Smart Helmet Defense System: Integrating Advanced Materials, Micro-cameras, and Physiological Sensors with a Heads Up-Display
Abstract
The standard military helmet provides adequate protection from ballistic and blunt injury. They are tested to stop a pistol bullet at close range, prevent skull fractures from blunt impacts, however they do not currently prevent traumatic brain injury (TBI) from blast effects, high powered rifles and directed energy weapons of the future. Although current helmets mitigate effects from these injurious events, it does not prevent momentum transfer that leads to TBI.Additionally, current helmets do not take advantage of the advances in wearable technology. Through the use of improved materials, we have gone from leather to steel to Kevlar layers that are progressively stronger without significant weight increase. But this still has only prevented skull fractures (rare events) but not brain injuries as evidenced by 300,000 service members with TBI and widespread injuries observed in football and other contact sports.The chief aim of this proposal is to create a minimum viable prototype Smart Helmet with integrated physiological and external threat detection sensors embedded directly within a resilient, personalized, 3D printed nanomaterial enhanced polymeric matrix.The first thrust of this program will be the integration of advanced materials and designs that address the lack of protection the current model has against TBI caused by existing and emerging kinetic and directed energy weaponry. These materials will have increased strength and elasticity to dissipate the impact of higher power rifles, blast effects, and electromagnetic (EM) waves such as RF, lasers, and terahertz which may penetrate current helmets.A second thrust of a Smart Helmet program will be to utilize the helmet covering the head and our most vital organ, the brain, to look inward using innovative sensing technologies to determine health and function. Integration requires camera miniaturization, achieved by either compact-modified lensed optics or lens-free optics, such as Rices FlatCam. These devices have the ability to monitor vital functions such as heart-rate, breathing rate, blood perfusion, body temperature variations and hemodynamic activity. This will not only allow immediate detection of major injuries such as brain bleed, but will also identify subtler changes in metabolic rate within the brain that indicate the subjects level of alertness and overall health.The final thrust will add micro-camera based smart sensors to detect and identify external threats surrounding the warfighter. Miniaturized optical systems like the FlatCam will be designed to monitor both visible as well as IR images of surroundings to enhance situational awareness by helping to pinpoint where an explosion, suspicious object, or other potential threats are located. The protective technologies that a Smart Helmet system of this type will clearly have a translational impact from warfighters to the civilian world and the goals set herein will be systematically developed as a multi-staged plan to increase the protective and intelligent nature of the helmet.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Mar 15, 2021
- Source ID
- N000142112035
Entities
People
- Paul Cherukuri
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- Rice University
- United States Navy