the insider

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

DIRECTOR’S CORNERSpeaking with one voice, Page 2

RDECOM NEWSBRIEFSNews and information from across the organization, Page 3

SPOTLIGHT Edwards runs AMRDEC, Page 4

ARMY DISPLAYS FUTURE OF GROUND-VEHICLE TECHNOLOGIESPage 6

MICROSTRUCTURES FOLD UNDER A BEAM OF LIGHTPage 8

RESEARCHERS DEVELOP ROBOT INTELLIGENCEPage 9

RDECOM DEVELOPS HEALTHIER SMOKES GRENADES0

ARMY SCIENTISTS FIND SOLUTION FOR TESTING BODY ARMORPage 12

TESTING SEEKS DATA ON MODIFIED GUNNER PROTECTION DESIGNPage 16

ENGINEERS TEST RAPID NERVE AGENT DETECTORSPage 20

ARMY WAR COLLEGE FELLOWS VISIT NATICKPage 22

FEBRUARY 2013ISSUE NO. 8

Army engineers design, build roadway threat detection system

The Shadow Class Infrared Spectral Sensor-Ground, known as SCISSOR-G, could allow Soldiers on a route clearance patrol to achieve greater standoff ranges from possible improvised explosive devices during missions. (U.S. Army photo)

By Dan Lafontaine RDECOM Public Affairs

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — Explosives along roadways remain an unrelenting hazard for deployed Soldiers.

U.S. Army engineers have developed a system for detecting possible threats by identifying potential threat locations on unimproved roads.

The Shadow Class Infrared Spectral Sensor-Ground, known as SCISSOR-G, could allow Soldiers on a route clearance patrol to achieve greater standoff ranges during missions, said Jim Hilger, chief of the Signal and Image Processing Branch within the U.S. Army Communications -- Electronics Research, Development and Engineering

Center’s Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate, at Fort Belvoir, Va.

CERDEC is one of the seven research and development organizations that comprise the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command.

The SCISSOR-G is a complementary system to radars. It can perform region of interest cueing of threats at greater standoff distances, which can be further interrogated by the radar as the vehicle gets closer to the threat, Hilger said. The system provides a route clearance patrol with increased standoff range for potential threat detection.

“If you can increase the threat detection in front of the vehicle, you give the operators a

CONTINUED ON PAGE 20

2 FEBRUARY 2013 – ISSUE NO. 8

By Dale A. Ormond

Now that I’ve been with RDECOM for a year, I am finally starting to understand the organization, its mission and the vital role it plays to provide our Soldiers with the deci-sive technological edge.

Frankly, we face challenges. If one were to look at the current enterprise with a criti-cal eye, it appears fractured with competing names, logos and brand identities. Our per-ceived collective value is largely unknown and underutilized. Stakeholders don’t see the connection between the state-of-the-art services we provide and the depth of knowledge and expertise behind the possi-bilities. Often, stakeholders don’t recognize the overarching RDECOM brand because they perceive that the centers and lab oper-ate as self-sustaining entities.

I firmly believe it’s necessary to bring the entire organization under one identity. In order for the Army to make the best deci-sions in science and technology, we need to speak and act with one voice.

Rebranding will strengthen our ability to move forward in providing science, tech-nology and engineering solutions across a broad spectrum. It will facilitate under-standing of the science and engineering expertise that resides in this command. Defining a single brand will reinforce col-laboration across our enterprise with the added potential benefit of gaining wide con-gressional base support.

Right now we have the RDECOM name and logo and we have seven sub-organiza-tions with different names and logos. Our challenge is to present the larger value and narrative that the Army Materiel Command and RDECOM bring to the fight.

We’re looking at a couple of options.One way would be for all organizations to

assume the RDECOM name and logo with a distinction for its capability, for exam-ple “RDECOM Armament,” or “RDECOM Ground Vehicle Systems.”

This path has many advantages. RDECOM is known, and to some extent has brand awareness as the parent organi-zation for the centers and lab. RDECOM’s unrecognized equity can be addressed and enhanced through rebranding the centers and lab by shaping and reframing the sto-ry. We would have the opportunity to unify centers and lab under the RDECOM brand packaged with compelling narrative.

A second course of action would create a new identity for the whole enterprise: Army Research and Engineering Laboratory. The

centers and lab would be differentiated by capability, such as “AREL Chemical & Biological,” or “AREL Soldier Systems.”

