ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — Army Futures Command (AFC) is bolstering dismounted Soldiers’ power capabilities by developing integrated, flexible cables for a new generation of modernization priorities.

Enhanced Soldier maneuverability and mobility on the battlefield are among the initial improvements resulting from new cables that will be incorporated into a tactical vest, according to Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC) researchers.

CCDC’s Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C5ISR) Center partnered with the CCDC Soldier Center to investigate integrated power solutions in support of programs across the Army. These include Nett Warrior, Next-Generation Squad Weapons (NGSW) and Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS).

As the Army increases the number of electronic devices that Soldiers need to carry, more cables are required to connect equipment to power sources and share data. In addition, the Army’s modernization initiatives will demand continually increasing rates of Soldier-worn power.

The integrated cables are one solution researchers are developing for a holistic approach.

“This new flexible cable is up to 50 percent lighter than the legacy version,” said Ethan Wise, a C5ISR Center electronics engineer who is leading the project. “It’s much more flexible, less bulky and removes cabling that encumbers a Soldier’s motion when connected to a Conformal Wearable Battery.

“It reduces snag hazards because it can be looped through a tactical vest several times. The new cable feels like the fabric of a standard Army uniform and blends in seamlessly with the camouflage pattern.”

A United Kingdom company initially developed the new cable, and the U.S. Army has been investigating its potential uses through the Foreign Comparative Testing (FCT) Program. The FCT works with Army science and technology organizations to find and evaluate solutions to meet the operational needs of U.S. Soldiers regardless of the technology’s country of origin.

The FCT Program initially focused on the Nett Warrior system, and the CCDC team is now leveraging that science and technology knowledge for high-priority programs such as NGSW and IVAS.

IVAS is a Microsoft-designed heads-up display that functions as a fight-rehearse-train system, among other roles. Its high-tech features, such as augmented reality and aided target recognition, will require continuous power loads for extended time. Flexible cables are a potential fit for IVAS power delivery, Wise said.

For the NGSW program, researchers are investigating a rifle sling composed of materials similar to those used in the new cables, according to C5ISR Center research mechanical engineer Dr. Nathan Sharpes. The benefits would include reduced battery weight on the weapon, more flexibility and greater run times.

In addition to the sling, Sharpes and his colleagues are prototyping new ways of storing energy and routing power on the weapon. These features collectively give the Soldier options to power weapon-mounted enablers to meet changing mission requirements.

“These new weapons will be equipped with sophisticated technologies, likely requiring more power,” Sharpes said. “The straight-forward solution would be to tether the weapon to a larger battery on the vest. However, this introduces a snag hazard and historically hasn’t been popular among Soldiers. Routing power through the sling should yield a more acceptable and familiar-feeling solution.”

C5ISR Center engineers will continue to work on prototypes throughout 2020 for potential use with IVAS and NGSW offices.

By Dan Lafontaine, C5ISR Center Public Affairs

ADELPHI, Md. — Imagine if you could wrap a small, thin piece of transparent material around any surface and it would charge electronic devices such as your phone or laptop. Thanks to Army researchers, this idea could be a reality for future warfighters in combat.

A team led by Professor Tomás Palacios at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Dr. Madan Dubey, a research physical scientist at the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command’s Army Research Laboratory, conducted game-changing study describing an antenna that can absorb Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and cellular signals and efficiently turn it into usable electrical energy. Their work is published in the high-impact journal Nature.

“Today, Wi-Fi is becoming increasingly omnipresent in both indoor and outdoor environments and provides an abundant source of always-on radiofrequency energy,” Dubey said. “What’s missing is an efficient, flexible and always-on energy-harvesting solution to power devices, which is indispensable for self-powered systems. We have discovered a way to potentially fill this gap and to make it useful for Soldiers on the battlefield.”

Dubey said the invention has proven the potential for a conformal atomically thin layer of material for generation of power without any power cords using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and millimeter wave that is used in some 5G wireless communication systems.

“It has the potential to revolutionize Soldier’s situational awareness and readiness as these materials and devices can be integrated into health and monitoring systems, displays, communication and sensing systems for the Soldier,” Dubey said.

At the center of all of these components is a new revolutionary material, molybdenum-di-sulphide, or MoS2, which is only a few atoms thick. Its extreme thinness allows the electronics systems made out of it to be transparent, and only become visible when designed for displaying information.

“The technology is a game changer for the Army and Department of Defense as it will enable a transparent, flexible/conformal, self-powered, atomically thin system-on-chip embedded in smart textile that has never been realized before,” Dubey said. “These future systems will feature micron size, light-weight, optical transparency and state-of-the-art transistors and sensors to provide the Soldier with real time information, prepare for planning/action and security in all terrain. If the team’s radio wave-absorber succeeds, it will power those ever-present electronics 24/7, no battery needed.”

“The enabling technology is very critical for Army modernization formulation in Multi-Domain Operations,” Dubey said. “It will be a game-changer technology to power devices that will enable higher Soldier lethality, improve cognitive neuroscience and the novel engineered materials required for Next Generation Combat Vehicle.”

According to Dubey, this technology is a key building block to create, for example, an Alexa-like device that is 1,000 times smaller in size, but much more powerful in performance, while being flexible and conformable to meet mission requirements.

For Dubey, this research would not be as successful if it weren’t for the collaboration between the laboratory and MIT.

“MIT has been and continues to be a true and trusted partner with several successful proven achievements through the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies,” Dubey said. “ARL has established a very strong collaboration and partnership through the visit/exchange of researchers and scientists participating at the bench level.”

The Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies is a team of MIT, Army and industry partners working together to discover and field technologies that dramatically advance Soldier protection and survivability capabilities.

The demonstrated energy harvester discussed here will have a huge impact in future systems, and is one of the several components that the MIT-Army team is jointly developing to transform the electronic microsystems that provide situational awareness and intelligence to the Soldier.

By CCDC Army Research Laboratory