mit gets deal for data real time armour

[portholeaccel]

see ben they take it and make it evil 

Tiny tech to help big soldiers
 
By Ian Hardy 
BBC ClickOnline  


Nanotechnology, the science of manufacturing tiny mechanisms and robots not much bigger than
molecules, could soon become a big part of national security in the US. 
 
By 2025, soldier uniforms could be tough and flexible 
Much of it is still fantasy, but nanotech students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT) have received a $50 million (£32 million) grant from the US Army, which is hoping for long
and short term results. 

It means that by 2025, soldiers could be wearing thin uniforms which are not only flexible but are
also tough enough to withstand bullets and blasts. 

Uniforms under development have GPS guidance systems and live satellite feeds of the battlefield
piped through an eyepiece in the helmet. There is also a built-in air conditioning system to keep
the body temperature normal. 

2010 warriors 

By the end of this decade, the Objective Force Warrior may be a common sight on the battlefield.
Ultra lightweight body armour protects the soldier and the suit is fitted with a wireless
computer, video camera and communications devices. 

"It's all about lightening the load. Today the soldier has a system that weighs about 100lbs,
that's what's called the fighting weight," said Dr A Michael Andrews, chief scientist with the US
Army. 

"Our objective is to cut that weight in half, and to do that in about 3 years from now," he told
BBC World's ClickOnline. 

 
By 2010 Objective Force Warrior could be fighting 
Underneath the suit is a full range of bio-sensors sending back medical data about the body in
real-time to a command post. 

A medical team could be alerted automatically the moment a soldier is shot and his blood pressure
drops. 

MIT researchers will be allowed to train with the military to hear first hand about problems
encountered by soldiers in combat, like Sergeant Raoul Lopez who fought al Qaeda fighters in the
mountaintops of Afghanistan. 

"The air up there is very thin and the weight on our backs was very heavy, so a lot of guys had
problems doing extended periods of walking with those loads," said Sergeant Lopez. 

"It became excruciating. Plus, the inability to breathe definitely took a toll on some people." 

Nanotech waterproofing 

"Soldier survivability" is a top priority for researchers and work is already under way to ensure
this. Conventional methods of waterproofing, for example, rely on a single coating that gradually
loses its effect. 

With new revolutionary techniques, individual fibres from a bullet proof vest can be covered with
a few nanometres of Teflon. This adds almost no weight to a uniform, yet keeps every drop of water
out. 

  It's all about lightening the load. Today the soldier has a system that weighs about 100lbs,
that's what's called the 'fighting weight'. 

Dr A Michael Andrews, US Army  

Another useful discovery is the ability to turn microscopic iron spheres from liquid state to a
solid in a few seconds using electromagnetic forces. 

This could bring about major changes to the flexibility and comfort of body armour and it means
bullet proof vests of the future are likely to have on and off switches. 

"The current Kevlar jacket is a composite material that involves layers of Kevlar fibres woven
into a fabric, and ceramic plates in between which give you the large ballistic impact," explained
Gareth McKinley, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, MIT. 

"The goal is to replace the ceramic plates, which are rigid and not very moveable, with something
that is liquid when the field is off and then becomes rigid when the field is on." 

Mechanical nanostructures can also be made to act like human muscles, so particles can expand and
contract on cue. 

One use for this is for uniforms which could sense a gunshot wound and automatically tighten
around it to prevent blood loss. 

 
Mechanical nanostructures could tighten around gunshot wounds 
Suits of the future may also be able to make normal tasks easier. This could be anything from
simple lifting or motion, to jumping higher than before. 

But it does not end there. Nanotechnology has infinite uses. 

A pack of sausages can last much longer if the tray has a special coating, goggles can stop
bullets without splintering, and boot soles can last for decades. 

The immediate focus for the researchers however is miniaturisation. Even current devices are being
adapted for the Army's use. 

Using a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) for example, soldiers could transmit co-ordinates of a
target back to base in less than three seconds, 10 times faster than now. 

Bulky radio handsets will be replaced with button-size microphones on the collar, and night vision
goggles may become the size of contact lenses. 

Top secret 

Not surprisingly there was great enthusiasm for these ideas at the recent opening of the Institute
of Soldier Nanotechnologies. 

MIT wants to be at the centre of military innovation and describes much of the research as
fundamental, not just to the military but to society as a whole. 

In a few years there could be major changes in everything from the clothes we wear to the gadgets
we carry as advances in nanoscience become increasingly evident. 

There are security safety nets in place though. If a project becomes too sensitive it will
immediately become classified and moved to the Army's own laboratories to minimise exposure to
terrorists or spies. 

As long as the experiments remain in the MIT labs, the details will be available for public
inspection. 



 


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