This approach would give the entire en-terprise an opportunity to establish a new direction, speak with a new voice and build awareness together.

A complete rebranding of the enterprise creates external perception of alignment to other Department of Defense entities, such as the Air Force Research Laboratory and the Naval Research Laboratory.

Using the word “laboratory” in the name emphasizes the discovery and innovation aspects of what we do, as well as gener-ates resonance external to the Army. It would offer flexibility with additional market opportunities. Finally using a new name would give the organization an opportunity to establish a new direction and make a complete break from RDECOM.

Becoming a laboratory would be a pow-erful proposition. In fact, given the breadth of our research and development portfolios, we would perhaps be the biggest such lab-oratory in the United States. Both options

are being given serious considerations by our leadership at the AMC.

Regardless of our name, our story does not need to be manufactured; it’s just not able to be communicated effectively under the current environment, which is another reason why we need to align ourselves strategically. I believe we must continue to breakdown stovepipes and build a single, unifying corporate culture. Once we go down this path, we may realize the vision of Gen. Paul J. Kern, commander of the AMC, when he created RDECOM in 2004.

In aligning our strategic vision for the fu-ture with our organizational culture, we will enhance stakeholder awareness of our ca-pabilities so they fully understand the value we provide to the Army.

The future of Army readiness is in our hands. Continue to do great things. It is my distinct honor to serve with you.

RELATED LINKSBiography: http://go.usa.gov/vK8Facebook: http://on.fb.me/MKsWloTwitter: http://twitter.com/DaleOrmond

U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command Director Dale Ormond (center) visits with students during a robotics competition leading up to the U.S. Army All-American Bowl outside the Alamodome in San Antonio Jan. 4. (U.S. Army photo by Conrad Johnson)

Director’s Corner: Speaking with one voice

http://go.usa.gov/vK8

3RDECOM’s THE INSIDER

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — The Army promoted Staf f Sgt. Steven McGloin to the rank of staf f ser-geant Jan. 1. Command Sgt. Maj. Lebert Beharie, senior noncommissioned officer for RDECOM, congratulated McGloin on his pro-motion. McGloin is assigned to the office of the RDECOM command sergeant major.

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — Brig. Gen. Daniel Hughes (left), deputy commanding general of RDECOM, received a Legion of Merit Jan. 9. from Maj. Gen. Harold Greene, deputy for acquisition and systems management, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics and Technology). Hughes earned the award for his service as director of System of Systems Integration from October 2011 to October 2012.

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — The Army honored three civilian employees Dec. 19 for volunteering to mentor youth in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. RDECOM Director Dale Ormond (left) congratulates Lauren McNew.

ECBC Public Affairs

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — The U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center received a letter of gratitude from U.S. Ambassador to Albania Alexander A. Arvizu Nov. 21. The note thanked the organization for a successful demilitarization operation that destroyed a recently discovered stockpile of chemical munitions in Tirana, Albania.

“Thanks to your professionalism and expertise, these hazardous chemicals are no longer a potential danger to the Albanian or American people. I have received profuse thanks from the Ministry of Defense and other Albanian government officials, and wanted to pass on their appreciation as well. Once again, thank you for a job well done!” Arvizu wrote.

Collaborative ECBC’s Chemical Biological Application and Risk Reduction Business Unit, the Central Laboratory, Logistics Brigade and the Albanian Armed Forces led to the successful destruction of 11 chemical agents during two weeks in July. CBARR personnel implemented an environmentally sound infrastructure in Tirana, setting up the analytical capabilities and engineering controls to ensure the safe destruction of chemical

warfare agents.“We were incredibly appreciative of

the on-site rapport we developed with the Albanian laboratory staff,” said Ray Diberardo, CBARR project manager. “We were able to establish a good working relationship that enabled us to execute the operation safely.”

CBARR personnel assessed site conditions and designated locations for storage, detoxification and analysis of chemical agents. Once the site passed a pre-operations survey that verified supplies and safety protocols were in place, the team conducted a chemical analysis on each of the agents to confirm chemical identity, quantify chemical concentrations and establish a baseline for which destruction goals could be measured.

“Sometimes the challenges of working in a foreign country are being able to communicate and work effectively with laboratory and support personnel, but it was a natural partnership with the Albanians,” Diberardo said. “We are happy to have had the opportunity to provide support and lead international efforts.”

