthcare workers.
Collaborating alongside innovative and cutting edge BC manufacturers and apparel companies—Boardroom Clothing and KenDor Textiles—over the last two weeks, Mustang rallied together with the local health care sector to design and engineer a gown that solves for gaps in PPE supply chains, and offers additional protection to individuals tirelessly fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
“With increased demand for PPE, there was a need to get ahead of the problem and look to local sources to solve it“, says Mark Anderson, Chair of the BC Apparel & Gear Association and Director of Engineering at Burnaby-based Mustang Survival; who, through years of experience in outfitting frontline defenders and public safety teams, is in a unique position to help.
“Our 50 year history of developing innovative solutions for both Military and public safety professionals combined with the unique advantage of being part of a cutting edge design community here in Vancouver provides us with the ability to adjust and pivot our focus on developing a solution”, said Anderson.
Diving into prototyping to rapid testing, Mustang Survival flipped their innovation lab—the Waterlife Studio—in Burnaby, BC into a rapid-response facility dedicated to finding a solution for this public safety crisis. Backed with the support of local health care officials to reach safety-certified status, what’s resulted is a gown not only offering a local solution to depleting supply chains, but an increased level of safety for the workers themselves.
Taking the local initiative global, once the plans are approved Mustang Survival will share the technical specifications for level 3 and level 2 medical gowns so manufacturers all over the world can rally their own communities, and unite suppliers with sewers and seam sealers to bring these gowns to their local healthcare teams.
The technical packages will be shared through the BCAG website, and will include the pattern, technical details and a list of certified materials approved for level 2 & level 3 gowns.
The goal? To share the information so other individuals and groups eliminate time spent on ideas that can’t be certified and focus on producing gowns that offer assured safety – making sure that frontline health workers feel confident that they are safe while supporting patients.
For Mustang Survival, the pilot run of the first 500 Isolation Gowns is just the beginning.
If all goes well in this first run, they will convert their local factory to be dedicated to gown construction. With other local sewing houses and other manufacturers re-opening to support the project, Mustang Survival is confident the collective capacity to produce these gowns can make a significant contribution to those putting their lives at risk every day to fight the virus.
For more information, please visit www.mustangsurvival.com.
