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 Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2015 10:08 pm
Mech Robot Weight: 600 pounds (365 kg) Length: 49 inches (1.38 m) Width: 72 inches (1.8 m) Height: 95 inches (2.4 m) Crew: 1 Primary armament: .50 caliber Machine Gun, 40mm automatic Grenade launcher, 25mm automatic Grenade launcher Secondary armament: M240, M249, M134 Minigun Auxillary Armament: AT4, Stinger missile, Javelin Missile Engine: Hydrogen Fuel Cell Power/weight: 66 HP/T Suspension: Hydrualic lift Ground clearance: 60 inches Fuel capacity: 110 pounds Operational range: 100 miles Speed: 45 mph Payload: 600 pounds (Empty), 800 pounds (Fuel), 1200 pounds (Combat load), 1400 pounds (maximum)
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Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2015 10:08 pm
Mechanized Suit The advantages of a mechanized, powered armor suit are undoubtedly enormous. The maneuverability and precision of an ordinary human being combined with the raw destructive and protective power of a tank would represent one of the biggest improvements on the battlefield to date. Currently, extremely rough terrain, such as deserts, mountains or jungle environments are largely inaccessible by modern vehicles. While some are up to the task, for the most part organic systems, be them human beings, horses or pack mules, are required to maneuver through these forms of terrain. Unfortunately, ordinary wheels or tires, while efficient on flat surfaces, suffer dramatically when exposed to uneven or rough surfaces. Further, helicopters or aircraft, which can flow over, often can't get close enough to the battlefield to provide the precision required, need to be moving quickly, are not stealthy, and are completely exposed to enemy fire while in the open area, making them precarious. Further, in an environment which necessitates the aversion of civilian casualties and collateral damage, precision in addition to power is needed, which removes the ability to simply carpet bomb the enemy from above. Human interaction, with locals, to gather intelligence and win over their hearts and minds, is inevitable at some level, and thus requires infantry, or the equivalent of them. Unfortunately, the task has always been to send in lightly armored infantry who's current body armor largely cannot stop rifle rounds, or at least not multiple rounds, and especially not over their entire body. While designed to stop pistol rounds and shrapnel, it more or less still leaves them vulnerable to rifle fire, the most common type of firearm on the battlefield today, which leaves them largely unprotected. The ability to replace or augment human capabilities to at least meet this threshold then has been a sort of holy grail in military technology. Further, combined with the emerging trends of low intensity conflict and combat in densely populated urban areas (especially due to terrorism), the need for superior equipment such as this is even more pressing. The raw complication required to replicate a human brain, even an insect brain, is outside the realms of possibility for computers and science, let alone something small enough to fit in to a robot at the current date. Furthermore, the physical aspect, replicating the combined strength and flexibility of human tissue, the ability to respond to the environment, simply doesn't exist. Robotic mechanics like this are decades away, and likely would be extremely expensive. However, replicating these abilities to some extent does exist. Equipment which is capable of augmenting or relying on natural human motion is much more developed. Not only do computerized systems which read the human brain's impulses exist, even with above dermal implants, but currently systems that read the neural impulses and rely on skin contact exist as well. Rather than creating a complicated computerized system, capable of complex balance and automatic function, instead the device reads the human input signals, which in turn allow it to utilize the complex motor functions controlled by a human brain. In this way, the Robot is capable of replicating the movements of humans by reading their neural signals and interpreting the commands for movement, rather than requiring innate computerized functions of it's own. This in turn decreases the required complexity of the mechanized robot, and allows for a hybrid blend of human controlled processes and automated systems to function, with each complementing the other. Of course, this is but one part of the function of the mech, the second being the need for the mechanized system itself. Mechanized processesLike most robots, the vehicle possesses a number of hydraulic systems and servo motors, to allow it to handle the stresses of impacts and various movements. Unlike most robots, it has more maneuverable technology to allow it to respond to the environment more readily and be more flexible. The general design is based on the use of supermagnetic levitation and nanoyarn which replicates the effects of muscle, suspended in an electro active polymer. The leg joints are the most powerful of the design, as they are designed to carry the relatively heavy armor, weapons, engine, and the operator inside the vehicle. They're designed to carry a maximum of 1400 pounds, although they generally are loaded with 1200 pounds. The vehicle itself is approximately 600 pounds, with the added fuel and fuel cell adding up to approximately 800 pounds. With a user, it adds approximately another 200 pounds or so of weight, and the rest is generally in weapons and ammunition. The vehicle is intended for light to medium range infantry weapons or those generally mounted on small vehicles, such as Jeeps or light scout vehicles. Generally equipped with either a .50 caliber machine gun, 25mm grenade launcher or a mortar, it's objective is to provide light infantry support to infantry in places that ordinary vehicles have trouble reaching, such as in mountainous or particularly difficult terrain. The vehicle operates largely by utilizing super cooled electromagnets and super conductors to produce floating joints via electromagnetic levitation, which takes the stress of the unusual movement off of the structural integrity and on to the magnetic field, which can increase proportionally to the electricity utilized to absorb or apply the energy. These magnets are free floating, but the joints themselves are connected by wires for electricity and surrounded in a thermally insulating aerogel to increase the efficiency of the cooling; it is thus not capable of 360 degree movement, although it operates similarly to a ball and socket joint, on an organic creature. The super cooling is achieved through the production of a very low vacuum, which additionally helps to serve as insulation by removing contact with the ball and socket, and removing the need to additionally keep the air cool, while the magnets are only cooling to 70 degrees kelvin, utilizing less powerful but more energy efficient super magnets (most notably magnesium diboride), that don't require near 0 degree kelvin temperatures (like those used in some MRI scanners), that are also considerably cheaper. This allows the craft a wide degree of movement and strength, allowing it to perform complicated or otherwise awkward maneuvers not available to tires or tracked vehicles, and partially replicates organic movement. This is combined with a carbon nanoyarn material [ 1][ 2][ 3], designed to replicate muscle. The nanoyarn itself was incredibly strong and flexible despite it's small size, which given displacement, or the expansion of the material allowing it to constrict and expand, would move, allowing it to replicate the effects of muscles. Approximately 200 times stronger than human muscle and 4 times stronger than a combustion engine, it's primarily limitation rests in it's need to be controlled by fast acting heat exchange, primarily by flashes of light. Instead of using heat sensitive paraffin wax, it instead uses an electroactive polymer, which responds to electric shock, instead of heat, making it easier and more precise to control, particularly by electronic controls like computers. An ideal candidate for muscle replacement in and of itself, when combined with the nanoyarn it allows for precision control of the higher strength nanoyarn, which replicates the capabilities but provides substantially greater strength. The electroactive polymers expand and contract when exposed to an electrical charge, operating very similarly to real muscle, allowing it to replace the mechanism utilized by the paraffin wax. As in theory many other expanding materials could be used to expand the yarn through shear displacement, the electroactive polymers make the ideal candidates. Used in conjunction with the rest of the materials, it's suspended over many of the magnetically levitated parts and hydraulic joints, as to provide additional strength and flexibility. The