RELATED LINKSECBC: https://www.ecbc.army.mil

U.S. ambassador thanks Army for demilitarization effort in Albania

The U.S. Army demilitarization effort safely destroyed 11 chemical agents during a two-week project in Tirana, Albania. (U.S. Army photo)

RDECOM SOLDIER GETS PROMOTED

ARMY RECOGNIZES DEPUTY CG

ARMY HONORS STEM VOLUNTEERS


RDECOM Public Affairs

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — Eric Edwards is the director of the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center at Redstone Arsenal, Ala. He leads about 3,500 Department of the Army employees and 24 Soldiers. He oversees about 6,500 contractors and executes an an-nual program budget of about $3 billion.

He graduated from University of Alabama with a bachelor of science in aerospace engineering in 1987 and Florida Institute of Technology with a master of science in management in 1999.

Edwards has held in a variety of technical jobs from systems engineering to Army product and project manager. He is a top civilian authority and scientific and engineering expert on research and development for aviation and missiles.

Currently he is on a 45-day developmental assignment as acting deputy director for the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command.

What do you want the rest of RDECOM to know about your workforce

Basically the mission for AMRDEC is to provide research and development for aviation and missile systems as well as providing life-cycle engineering to our program executive offices, program managers and other customers. The largest part of what we do is really the “E” in RDEC. The engineering piece is technical data management, configuration management, quality and specialty engineering activities, airworthiness engineering and all of the disciplines associated with missile launch, flight and target engagement.

We provide life-cycle engineering in support of the weapons systems in the program executive offices and program managers that we support.

AMRDEC has many recent success stories. One of the big ones is the multi-launch rocket system, commonly referred to as MLRS. It’s an area suppression weapon that the Army wanted to be more precise. Now we call it the GMLRS, or guided multi-launch rocket system.

The research, development, science and technology that went into taking the MLRS to the guided MLRS came from our engineers. All of the testing, research and development in proving that concept and then transitioning that to the program office, to the program of record, so that could go to the Soldier, that came directly out of the AMRDEC and the S&T portfolio.

Another example is our work integrating the Hellfire missile onto an unmanned aerial system. The integration work and the things necessary to fire that off an airborne platform were done out of the AMRDEC.

On the aviation side, the Army recently introduced the AH-64E version of the Apache helicopter, which is the world’s best attack helicopter. There are 11 new technologies on the new helicopter. Seven of those 11 technologies were part of the S&T, R&D investment in the aviation portfolio. We worked with the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, DARPA, the U.S. Navy and other RDECOM research centers and laboratories.

That partnership was critical to get the capability that we now have on Apaches that are in the fight. It’s one of those great stories where we can show what we did. Here’s the technology. Here’s the collaboration across the services and within RDECOM and now that’s fielded and in the hands of Soldiers -- and making a difference.

How do you encourage collaboration and sharing across RDECOM?

AMRDEC is a huge organization. We have

large directorates and we are geographically dispersed. So, even getting collaboration within the AMRDEC -- between directorates -- is a challenge. Folks are embracing it, but a lot of it comes down to communications and understanding what the other directorates do and what capabilities they have.

We’ve got to get past the mentality of an “eat what you kill approach” to where you’re rewarded for how much work you bring in. Instead, we should incentivize collaboration.

Take that up a level. It’s the same with RDECOM. I recently had something come across my desk and I looked at it and said, “Why are we doing this? Why is this not something that Natick is doing?” Again, it’s senior leaders understanding what capabilities exist in the other research centers and laboratories.

I do not want to stand up a new lab and hire new people, particularly in today’s environment, if that capability already exists at Picatinny or Natick. I want to leverage what they have and do it that way.

As acting deputy director for RDECOM, I’ve learned an incredible amount about what the other research centers and laboratories do. When you’re going 100 miles per hour and you’ve got your eyes on the mission you’re

Technical Director Spotlight: Edwards runs AMRDEC

Eric Edwards is the director for the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center. (U.S. Army photos by Conrad Johnson)


Edwards has advice for the RDECOM workforce.

doing every day you don’t necessarily have the time to step back and try to figure it out. From what I’ve seen up here, I have a better appreciation for what the other centers and labs do.

What are the biggest challenges facing your organization?

What’s going on with sequestration and the budget drills is clearly a challenge. That’s the thing that has me most concerned for the workforce.

I’m the RDECOM champion for human capital development in the director’s implementation of his lines of effort. We’re hearing words of hiring freezes and of having to let temporary employees go. That’s our seed corn. If we’re doing things that preclude us from growing the bench, then, as we have an aging workforce, this is a challenge.

Our average employee age at AMRDEC is about 45. There’s been a very concerted effort to get young folks in and bring them up because we did have a graying workforce. We had a great workforce that did some phenomenal things for the Army, but they are retiring and moving on. Who have they mentored and who are their replacements? If we start doing things where we’re not going to be able to hire folks ... we’re not going to have the young folks ... that number is going to creep back up and we’re going to get to the point where people are going to leave and we have not done anything to grow somebody behind them. That’s a huge challenge.

We’ve got a great organization. We do everything from software development, system simulation, specialty engineering in our Engineering Directorate, which also has our Prototype Integration Facility, which has won many of the Army’s Greatest Inventions in the last several years. They’ve done some phenomenal things and received some great feedback from the Soldier.

Our Weapons Development and Integration Directorate has done some amazing work with lightening aircraft weight. For every pound that you can get off an aircraft, it’s another pound of fuel or weapons you can carry. The directorate undertook an effort to lighten the missile launcher on the Kiowa Warrior and they were very successful. They received a note back from Soldiers in the 1st Squadron, 7th Cavalry: “You guys rock!” What better validation of what you do every day than to get a man or woman in uniform that’s over there in harm’s way who takes the time to send a note back to say thanks for what you did?

What excites you about the future?

We’re real proud of our work with

unmanned aerial systems.From my standpoint, another major project is

our work in designing and developing the next generation of vertical lift aircraft.

AMRDEC has an integral role of the Future Vertical Lift initiative in developing a replacement for the Black Hawk, Apache and Chinook helicopters. That is where a significant amount of our aviation S&T investment is going. We’re being very deliberate about the research and development. We’re working with the TRADOC to get their requirements. We’re working with industry for the “art of the possible.” And, we’re working with academia. The intent of this is to get an operational capability in the 2030 timeframe. So this isn’t tomorrow, but it’s very deliberate.

On the missile side, I’m excited about our research in the Kinetic Energy Active Protective System and the Extended Area Protection System.

Other big areas in the missile world are counter-unmanned aerial systems and counter rocket artillery and mortars, as well as integrated base defense. Those are some things that we’re actively developing. I love to see the young folks that come in to brief what they’re doing.

On the aviation side it’s the Future Vertical Lift initiative. There’s a whole lot more going on, but those are the big hitters.

What advice do you have for the workforce?

When I mentor folks there are a couple of things that I tell everybody. One is just to never stop learning professionally or personally. There is a lot of opportunity that the Army gives you and it may change a little bit with some of the restrictions that we’re under but there’s a lot of opportunity to continue to grow professionally, whether it’s Defense Acquisition University courses and

certifications, or advanced degrees.We have a lot of folks with doctorates and

advanced degrees. If you haven’t already done so already, take an opportunity to get a master’s degree or Ph.D. Never stop learning.

I think it’s important for employees to sit down with their supervisor. All of us have to do an Individual Development Plan and articulate what it is that we want to do. You sign up for that together so that you’re on the same journey and your supervisor understands what want to do.

Another thing is goal setting. I realize it may be a personal thing, but I’m very much a goal-oriented person. I like to have a goal -- something that I’m working toward. I encourage to folks that I mentor to look around and ask, “What job do I want to have? What is it that you aspire to when you have reached the zenith of your career?” Write that down and then write down the steps you need to complete to arrive at your goal.

Personally I’m motivated by having something that I’ve decided that I want to do, whether it’s personal or professional. At one point many years ago I wanted to run a marathon. Every one of my siblings and my parents had done that. I was the only one who hadn’t. I decided to run a marathon. I planned out how many miles I needed to run every day and I got a book and laid out what I needed to do. Pretty much rain or whatever, I was out doing what that plan was. But that was my goal, and I did it. That’s just how I’m driven. I encourage everybody to set a goal.

One other thing, I highly encourage people to look for and take developmental opportunities. Look for opportunities to get out of your comfort zone a little bit. I will tell you unequivocally that what I’ve seen at the headquarters in the short time I’ve been here, this is a developmental assignment, and you may think how can it be developmental for a senior executive? Well, it really is a developmental assignment. I’ve learned more in two weeks than I ever could have just by talking to somebody on the telephone. Where you stand is a matter of where you sit.

I’ve learned a whole lot about the whole command and the dynamics. This is out of my comfort zone. I’m not home. I’m not doing the job that I’m used to doing.

Take jobs that challenge you. You’ll take something away from it. People may mentor you. People will help you. But, at the end of the day the responsibility falls on the individual employee. You need to reach out and find a mentor. Most folks are willing to help.

There’s really only one person who’s responsible for your career and your professional development, and that’s you.

RELATED LINKShttp://www.redstone.army.mil/amrdec


By Dennis NealRDECOM Public Affairs

SAN ANTONIO — While the Army All-American Bowl showcased the talents of top-ranked high school football players from across the nation, the Army displayed its top technologies and innovations in the Army Strong Zone just outside the Alamodome, here, Jan. 4-5.

One of those innovations is the FED, which stands for fuel efficient demonstrator.

“We are proudly supporting the Army’s All-American Bowl efforts again this year,” said Derhun Sanders, communications and out-reach director at the Army’s Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center, known as TARDEC. “It is an honor to show off the art of the possible with our dem-onstrator vehicle.”

TARDEC has two versions of the vehicle, known as FED Alpha and FED Bravo. The Alpha version was on display in the Army Strong Zone.

“The FED does the same mission as an up-armored Humvee,” said Rachel Agusti, lead project engineer. “It’s a little more current be-cause it has v-body hulls, underbody shaping for blasts as well as export power and it does that mission 70 percent more fuel efficient.”

The vehicle features a number of fuel-sav-ing technologies including:n Goodyear low-rolling-resistance tires which minimize the energy wasted as heat between the tire and the roadn optimized Cummins super/turbocharged 200-horsepower, 4.5-liter, inline 4-cylinder diesel enginen Alcoa Defense lightweight aluminum mono-coque armored cab with underbody blast shieldn performance friction low-drag aluminum brake calipersn REM Chemical Isotropic Superfinishing gears -- a finishing process often used in rac-ing vehicles to reduce friction and vibration and improve shiftingn Continental Teves accelerator force feed-back pedal, which cues the drive to accelerate the vehicle for optimal efficiencyn carbon fiber body panels, which reduce weight and increase rigidity

“Those technologies can be used on current platforms and future platforms to help increase their fuel efficiency,” Agusti said. “So this [dem-onstrator vehicle] isn’t something that will go into production, it’s something that is furthering technology.”

One of the goals of the Army All-American Bowl is encourage students to consider studying

the science, technol-ogy, engineering or mathematics fields, known as STEM.

“Even as a [civil-ian] engineer, I get to work on really cool projects,” Agusti said. “So, do really good in school and really study your mathematics, your engineering prin-ciples and you can work on cool projects like this.”

The FED concept vehicle was just one of several technol-ogy demonstrations provided by the U.S. Army Research, D e v e l o p m e n t and Engineering Command in the Army Strong Zone. Representing RDECOM were the Army Research Laboratory; the Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center; the Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center; and TARDEC.

RELATED LINKSOnline: http://1.usa.gov/117m52VPhotos: http://bit.ly/XdX9imVideo: http://youtu.be/etbv69CIUM

Army displays future of ground-vehicle technologies

Students from San Antonio check out the Fuel Efficient Demonstrator Jan. 4 in the Army Strong Zone outside the Alamodome, home of the 2013 U.S. Army All-American Bowl. (U.S. Army photo by Conrad Johnson)

The Research, Development and Engineering Command showcases many high-tech advances at the Army Technology Zone. The Fuel Efficient Demonstrator is under development at RDECOM’s tank and automotive center outside Detroit.


By Dennis NealRDECOM Public Affairs

SAN ANTONIO — The U.S. Army showed off its latest technology advancements, includ-ing the Containerized Kitchen that can serve three hot meals a day for up to 800 soldiers, at the Army All-American Bowl.

The kitchen is housed on a trailer that is 8 feet tall, 8 feet wide and 20 feet long. It is powered by an on-board 10 kilowatt generator.

The Containerized Kitchen was just one of many technology displays the Army Research, Development and Engineering Command showcased in the Army Strong Zone Jan. 4-5. The displays are set up each year just outside the Alamodome in conjunction with the Army All-American Bowl.

In addition to providing hot food to the crowds of students and local residents visiting the Strong Zone, RDECOM displayed night-vision devices, robotics, medical simulation technologies and transparent armor.

A popular stop for the folks visiting the high-tech displays was the robotics area from RDECOM’s Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center. TARDEC displayed military robots and allowed visitors to steer the robots around an obstacle course.

TARDEC scientists and engineers explained the operation of the robots, how they are used to perform ordnance protection and how they can guard Soldiers from potentially lethal situations. They are remotely operated and include on-board cameras that allow the Soldier to operate them from a distance even when the robots are out of sight.

Each robot has unique characteristics and duties. Some are used to look under vehicles for explosives and can lift objects weighing up to 15 pounds.

Another high-end display by TARDEC featured the Fuel Efficient Demonstrator concept vehicle Alpha.

“The FED does the same mission as an up-armored Humvee,” said Rachel Agusti, lead project engineer. “It’s a little more current because it has v-body hulls, underbody shaping for blasts as well as export power, and it does that mission 70 percent more fuel [efficiently].”

RDECOM’s Communications-Electronics

Research, Development and Engineering Center showed off two of its technologies with night-vision devices and Command and Control Multi-touch Enabled Technology.

COMET demonstrates a multi-touch, multi-user collaborative platform with software enhancing the planning, wargaming, and mission execution functions of the military.

“We could build electronic maps that would behave like normal maps but have special capabilities. Because multi-touch technology lowers the barriers between the computer and its human users, these systems are approachable, easy to use and powerful,” said Cyndi Carpenter, a systems engineer with the COMET team.

CERDEC’s Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate set up a display to prove its slogan, “We own the night.” To demonstrate the technology, they set up a thermal weapon sight connected to a monitor displaying the crowds visiting the Zone.

RDECOM’s Army Research Laboratory displayed two high-tech innovations. The Multiple Amputee Trauma Trainer animatronics face display is a pain-response prototype that was developed to give medics and combat lifesavers more realistic training.

“[The MATT program] incorporated movement and special effects technologies to significantly increase realism,” said Dr. Teresita Sotomayor, science and technology manager for Medical Simulation Technologies at ARL’s Simulation and Training Technology Center.

“The system has improved the

effectiveness of both military and civilian trauma training. The system also improves treatment performance, which saves lives and limbs,” she said.

Thousands of American Soldiers have been trained using the MATT simulations located worldwide throughout the joint medical and combat communities.

ARL also featured advanced transparent armor. Samples of glass-based and ceramic-based transparent vehicle window components were set up to allow the attendees to see and feel the weight and thickness advantages of ceramic transparent armor systems. They are half the weight and thickness of current armor but have the same ballistic protection.

With the high-tech displays, RDECOM is supporting the Army’s mission of ensuring students, parents and educators are aware of science, technology, engineering and math opportunities with the Army, said Louie Lopez, chief of STEM education outreach.

RDECOM manages the Army Educational Outreach Program for the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology.

“RDECOM is in the business of research and development,” Lopez said. “With our investment in future technologies, its just as critical for us to make an investment in future engineers and scientists.”

RELATED LINKSMore photos: http://bit.ly/WqJ6Ju

RDECOM showcases advances

Students line up for lunch in the Containerized Kitchen. The kitchen is self-contained and can feed up to 800 Soldiers three hot meals a day. (U.S. Army photo by Dennis Neal)


By Joyce Brayboy ARL Public Affairs

ADELPHI, Md. — Origami artists can fold a sheet of paper into a crane, a flower or even an Army tank.

Likewise, an Army electrical engineer and a visiting research student from Johns Hopkins University, or JHU, wanted to design and model thin, micrometer scale materials to form useful three dimensional structures.

Self-assembling structures that seem to mimic the age old traditional Japanese art form of paper folding have potential uses in defense of the nation.

Christopher Morris, Ph.D., who works with micro-materials and devices at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, or ARL, U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command , known as RDECOM, envisioned transforming lithographically-patterned fab-ricated sheets into “microgrippers” similar to ones he had seen demonstrated by JHU at a conference for potential use in micro-scale sur-gery.

Their recent paper, “Laser triggered sequen-tial folding of microstructures,” was published in Applied Physics Letters and highlighted in Nature Photonics. As a result, that demonstrat-ed how a small team of researchers looked at the same problem from different angles and conjured up a way to control folding pathways, and enable sequential folding on a millimeter scale using a low-intensity laser beam.

It all began when Morris reached out to the JHU professor, David Gracias, Ph.D., to dis-cuss the possibilities of his findings for defense applications.

“Self-actuation for defense uses seemed like a natural extension of what we were exploring at JHU with chemical acuation triggers for med-ical procedures. