US Army

Augmented Reality for Animals - the Next Step for AR Headsets

The newest toy for dogs is a high-tech augmented reality headset.

Augmented Reality Dog Goggles Could Help Protect Soldiers

Military working dogs often scout areas for explosive devices and hazardous materials and assist in rescue operations, but giving dogs the necessary commands to perform these missions can put soldiers in harm's way. Augmented reality may change that.

3D Printed Electronics for Agile, On-demand Manufacturing

3D printed electronics, here explored in detail, is an emerging technology that enables a new manufacturing paradigm.

Laser Jolts Microscopic Electronic Robots into Motion

In 1959, former Cornell physicist Richard Feynman delivered his famous lecture "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom," in which he described the opportunity for shrinking technology, from machines to computer chips, to incredibly small sizes. Well, the bottom just got more crowded

Army Robo Teammate can Detect, Share 3D Changes in Real Time

Something is different, and you can't quite put your finger on it. But your robot can. Even small changes in your surroundings could indicate danger. Imagine a robot could detect those changes, and a warning could immediately alert you through a display in your eyeglasses. That is what U.S. Army scientists are developing with sensors, robots, real-time change detection and augmented reality wearables.

Versatile New Material Family Could Build Realistic Prosthetics

Nature's blueprint for the human limb is a carefully layered structure with stiff bone wrapped in layers of different soft tissue, like muscle and skin, all perfectly bound together. Achieving this kind of sophistication using synthetic materials to build biologically inspired robotic parts or multicomponent, complex machines has been an engineering challenge.

Flame-Retardant, Insect Repelling Fabric for Soldiers

Using methods to measure heat release capacity and total heat release, as well as a vertical flame test, they found that the modified material performed at least 20% better than the untreated material. They also used a standard insect repellency test with live mosquitoes and found that the efficacy was greater than 98%. Finally, the fabric remained "breathable" after treatment as determined by air permeability studies.

3D Electronics: An Alternative to PCBs?

Mention an electronic circuit and you are likely to picture a printed circuit board (PCB): a rigid rectangle in a characteristic green color with copper lines and a bewildering array of components soldered onto it. But does adding electronic functionality means using a PCB and thus requires shoehorning a rigid rectangle into the product?

Soft Robot Actuators Heal Themselves

Repeated activity wears on soft robotic actuators, but these machines' moving parts need to be reliable and easily fixed. Now a team of researchers has a biosynthetic polymer, patterned after squid ring teeth, that is self-healing and biodegradable, creating a material not only good for actuators, but also for hazmat suits and other applications where tiny holes could cause a danger.

Hybrid Electric Drive Integrated onto a Combat Vehicle

BAE Systems has been awarded a $32 million prototype agreement by the US Army's Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office to integrate a Hybrid Electric Drive system onto a Bradley Fighting Vehicle.

Transparent Graphene Electrodes for New Generation of Solar Cells

A new way of making large sheets of high-quality, atomically thin graphene could lead to ultra-lightweight, flexible solar cells, and to new classes of light-emitting devices and other thin-film electronics.

Flexible Hybrid Electronics Focused Solicitation Request for Proposals

Since 1993, SEMI-FlexTech has funded over 200 projects in R&D, with a total public/private investment in excess of U.S. $220 million. SEMI-FlexTech solicits proposals from the flexible electronics industry for candidate projects which will receive funding.

nScrypt

nScyrpt manufacturers 3D printing equipment, with a single machine capable of micro-dispensing many materials, extruding polymers, pick-and-place of electrical components, and even mechanical milling. This profile focuses on their application in 3D electronics, although nScrypt also target other applications including printing biological materials.

Training in the Age of Social Distancing. AR/VR/MR the Answer?

In the age of social distancing, training and maintenance of many complicated tasks and services has come to a standstill. However, there are technological solutions to this problem.

Noble Biomaterials

IDTechEx interviewed Steve Milner, Senior Vice President of Sales EMEA at Noble Biomaterials. We discussed their product portfolio, technology and their role in the electronic textiles and wearable technology markets.