artificial muscle and electromagnetic levitation aspect of the design surrounds the hydraulic mechanism, which serves in part as a skeleton and provides a base of power. While substantially less maneuverable than the other parts of the design, it's high strength and gradual progression allows it to, given enough time, lift tremendous weights through displacement, like a car jack. It's also particularly good at absorbing shock, and is widely used across many robotics and mechanized devices. What the vehicle can't lift or carry with the improved structure can be supported by the Hydraulic lift. The entire mechanism is controlled by neurological input, by reading both signals from the brain and body to respond to and control the robot. The user essentially feels their surroundings and then uses that to control the device, to replicate the effect of the human brain. While the system has autonomous balancing systems and a series of gyroscopes to remain stable, nonetheless it relies on the commands given by the neural signals of the human controller. Like the HAL exoskeleton it reads the signals on the surface of the skin to determine the movement of the device. When a person attempts to move their body, nerve signals are sent from the brain to the muscles through the motor neurons, moving the musculoskeletal system. When this happens, small biosignals can be detected on the surface of the skin. The suit registers these signals through a sensor attached to the skin of the wearer. Based on the signals obtained, the power unit moves the joint to support and amplify the wearer's motion. The suit also has other controls, controlled by a headset which reads the neurological signals from the user's brains. This allows for very basic computer commands to be delivered, but it also increases the versatility of the biofeedback system, by allowing direct, conscious control of movement. Although this allows for more practical and natural organic movement, rather than relying upon automated systems that get within a close degree. Smaller variations are etheir handled by shock absorbers, rubbers soles (that act similarly to tires), gyroscopes or autobalance features. Hydrogen Fuel CellThe vehicle's entire operation is based around advanced, efficient hydrogen fuel cells, which are light enough and small enough to operate practically on the mechanized suit. While many powered suits require large batteries or even tethers to remain operational even for short periods, the armored suit utilizes a hydrogen fuel cell. With significantly higher energy densities than batteries, hydrogen has the highest energy-to-mass ratio of any known non-nuclear fuel, which provides substantially higher energy loads. With a hydrogen fuel-cell capable of nearly 50% efficiency, this translates to approximately half the 142 megajoule figure per kilogram, or 71 megajoules. Comparatively, lithium ion at 100% efficiency has 0.36–0.95 MJ/kg, or 60 to 200 times less energy. Thus, the intensive energy requirements necessitated by such a suit are much more easily met by utilizing hydrogen fuel cells. Because the fuel cells inherently produce electricity, compared to say gasoline which must be converted first, they are particularly well suited for electronic applications. Further, fuel cells run quietly and with few moving parts, and as well only produce water vapor as a by product (compared to carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide), making them much more viable from a tactical perspective, as they don't give away the position of the unit or cause potential health hazards in enclosed spaces. In particular, the design is based off of the ENV Hydrogen Fuel Cell motorcycle, of which the fuel cell is 20 kilograms and produces 8 horsepower, or 6,000 watts. The vehicle uses five of these to generate the energy required, thus fuelly loaded with hydrogen, consume 100 kilograms, or 220 pounds of the vehicle's weight. These are stored on the back of the vehicle. Combined they produce 40 horsepower, which is sufficient to propel the 1,200 pound (fully loaded) mechanized vehicle at 45 mph and for roughly 100 miles. At lower speeds, the vehicle is capable of traveling farther, but does so much slower. Like the HULC system and others, the vehicle is designed to capture the waste energy of human-like movement and store it in capacitors and batteries to be used later, which drastically increases it's efficiency. Because human-like, organic movements are less efficient in general compared to wheeled vehicles, extra waste energy capture methods are utilized to capture some of this, much like any movement powered battery or iphone charger, to increase efficiency. While similarly powerful systems such as the Cyberdine HAL suit, are also capable of carrying nearly 200 pounds, it only lasts 1 to 2 hours, compared to over 8 hours for the HULC system. Thus, much more energy can be conserved while still distributing the load of the vehicle. This also is combined with a series of springs, which help absorb shock and preserve forward momentum, by being compressed and then released, controlled by a very low energy release mechanism, and thus can speed the vehicle up when running. Furthermore, it's use of naturally biomechanically enhancing devices similiar to those used on real prosthetics helps it to preserve energy by utilizing low energy methods of enhancing the efficiency of the human-like motion. Despite all of these improvements, the vehicle is relatively inefficient. Luckily however, it is no less efficient than the bicycles presented, in large part due to the wide spectrum of energy saving mechanisms.
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Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2015 10:09 pm
General The Advanced Modular Protection Armor (AMAP) in general is designed as a multiple layer composite, with ceramics and dyneema on the outside of the armor serving as hard plates, intended to help break up and fragment hard projectiles on impact, such as bullets, or deflect them, causing them to come in at an angle. After this, soft, energy absorbant armor is used to catch the fragments, and dissipate the energy over the armor's frame. The ceramics are embedded within an aluminum matrix as 1 inch tiles, to work in a similar manner as chobham armor, which increases their strength, and helps increase the durability, as only one panel breaks, rather than the entire sheet of material that would otherwise fill the area; this also allows it to more readily fill odd angles without increasing the production difficulty. Due to the high hardness of the hard plates, the armor is capable of stopping rounds typically considered "armor piercing" for their class, and due to the composite nature and general durability, still has the strength to stop multiple rounds. The armor in this manner functions similarly to modern EOD suits, which typically use hard plastics to break up the projectiles before entering the softer armor below. In combination with revolutionary materials and more ideal design characteristics (chobham armor, composites, angles for deflection, overlapping plates, fiber reinforcement), the armor's capabilities are more or less far beyond that of other modern armor in current use by most infantry, such as kevlar, which traditionally can only stop low velocity, large diameter cartridges (a IIIA vest can stop a .44 magnum of comparable energy to a 5.56mm, but it requires level IV or higher armor to stop a 5.56mm cartridge, which is significantly smaller). This is also true in part due to the exoskeleton and biomechahnical enhancements expected to be used in conjunction with the armor. This part of the equipment is approximately 45 pounds on it's own. Translucent parts of the armor, such as those which cover solar panels, user interface screens, and visors, are made up of Aluminum Oxynitride, which is significantly stronger than traditional bullet proof glass, and much stronger. Capable of deflecting anything up to an armor piercing 7.62mm x 54mmR or .30-06, they can cover all essential areas of the armor that require visibility, such as the face mask and thermal vision lenses, and be just as if not more effective than the traditional armor. The buffering process itself helps to increase the strength of the armor, and it is otherwise more expensive. The infrared and night vision cameras are placed on either side of the helmet, and around the body, to provide the ability to completely replace the user's vision, and give 360 degrees of vision. The gas mask of the user is not actually placed on the face as a mask, but rather as a filter with a tube, placed in the backpack. This also fills up the NBC suit with clean air, which allows air to be breathed in through the skin, for long term purposes. It has both powered and unpowered versions, and an 8 pound carbon fiber tank of air can provide air for up to 4 hours in environments where oxygen is otherwise scarce of cut off. The visor also provides a head's up display hooked up to the computer, which can be controlled by voice, a GUI on the arm, or even the individual's brain synapses (to a degree). This can provide access to vision by scopes and lasers placed on the weapon, in addition to electronics in general. The soft armor typically covers soft areas of the body, and is coated in hard overlapping plates. It is largely a blend of M5 fiber and nanocomp armor, mixed with a non-Newtonian fluid, known as "liquid armor". This helps to increase the strength of the armor by making it more resistant to higher velocities (the higher the velocity, the more the fluid responds to the impact) and in general increases it's durability by keeping it stuck together. In addition, it's embedded inside some of the ceramics, to reinforce the armor. The armor also is expected to be used in conjunction with numerous technological devices, such as an exoskeleton, cooling suit, computer, and the general land warrior system. These are integrated into the suit, and expected to be used together, although hypothetically they can be separated. This not only increases the ergonomics of each device, but in addition due to various forms of overlaps, improves the capabilities of each device synergistically, and decreases the overall size of the equipment. For instance, part of the frame of the HULC system and light wattage frame are the suit of the armor itself, which helps distribute the weight over the entire suit, which not only increases it's strength, but makes it easier to use (and more like a true exoskeleton). Because the armor is expected to be worn at all times in conjunction with these systems, there is a much more fluid, integrated use, and thus it does not inhibit maneuverability nearly as much as the original device. The electronics are primarily housed within the back of the suit. With the HULC system, the user can carry a total of 265 pounds of equipment. Due to the inherent weight of most of the equipment, including the exoskeleton itself, and the armor, this is realistically only 150 pounds, although the suit will absorb that full 150 pounds of weight for the user. The battery can last approximately 12 hours (or 24 hours with the extended pack), or provide around a 60 km range at 4 km/h (or 2.5 mph). While solar panels, onboard capacitors, and kinetic recharging units can replenish this daily, when the weather or environment does not permit proper recharging, onboard hydrogen fuel cells can be activated to extend this range. This is typically out to 4 days, or 240 kilometers (150 miles). With an additional 30 pounds of fuel, this is double the time, or 8 days (480 kilometers, 300 miles). When the fuel runs out, the onboard biomechanic enhancement of the exoskeleton still makes the body more efficient, at an incredibly low wattage, at around 1-5 watts per second (depending on the nature of the movement). Additional systems, such as an artificial heart, cooling system, oxygen concentrator (40%) and hard exoskeleton (more literal in this case, taking the stress off of the bones and placing them on to the suit, in a semi-powered, low energy fashion) help to generally improve the athletic performance of the individual, increasing both their endurance and range even without the extra strength enhancement. On top of this, the user is expected to lose weight as they consume resources, most notably water and food, which should lighten their load, and over time reduce the pack's weight to more reasonable levels, thus allowing them to carry on on foot even further, despite the inherent weight of the system. When general resources run out, a water filter can be used to gather water from almost anywhere in the world, and freeze dried food combined with general survival skills can extend the range of the user drastically, along with well timed air drops into territory where extraction is not possible, but resupply is. Due to the lack of ergonomics, the HULC exoskeleton is usually quickly abandoned in combat. It can fit in line with the suit, which partially supports the weight, but it is used primarily to get from point A to point B, and carry extraneous equipment, such as food and water. All in all, the armor provides electronics to enhance tactical and strategic capabilities on the battlefield, an exoskeleton to increase strength, and armor which helps increase the range of environments which the user can survive. The cooling suits not only increase the operational range of the user, but also help to improve athletic performance, the land warrior system allows for improved targeting, friend and foe identification, and allows both information from the command and logistics and to the command and logistics to be delivered almost instantly; the armor not only provides protection from incoming projectiles, but absorbs the weight of the user's combat pack, taking it off of the joints. The armor has many purposes which assist each other, and can protect from a wide range of threats, from temperature to general environmental issues, to blunt force trauma, and firearms. While the armor itself does not by itself perform all of these roles, the armor system and suit itself provides all of these abilities in conjunction with other systems designed to work in concert with the suit. All in all, the suit provides a wide spectrum of abilities for the user, from complex logistics, to increased physical strength, and protection against attacks. It's abilities represent a phenomenal leap in capabilities for infantry, and serve as a substantial force multiplier, in addition to providing capabilities ordinarily not possible without it. It costs between 50,000 to 100,000 dollars per unit, depending on the features provided; it is notable that 20,000 of this is for the thermal vision scopes, and roughly the same amount is used for the artificial heart. Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE, UHMW) is a subset of the thermoplastic polyethylene, otherwise known as Dyneema. It has extremely long chains, with a molecular mass usually between 2 and 6 million u. The longer chain serves to transfer load more effectively to the polymer backbone by strengthening intermolecular interactions. This results in a very tough material, with the highest impact strength of any thermoplastic presently made. Dyneema and Spectra are lightweight high-strength oriented-strand gel spun through a spinneret. They have yield strengths as high as 2.4 GPa (350,000 psi) and specific gravity as low as 0.97 (for Dyneema SK75). High-strength steels have comparable yield strengths, and low-carbon steels have yield strengths much lower (around 0.5 GPa). Since steel has a specific gravity of roughly 7.8, this gives strength-to-weight ratios for these materials in a range from 8 to 15 times higher than steel. Strength-to-weight ratios for Dyneema are about 40% higher than for aramid. It has such a low specific gravity, it is even buoyant in water, with a specific gravity of 1, compared to .97 for Dnyeema. Owing to it's high hardness and toughness as a plastic, it's application for armor is ideal. Like in EOD suits, the hard outer plastic surface breaks up and fragments shrapnel and bullets, spreading out the energy as the rounds deform. High velocity fragmentation or bullets are deformed and tumble, allowing the softer armor below to absorb the energy. While by itself, ordinarily thick pieces of hard dyneema would be required to stop projectiles, in combination with soft armor, the rounds fragment or break up on impact and expand, thus spreading out the energy over the armor. By the time they do pierce the dyneema, they generally have expanded or tumbled sufficiently to allow the rounds to be easily absorbed by the soft armor. Thus while the soft armor can stop the energy of a .44 magnum, but not the high velocity and small size of a 5.56mm round (equal in energy, but not in other factors), ordinarily it cannot stop the higher velocity rifle rounds. By absorbing some of the energy without cutting or tearing the soft armor, and by making the projectile a more ideal target, the armor can essentially stop rifle rounds, in situations it otherwise couldn't. Thus, the composite of high strength dyneema works like in EOD suits, although it is a significantly stronger form of plastic than used. Dyneema armor, by itself, is incredibly effective against small arms. The U.S. recently began adopting the Enhanced Combat Helmet, or ECH, which has shown remarkable protection capabilities. The replacement of the Advanced Combat Helmet with the Enhanced Combat Helmet has been likened to the transition from the Humvee to the MRAP. The helmet has been shown nearly impenetrable to fragments fired by test guns. In a v50 test, guns were unable to attain the velocity required to get 50% of the fragments through a helmet. The helmet has vastly exceeded the 35% ballistic improvement requirement. In addition, it has shown resistance to rifle rounds, which light armor, such as those from ballistic helmets, are traditionally incapable of stopping. Not only does the armor possess multiple hit capabilities like similar steel armor, but it can additionally withstand the higher velocity and energy of rounds which typically overpower soft armor. While Kevlar has approximately the same strength as high strength steels, in terms of steel, additional mechanical properties, such as a lack of flexibility, and an inherent "softness" make it difficult to stop cartridges possessing certain qualities, or if struck multiple times. While steel, such as AR500 steel, is stronger, it is significantly heavier, and due to it's density and necessary minimum thickness, is not considered suitable to being worn as a helmet. The Dyneema helmets not only match kevlar helmets in terms of overallweight, but exceed them by over 20%. When paired with other materials such as steel and ceramic in a composite, the armor forms and incredibly robust option for light arms. Nano Ceramic The armor is largely made of nano-ceramics, produced for the AMAP system. AMAP is also making use of new nano-ceramics, which are harder and lighter than current ceramics, while having multi-hit capability. Normal ceramic tiles and a liner backing have a mass-efficiency (EM) value of 3 compared to normal steel armour, while it fulfills STANAG 4569. The new nano-crystalline ceramic materials should increase the hardness compared to current ceramics by 70% and the weight reduction is 30%, therefore the EM value is larger than 4. Furthermore the higher fracture toughness increases the general multi-hit capability. The ceramics are more powerful, harder, and substantially tougher than the standard zirconium ceramics; thus, their multiple hit capability and increased strength allowed less ceramics to be utilized to protect the user, and thus reduce the weight of the armor, and yet protect from armor piercing 7.62mm x 54mm rounds, or multiple 7.62mm x 39mm rounds. Additionally, they have a aluminum matrix that holds them together; each tile is approximately half an inch, with a chobham style support system, to increase the strength of the ceramic, by providing a strong backing. This also increases the crack deflection of the armor, by breaking only one tile at a time, instead of an entire sheet of ceramic. Additionally, the aluminum frame provides a limited degree of flexibility, and thus the armor is easy to move around in somewhat (even though it is designed like plate armor) and thus provides additional capabilities. The ceramic is fiber reinforced with M5 fiber, which is over twice as strong than Kevlar. Being more heat resistant than nomex, it can withstand being infused within the ceramic at high temperatures, although it likely would not survive the entire heating process. Thus the material can strengthen the ceramic tiles internally (I.E. serving as fiber reinforced ceramics) without weakening, and makes it even more resistant to repeated impacts. The armor is designed with overlapping plates, that slide over each other, much like "lorinca segmented" armor. This allows the armor to be worn over joints and other areas that would ordinarily need flexible or elastic armor. Additionally, the flexible aluminum matrix and partially flexible fiber reinforced ceramics allows the armor to be more practical in terms of sliding plates, with a little bit of a yield, thus being more ergonomic. The helmet is essentially the same as the Enhanced Combat Helmet, however it possesses a somewhat stronger inner padding, a ceramic outside coating, and an attachable visor and facemask. The helmet is ordinarily 3 pounds, and is instead 3.5 pounds, due to the addition of the ceramic; with the face mask, it can rise to 5 pounds. While flexible armor exists for neck protection, there are nonetheless hard plates that stick
Soft Body Armor
Soft armor is used to reinforce parts of the ceramic plates, to help absorb energy and be more flexible; it is embedded within the ceramic, as well, to make the ceramic more durable and impact resistance. M-5 fiber, or polyhydroquinone-diimidazopyridine is a high-strength synthetic aramid fiber, similar to Kevlar, although it is retains the same strength at roughly 50% the weight and volume. This means that twice as much M-5 Fiber can be used in the same amount of space for the same weight, to provide twice as much protection with a higher degree of flexibility, and elasticity as Kevlar. The M-5 fiber also incorporates liquid body armor, or a sheer thickening fluid designed to help protect against projectile impacts. The fluid used in the body armor is made of silica particles suspended in polyethylene glycol. Silica is a component of sand and quartz, and polyethylene glycol is a polymer commonly used in lubricants and as an industrial precursor to many material. Four layers of STF-treated Kevlar can dissipate the same amount of energy as 14 layers of neat Kevlar. In addition, STF-treated fibers don't stretch as far on impact as ordinary fibers, meaning that bullets don't penetrate as deeply into the armor or a person's tissue underneath, and thus increase the durability of the armor as well, increasing it's multiple hit round capabilities. In accordance with the liquid body armor, the M-5 fiber composite is roughly 7 times more effective than kevlar against projectile weapons. This means that smaller, looser fitting amounts of soft body can be used to achieve the same and even greater protection. Due to the high elasticity and toughness of the material, and particularly it's higher heat tolerance, the material is capable of deflecting more than one round, uncharacteristic of Kevlar, making it a more ideal armor source. Nanocomp is working with the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Center to develop material for body armor, providing a laminate layer on the strike and back face of the armor to augment current materials. Laminate layers are typically about 2 mm/0.08 inch thick, with 200 layers on each side of the body armor. Tests have shown that Nanocomp body armor can stop a 9-mm bullet at just 2mm, a feat typically reserved for 6-8mm body armor. In electromagnetic shielding applications, the Nanocomp's CNTs help provide protection from electrical signals. This material is not the bulk of, but partially helps reinforce the M5 fiber. Impact gel is gel based sheer thickening non-Newtonian fluid designed to be capable of absorbing energy. Feats of thin materials include preventing energy from cars, hammers, and other large objects from crushing the individual. The helmet utilizes a mixture of similar British shock absorbing gel and impact gel to absorb the impact of bullets and explosions. Impacts and explosives often do a significant amount of damage to people, and according to the military at one point helmets were the cause of 60% of deaths, due to the inability for the helmet to prevent energy transfer to the skull and head. With the addition of impact gel and other energy absorbing materials, these helmets can prevent impacts and injuries that would ordinarily daze, harm or kill individuals. Serving as a backing for armor, it can absorb the shock of many cartridges, or their energy, such as with explosives with relative ease, preventing deformation of the armor and energy transfer to the user. ALON (Aluminium oxynitride) Aluminium oxynitride ( AlON) is a transparent ceramic composed of aluminium, oxygen and nitrogen. It is marketed under the name ALON and described in U.S. Patent 4,520,116. It is 4 times harder than fused silica glass, and 85% as hard as sapphire. The material remains solid up to 1,200 °C (2,190 °F). The material is used as for the crucial outer layer of experimental transparent armor being considered by the US Air Force for the windows of armored vehicles. When formed and polished as a window, the material currently (2005) costs about US$10 to US$15 per square inch (~ US$20,000/m²). Other applications include semiconductor substrates and retail fixtures. Objects are usually formed from pressed, cast or molded powder. The formed objects are then sintered (i.e., densified by heating in an oven), and polished until transparent. The polishing substantially improves the armor's impact resistance. The material is composed of three parts, an outer layer that's exposed to gunfire and made of baked aluminum oxynitride, a middle layer of glass, and a rear layer of polymer backing. Not only can the aluminum armor deflect rounds from small-caliber weapons and still be more clearly transparent than bullet-resistant glass that's been shot, it also passes a much more important test -- it resists .50-caliber armor-piercing bullets and anti-aircraft weapons that typically use .30-caliber rounds. This is an impressive feat, especially since it's half the weight and thickness of traditional transparent armor. This material is used for all and any transparent parts of the armor, including the face mask.
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Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2015 10:13 pm
General Information
Land warrior is not a single unit, but a system, spread out among multiple units, and integrated directly into ground vehicles, aircraft, and soldier's armor. Intended predominately to provide intelligence to the user, the system allows for easier control and access to sophisticated smart technology present, and to offer these capabilities on every level of the battlefield. The system not only provides soldiers with information, but commanders and other soldiers with information about them. From heart rate, to breathing, to general medical information, and updated information in the field, the system serves to integrate up to date information and rapid access to the field and commanders, to provide a method of interaction in both tactical and strategic never seen before without these installations. By itself is weights approximately 10 pounds with the rest of the biomechanic enhancing equipment. The soldier now has access to all or most of the basic command and radio communications (assuming someone on their channel is hooked up to a primary radio system, which is of course transferred to a minor radio system). The user can either access various verbal radio channels or text based radio channels, in order to minimize their input of verbal sounds and prevent "Helmet Fire". This is hooked up to the EPLRS system, and allows near real time information on secure, jam free channels for quick available tactical data. It also has a GPS based IDFF "Identification friend or foe" system, that allows user to see relative distances between individuals with the GPS system on a motion tracker like grid, and as well as see their teammates relative positions on a map in a zoomable and outzoomable positions, with an appearance similar to google maps. This information can be relayed to various other units, such as mobile vehicles and aircraft, as well as command centers, to give a ,more accurate layout to commanders and support units, to prevent fire from assisted attacks other than infantry as well. All the information is hooked up the Liquid crystal display in the facemask, allowing for an uplink of the round counter, scope, text based radio chatter, notice on active radio channels, view of the volume of the radio, time (date, time of day, etc.), and GPS based map with the position of friendly units (with the GPS motion tracking devices active on their person or vehicle) and geographic area of the terrain. This can all be controlled by the neural computer interface, providing hands off control of all the system's computer capabilities. The device also possess the ability for customization, allowing the user view of all of the applications at varying degrees of transparency, and at any position on the HUD. The device also can be completely turned off, providing complete and clear view through the facemask. The entire unit weighs approximately 10-15 pounds, although in conjunction with armor it can be lighter, the armor replacing some of the support functions of the device (such as the case for the battery or the head's up display). The individual soldier system also has an estimated cost of around 15,000 dollars. Motion chargers (devices that absorb the kinetic energy of the natural movement of the human body) and solar panels on the shoulders primarily are what are responsible for charging the batteries which power the electronics; some of this also goes to the biomechanical materials. The inefficient motion of the human body produces extra energy, which can be sapped off in part to run the operations. This can produce at least 50 watts, which while not powerful enough to power the majority of the operations, can power most of the lower energy systems of the device. This is based off of the HULC exoskeleton's capacitance system, which can be hooked up to the system which can also be dislodged when needed. Scope- The scope is essentially a low profile 4-10x zoom 60mm thermal scope design to be attached to standard picatinny rails. It is a low profile scope, with a rail on top of it, similiar to that of the G36; the picatinny rails rest on top of the scope, where iron sights are then placed on top. The rail then extends out on top of the scope, and the iron sights raise up above the scope, to provide accurate fire. A small circular plastic hole allows for view through the support structure for the raised iron sights. Thus, the iron sights are on top of the scope, providing both for combat. In addition, an additional scope can be mounted in front of the thermal scope to provide additional vision increase. The two scopes can be stacked Round Counter- The round counter is a device that is essentially designed to count the amount of rounds fired by the user, and document and log specific information about the rounds fired, including time, firing patterns, and volume. The device is based off of the Black Box, and can either be placed inside of the pistol grip of the weapon, the stock, or placed inside the receiver. The round counter is connected to the Land Warrior system, and allows for the user to see the amounts of round fired and remaining in their magazine, and if programmed correctly, their entire pack. While this can be displayed on the helmet, it is also possible to display on the weapon, with an LCD device. Overall simple in construction, it can only provide a limited degree of information based on the accuracy of the information input by the user, however this makes it consume less energy and be more durable. Laser range finder- The weapon utilizes a laser range finder with a range of up to 2KM, present on the weapon. The device can be utilized to measure the speeds of the target and find it's distance. The device uses a laser beam to determine the distance to an object. The most common form of laser rangefinder operates on the time of flight principle by sending a laser pulse in a narrow beam towards the object and measuring the time taken by the pulse to be reflected off the target and returned to the sender. Due to the high speed of light, this technique is not appropriate for high precision sub-millimeter measurements, where triangulation and other techniques are often used. This is similiar to the AN/GVS-5 laser range finder. The same device can also be used to emit an ordinary infrared laser. This can be utilized with a thermal scope in order to see the laser, but keep it hidden from enemy view. This focuses as an ordinary laser sight, although it has a longer range and it hidden from enemy view, provided they don't have thermal vision. Neural Interface- The system is a non-invasive neural uplink to the land warrior system and is based off of the EPOC nueroheadset. The device uses 14 saline sensors for optimal positioning for accurate spatial resolution, while the integrated gyroscope generates optimal positional information for cursor and camera controls. The high performance wireless up-link gives users a total range of motion, although it can be hooked to any device through the use of wires. The device is USB compatible and requires no custom drivers. The device allows for simple cursor moving as well as basic key commands. In addition, the device comes with automated programmable key commands, allowing easily customizable "quick commands" that the user can exploit for a much faster use of the available technology. The device can operate at the speed of the user's thoughts, allowing them to control their electronic uplink much faster in a hand off's environment. This device is also hooked up to the scope allowing for a much quicker zoom feature and is hooked up to the radio commands to allow quick, hands off text communication. Processing core- The processing core of the unit is a highly modified Apple 6 iphone based computer system. The A6 is said to use a 1.3 GHz custom Apple-designed ARMv7 based dual-core CPU, called Swift, rather than a licensed CPU from ARM like in previous designs, and an integrated triple-core PowerVR SGX 543MP3 graphics processing unit (GPU). The A6 chip also incorporates 1GB of LPDDR2-1066 RAM compared to 512MB of LPDDR2-800 RAM in the iPhone 4S providing double the memory capacity while increasing the theoretical memory bandwidth from 6.4 GB/s to 8.5 GB/s. Manufactured by Samsung on a High-κ metal gate (HKMG) 32 nm process, the chip is 96.71 mm2 large which is 22% smaller than the A5 and it consumes less power than its predecessor. Information is scarce but the Swift core uses a new tweaked instruction set, ARMv7s, featuring some elements of the ARM Cortex-A15 such as support for the Advanced SIMD v2, and VFPv4. Analysis suggests that the Swift core has a triple-wide frontend and two FPUs, compared to a two-wide core with a single FPU in the Cortex-A9 based predecessor. A version of the A6 with higher frequency and four graphic cores is called Apple A6X and is found in the fourth generation iPad. The device however, utilizes graphene transistors, a material with the best computation speed present in miniaturized electronics. A nano engineered material, it is capable of speeds up to 100 ghz, and thus is substantially faster than standard civilian processing units. Further more, these units are substantially more durable, having operating temperatures in the thousands of degrees and being 200 times stronger than steel. Combined with this, the system can operate at much higher speeds and has a much longer life over the standard armscale devices. It possesses nearly a terabyte of information storage, stored on an SSD, which is significantly faster, more durable, and smaller than a standard hard drive. It primarily allows for faster reading and writing of information, as well as no chance of fragmentation when doing so, but is generally more expensive. Unlike the iphone, it's connected to a substantially larger battery, and thus can last much longer. As well, it has a liquid cooled radiator as a cooling device, which allows it to operate in a wide variety of conditions, and gives it the ability to overclock without destroying itself. In addition, the device is specialized to work with a modified version of linux, of which the program is written in. It utilizes a slightly different version of the computing system, as to make it difficult for commercial devices to interact with it, therefore making it harder to hack or infiltrate. GPS- A standard GPS is added to fit on the utility belt or in a pocket of the suit. The GPS has a rail attachment, so that it may be added to the gun and removed with relative ease. The GPS can send out both a broadcasting signal, or a small screen can be presented to present the position of the unit. Essentially, the GPS provides a map and a locations device, allowing the user to see the layout of the area through the screen. In addition to this, the gps may be hooked up with the land warrior system or to a scope. Usually, however, it is placed next to the computer device on the back of the suit, where the majority of components are housed. Radio-frequency identification- The radio frequency identification chips are plugged into the armor, usually the soldier, to allow the easy identification of friendly troops without GPS positioning. These provide valuable information, ranging from name, rank, current position, and even medical information. The device is essentially an active Active Reader Passive Tag (ARPT) system (if the batteries wear our), and An Active Reader Active Tag (ARAT) which uses active tags awoken with an interrogator signal from the active reader, with battery assistance. They're mil spec design with a particularly owned frequency, that has a range of 2000 feet. While these do not provide global positioning, they do provide more accurate readings and local readings if the GPS systems go out or are unable to work due to dense foliage or cover (such as in a building). More powerful radios can be carried with the crew, to allow longer range detection of the systems. Sonar based Identification system- The system is essentially a sonar based identification system, similar to those used in advanced fish finders, but specialized for use in the air. While the quality varies, the ultra-sonar high kilo hzt variant allows for an accurate 3-dimensional rendering of a 100 foot radius area, given enough time. It can easily pick up motion, and generally can pick up the presence of humans or other living creatures. While it travels faster through solid fixtures, thus allowing it to essentially, see through walls, it is difficult and times time to render such an environment, and therefore additionally requires a unit to stay outside the facility for a given time, to make out what might be a small area. These systems are also hard to see without large computer screens, and may take proper analysis to figure out how to enter the facility. Larger ones can be combined with the system to provide a larger area map out, and thus an easier stationary system to figure out the the layout of a facility or area. Radio communication Network- The armor comes equipped with a standard AN-PRC-148, a Multiband Inter/Intra Team Radio (MBITR), which is the most widely fielded handheld multiband, tactical software-defined radio, in use with NATO forces around the world. The radio is hooked up to the headphones and standard speaker of the armor, and can connect with the land warrior software present. These can be linked to the vehicle radio systems, which are substantially more powerful than hand held variants. Rather than carry large radios, these devices are generally carried by unmanned tracked vehicles, such as the RIPSAW. While the carried radios are much lighter and have a much smaller range, when connected to the larger radio unit, these unmanned vehicles can provide invaluable communication abilities, even at extremely far ranges, and they do not require a unit from the squad. Power Source- The lithium–titanate battery is a type of rechargeable battery, which has the advantage of being faster to charge than other lithium-ion batteries. Titanate batteries are used in Mitsubishi's i-MiEV electric vehicle and Honda uses them in its EV-neo electric bike and Fit EV, which will be launched in summer 2012. A lithium–titanate battery is a modified lithium-ion battery that uses lithium-titanate nanocrystals on the surface of its anode instead of carbon. This gives the anode a surface area of about 100 square meters per gram, compared with 3 square meters per gram for carbon, allowing electrons to enter and leave the anode quickly. This makes fast recharging possible and provides high currents when needed. The disadvantage is that lithium-titanate batteries have a lower inherent voltage, which leads to a lower energy density than conventional lithium-ion battery technologies. Toshiba released a lithium–titanate battery, dubbed Super Charge Ion Battery (SCiB).The battery is designed to offer 90% charge capacity in just 10 minutes. SCiB batteries are used in the Schwinn Tailwind electric bike. Toshiba has also demonstrated its use as a prototype laptop battery. Toshiba SCiB batteries are also used in Mitsubishi's i-MiEV and Minicab MiEV electric vehicles, and Honda uses them in its EV-neo electric bike and Fit EV model which will be launched in summer 2012. The batteries within the land warrior system are based off of these batteries. Heart Rate Monitor- The heart rate monitor goes onto the wrist, like a standard watch, and can even tell time. The heart rate monitors comprises two elements: a chest strap transmitter and a wrist receiver or mobile phone (which usually doubles as a watch or phone). In early plastic straps water or liquid was required to get good performance. The units now use conductive smart fabric with built-in microprocessors which analyze the EKG signal to determine heart rate. Strapless heart rate monitors allow the user to just touch two sensors on a wristwatch display for a few seconds to view their heart rate. These are popular for their comfort and ease of use though they don't give as much detail as monitors which use a chest strap; to get more detailed information longer time frames with the chest monitor are required. It can also be utilized to measure blood pressure; this information is particularly useful for medics or to determine the medical capabilities of a soldier. Bone Conduction Headphones- Bone conduction is the conduction of sound to the inner ear through the bones of the skull. Bone conduction is the reason why a person's voice sounds different to him/her when it is recorded and played back. Because the skull conducts lower frequencies better than air, people perceive their own voices to be lower and deeper than others do. This also explains why a recording of one's own voice sounds higher than one is accustomed to. Some hearing aids employ bone conduction, achieving an effect equivalent to hearing directly by means of the ears. A headset is ergonomically positioned on the temple and cheek and the electromechanical transducer, which converts electric signals into mechanical vibrations, sends sound to the internal ear through the cranial bones. Likewise, a microphone can be used to record spoken sounds via bone conduction. The first description, in 1923, of a bone conduction hearing aid was Hugo Gernsback's "Osophone", which he later elaborated on with his "Phonosone". Bone conduction products have following advantages over traditional headphones:
Ears-free, thus providing extended use comfort and safety
High sound clarity in very noisy environments, can be used with hearing protection
Can have the perception of stereo sound
Throat Microphone- Throat Microphone- A throat microphone, also laryngophone, is a type of microphone that picks up sound directly through sensors in contact with the neck. Because of this design, it is able to pick up speech in loud environments, such as on a motorcycle or in a night club, where other types of microphones would not function well because the speech would be drowned out by background noise. This type of microphone is also able to pick up whispers and works well in an environment where one has to keep quiet while communicating with others at a distance, such as during a covert military operation. Throat microphones were also extensively used in World War II-era aircraft, and by German tank crews. Newer single-element designs are available that make the throat microphone much more comfortable to wear than earlier units. Additionally, this next generation of throat microphones provides varying outputs and frequency responses to accommodate a wide variety of communication devices such as digital and analog portable radios, Tetra & P25 systems, & cellular phones. Throat microphones are very useful in loud environments or when respiratory protection is required. Many full-face SCBA, SAR, SABA PAPR or re-breather masks do not have a provision for a microphone inside the mask. The throat microphone can be used safely as it is positioned outside the mask's face seal and as such does not compromise the respiratory protection provided by the mask nor does it violate mask approvals and certification. Throat microphones are popular with paintball players as they allow competitors to insert communication equipment easily under protective masks and gear. Additionally the ability to whisper communications enables players to not give away their position during games. does not feature whisper communications and requires users to speak at full volume. A throat microphone is available for iPhone, which is similar design to the armscale computer used by the computer system.
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Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2015 10:14 pm
Enhanced Biomechanics While the suit itself provides substantial strength enhancement via purely mechanical means, as it possesses a powered exoskeleton, it also works to improve the over-all physical capabilities of the user in general, by enhancing their natural biomechanics. Initial aspects of the design are as such that it removes a lot of the pressure off of the user, such as by redirecting the weight of the armor and the combat pack and distributing it more evenly around the body, as well as directing it straight into the ground, using mostly unpowered systems. Due to it's design, it is more ergonomic than most semi powered exkoseletons, but consumes more energy. It places a large portion of balance and coordination on to the suit, having a wide array of sensors and gyroscopes. It is also can effect the nervous system; by reading signals in the brain, it can nearly instantly transfer them to the body through electric impulse, and thus speed up the reaction time of the user. It can also smooth out actions, much like in an F16, so that a person will move in a more efficient way; in addition their body could be controlled to make certain motions, thus giving faster operating capabilities and more things that their muscle memory might not be capable of (as their suit can control the body through nerve stimulation). The suit does not actually possess an artificial heart, as it is constantly on the user, but the suit is designed to work in concert with this heart; while the heart of the host individual is not removed, it is slowed down by the pacemaker unless the backpack is turned off or disconnected from the heart. The artificial heart pumps blood about 3.5 times faster through the body than what the host person would ordinarily experience at resting levels; since it utilizes a very low pressure hydraulic heart, it can achieve such high rates without an increase in blood pressure; in fact, the person with the heart could be technically considered "dead" due to their low blood pressure, as their body has a virtually non-existent pulse. This in turn allows significantly more blood to circulate through the body without issue, even at greatly increased levels, and could in theory sustain the equivalent of an adrenaline rush indefinitely. Regardless, this in turn speeds up brain power, lifting capacity, and reaction time, without the ordinary detriments associated with long time adrenaline exposure. Additionally, the suit routinely adds PFC's, glucose, electrolytes, and other nutrients to the body; since the tubes hook up to major body parts, including the neck, wrists, thighs, ankles, and other areas, the materials are distributed through the body much quicker and to certain body parts faster than a typical intravenous pump. If the body is estimated to be working with extreme difficulty, it will pump more of these materials into the blood stream in order to give more energy, locally and totally, to increase performance. As well, it can absorb these materials from the bloodstream using a nano-graphene filter, and then remove them, in case they become too much; as well, it can remove other toxins and build up materials from the body, like excess lactic acid, to a limited extent. Most notably, the suit has limited medical benefits. Artificial blood, with 5 times the capacity of ordinary blood, and a significantly longer shelf life, can be pumped into the body if the vital signs begin to alter, suggesting the user needs emergency attention. The internal thermoregulation suit itself can seal up and tighten areas that have been wounded, and provide quick clot to quickly slow down bleeding. While this does not treat the injury itself, the quick reaction of the equipment can drastically increase survival rates, if the user is damaged. This system relies naturally on the vital signs indicator by the thermal regulator, and in addition transmits this information to the commanders and squad to keep them aware of the current state of their units. Artificial HeartThe average heart produces about 1.3 Watts of energy, every second, for over 75-100 years. The heart is relatively inefficient, below 10% efficiency, suggesting it takes at least `10-13 watts of continuous power to power the average heart. A primary function of the heart other than to pump blood is to promote which direction oxygenated and unoxygenated blood goes. While this is through a method of diffusion and osmosis balance this also promotes which direction nutrient filled blood goes too, as well; in addition, in regulates it's rate depending on hormones, to tell the body how to go faster or if it needs to work harder. A primary problem with artificial hearts is getting the power and capabilities necessary to knowing how to regulate speeds. The system in the backpack works in two ways, the first one which is to monitor the heart rate; while regulated to 20 BPM with a pace masker (to preserve the function of the heart, so it won't atrophy) which will immediately subside if the pack is damaged, oxygenated and unoxygenated blood and can artificially pressed through the heart to filter out blood, and as well the heart can be monitored to be made aware of how fast the pack should beat based on adrenaline and other functions. The heart pump uses a hydraulic pump and "turbine" [ 1][ 2][ 3], much larger than the heart, to circulate blood up to roughly 5 times it's given limit, although it usually operates at around 3.5. While this would ordinarily raise blood pressure enormously (to increase the heart rate to such levels), due to the constant circulation of the blood rather than irregular thumps the over-all blood pressure at any one point is much lower than even in an ordinary human. This does however cause the circulation to be different, and the 20BPM of the heart is still a minor part that gives partial blood pressure, rather than being nearly absent. Through this process the blood can circulate much faster throughout the body, without undue strain on the body. This entire process uses about 5 watts, due to be substantially more efficient in operation than the human heart. Because it does not need to monitor the hormones and other chemical nearly as much, due to it's high rate of circulation over compensating for problems that may increase the heart rate, such as adrenaline, it is less of a hassle to try to match the heart rate associated with the hormone levels. Still, there are methods for measuring these levels in the body. As a result of the increased heart users, most users can operate as if on an adrenaline rush for long periods of time. Their reaction time is faster, their brain is faster and absorbs more information, and they have increased strength. Primarily, however, the increased heart rate helps to improve endurance, taking the stress off of the human heart. By placing it on to the machine, the heart does not need to be at elevated levels during strenuous exercise, or when pumping the incredibly vicious blood. This not only helps to avoid wearing out the heart, but allows for greatly increased endurance, allowing for constant physical exertion at peak levels nearly indefinitely. Obvious other restrictions still apply, however it can improve performance drastically. The heart, while it does not consume a substantial amount of energy, requires constant upkeep, and due to the increased blood supply, would but difficulty on the host if it stopped working; thus, the heart relies upon an RTG which provides a small but steady supply of power for many decades. Detecting Hormones and other chemicals in the bloodThe heart is monitored using various heart monitors, in order to conclude how much of each hormone is present in the blood using the heart as a monitor to determine how fast to pump based on hormones like adrenaline. However, Infrared spectroscopy, much like what is used in alcohol breathalyzers, is used to measure how much of each chemical in the blood. Tuned to measure what's in the blood, the infrared spectrometer can detect the presence and how much of each chemical is in the blood, in order to tell the heart how fast to beat. Despite this, the artificial heart operates well over it's necessary limits, suggesting that even if adrenaline desired to have the heart pumping 3 times it's limit, since it is usually far over this level, it more or less would be irrelevant. However monitoring the heart's responses and the level of hormones in blood in order to understand how to beat faster can be important and is an available function of the suit should other functions fail, or in order to try to get the suit to attune to the bodies need, albeit perhaps more quickly. Blood dopingErythropoietin use, or EPO, can be utilized to increase blood cell content, and thus oxygen, nutrient, protein, and other carrying capacities. By increasing the total volume of the blood, more oxygen can go to the brain and to repair tissue after it's damaged, as well as nutrients, faster, more oxygen can be absorbed by the lungs and dissolved into the blood, can increase performance. In addition to healing faster, increased endurance is possible through blood doping, which not only doubles the amount of oxygen a person can consume from their lungs, but also transports more nutrients to muscles and other organs faster. While there can be some drawback to increasing the amount of blood in the body, such as increased iron absorption and potentially overworking the heart, as long as the body stays below relatively safe hemocrit levels, there is little chance for issue. As human blood is not as thick as it could be, increased thickness to a degree can be relatively harmless. The effects are along the line of high altitude training, without any of the potential drawbacks of low oxygen training. Maximum safety limits can be hard to determine, as some people live in conditions which necessitate much higher concentrations, but in general double the ordinary hemocrit levels are generally considered safe. The system is designed to utilize triple the ordinary blood volume of a normal person, as afforded by the artificial heart, which takes most of the strain off of the heart and cardiovascular system, particularly as it decreases blood pressure to harmless levels. Oxygen ConcentratorThe Oxygen Concentrator more or less concentrates ambient oxygen, providing more from the air, and increasing the total amount of oxygen exposed to the user. Oxygen concentrators operate on the principle of rapid pressure swing adsorption of atmospheric nitrogen onto zeolite minerals and then venting the nitrogen. This type of adsorption system is therefore functionally a nitrogen scrubber leaving the other atmospheric gasses to pass through. This leaves oxygen as the primary gas remaining. PSA technology is a reliable and economical technique for small to mid-scale oxygen generation, with cryogenic separation more suitable at higher volumes and external delivery generally more suitable for small volumes. At high pressure, the porous zeolite adsorbs large quantities of nitrogen, due to its large surface area. After the oxygen and other free components are collected the pressure drops which allows nitrogen to desorb.An oxygen concentrator has an air compressor, two cylinders filled with zeolite pellets, a pressure equalizing reservoir, and some valves and tubes. In the first half-cycle the first cylinder receives air from the compressor, which lasts about 3 seconds. During that time the pressure in the first cylinder rises from atmospheric to a few times normal atmospheric pressure (typically 20 psi/138 kPa gauge, or 2.36 atmospheres absolute) and the zeolite becomes saturated with nitrogen. as the first cylinder reaches near pure oxygen (there are small amounts of argon, CO2, water vapor, radon and other minor atmospheric components) in the first half-cycle a valve opens and the oxygen enriched gas flows to the pressure equalizing reservoir, which connects to the patient's oxygen hose. At the end of the first half of the cycle there is another valve position change so that the air from the compressor is directed to the 2nd cylinder. Pressure in the first cylinder drops as the enriched oxygen moves into the reservoir, allowing the nitrogen to be desorbed back into gas. Part way through the second half of the cycle there is another valve position change to vent the gas in the first cylinder to vent outside. That keeps the concentration of oxygen in the pressure equalizing reservoir from falling below about 90%. The pressure in the hose delivering oxygen from the equalizing reservoir is kept steady by a pressure reducing valve. The total concentration increases from ordinary atmospheric concentrations of 20.9% to about double at 40%. Since this is considered relatively safe, in conjunction with various anti-oxidants, it is an easily usable increase in oxygen concentrations to help improve performance in the field. While it does not increase strength, increasing the total amount of oxygen dissolved in the blood helps to increase endurance and growth, as well as healing in nearly all tissues of the body. Semi-powered ExoskeletonPart of the purpose of the semi powered exo skeleton is the weight distribution and load carrying over the entire body. As the weight is distributed more evenly and redirected through the suit into the ground in a more appreciable fashion, it is easier to carry the load and thus reduces the strain on the user. However, the exoskeleton also provides limited assistance to the user, allowing some redirection of the forces throughout the suit as a result of a semi powered exoskeleton suit. While the exoskeleton designed by MIT utilizes 1 watt, the exoskeleton utilized in this suit utilizes closer to 10 watts. While the same fundamental principles apply, the design works at different elevations and does not substantially change the users gait to gain the advantages, at the expense of efficiency. Still, it helps to significantly reduce the stress and load off the user; since the weight is put into the suits lower extremities, instead of just a single tube, it helps to distribute the weight easier and balance it more appropriately. While this does not enhance the users strength, it does redirect the weight in such a way as to make it easier to carry, and thus helps to, partially, increase the users strength. ThermoregulatorThe suit is designed to reduce energy consumption and stress on the user by helping the body maintain an ideal temperature, regardless of the environment. Like a personal air conditioner or heater, it keeps the user warm or cold, to near ideal body temperatures in any range of environments, reducing the amount of energy required to maintain homeostasis; in addition, it reduces water consumption and salt loss from sweating and general dehydration, in general improving physical performance. It helps particularly during intense exercise, when the body starts to overheat. The ideal human body temperature is close to 98.6; The ideal room temperature however, is approximately 60-70 degrees, which is much harder to reach. In addition, proper body temperature conditions differ throughout each body part, so the suit is designed to adapt it's temperature depending on the place of the body, such as the face, hands and nose, which tend to be slightly colder. The primary advantage of the system is it's low energy consumption. As a result of extremely effective insulators, the suit can easily keep the body at desired temperatures utilizing coolant systems over the whole body, which drastically increase performance in the field. Concept designs have shown considerable promise via cooling gloves [ 1][ 2][ 3][ 4], although the suit itself utilizes an entire fully body unit, which surrounds the entire body. Most key areas in the body are covered, such as the hands or feet, and in addition sensors are used to appropriately gauge how the body should be cooled. If the body begins to overheat, the suit will begin to cool key areas of high vascular content down, in addition to areas over the entire body.
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Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2015 10:14 pm
CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear) Suit CBRN (pronounced C-BORN or C-BURN) is an initialism for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear. It is commonly used worldwide to refer to incidents or weapons in which any of these four hazards have presented themselves. The term CBRN is a replacement for the cold war term NBC (nuclear, biological, and chemical), which had replaced the term ABC (atomic, biological, and chemical) that was used in the fifties. The addition of the R (for radiological) is a consequence of the "new" threat of a radiological weapon (also known as the "poor man's atomic bomb"). Since the start of the new millennium, a new term – CBRNe – was introduced as a replacement term for CBRN. The e in this term represents the enhanced (improvised) explosives threat. CBRN defense (CBRND) is used in reference to CBRN passive protection, contamination avoidance, and CBRN mitigation. A CBRN incident differs from a hazardous material incident in both effect scope (i.e., CBRNE can be a mass casualty situation) and in intent. CBRN incidents are responded to under the assumption that they are deliberate, malicious acts with the intention to kill, sicken, and/or disrupt society. Evidence preservation and perpetrator apprehension are of greater concern with CBRN incidents than with HAZMAT incidents. SuitThe suit used is considered to be at a level "A" protection. This is the highest level of protection against vapors, gases, mists, and particle, which consists of a fully encapsulating chemical entry suit with a full-facepiece self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) or a supplied air respirator (SAR) with an escape cylinder. A crew member must also wear boots with steel toes and shanks on the outside of the suit and specially selected chemical-resistant gloves for this level of protection. The breathing apparatus is worn inside (encapsulated within) the suit. To qualify as Level A protection, an intrinsically safe two-way radio is also worn inside the suit, often incorporating voice-operated microphones and an earpiece speaker for monitoring the operations channel. The suitThe suit is based off of the British MK IV NBC Protective Suit and is worn in conjunction with a respirator, gloves and overboots, and offers protection against all known chemical warfare (CW) agents. Interestingly, the suit is designed to be worn under the armor, rather than over it, although in theory the suit could be used for either situation.The life of the suit in operations depends on the level of attack. In most situations it can be worn for up to a month and still offer protection to the wearer. Under extreme conditions of multiple attack it may be necessary to change the suit after 24 hours. In addition to providing protection against toxic agents in both liquid and vapour form, the suit is also self-decontaminating by encouraging rapid evaporation. Furthermore, by virtue of its flame retardancy, it offers a high level of protection not only against conventional fire, but also against the thermal pulse resulting from a nuclear burst. DescriptionThe MK IV is a two-piece suit consisting of a smock and trousers. The smock, which is single breasted, has a front opening which can be closed with a slide fastener and also touch and close tapes. It has an attached hood with an elasticated face opening, which gives a good seal around the respirator. Touch and close strips are also provided at the cuffs and hips to allow easy individual adjustment for size. Bellows type pockets, with stitching penetrating only the outer layer of the main suit are provided on each breast and on the right sleeve, and a patch pocket with divisions for pens is fitted on the left upper sleeve. The trousers are of pyjama type with a gussetted front end with brace tapes sewn at the back, and loops at the front to give over-the-shoulder braces which can be tied at the front. Waist and the lower legs can be adjusted by touch-and-close fasteners. Bellows type pockets are provided on each thigh, together with detector patches. Both smock and trousers are designed with the outer and inner layers of fabric constructed separately and only joined at the edges, thus reducing any possibility of ingress through stitch holes. MaterialsThe complete suit is constructed from two layers.The outer material is made of monacrylic fibres reinforced with polyamide fibres. It has a strong, hard-wearing outside surface. A silicone treatment is applied to make the garments shower-proof, and to permit rapid spreading of liquid chemicals, which in turn speeds up evaporation. This reduces the loading on the second layer, whose main function is to act as chemical barrier. The inner fabric is based on activated charcoal as a means of protection against toxic gases and vapours. It.s bonded to a non-woven fabric, which is flame retardant. A fluorocarbon finish is applied as an oil repellent, thus acting as a further barrier to toxic liquids. This combination of repellents represents a chemical barrier which is highly efficient, yet air permeable and thus imposes low heat stress. This liquid control system formed by a wicking layer over an oil-repellent layer permits the incorporation of less charcoal than in other systems, which in turn results in a fighter garment and smaller package size.
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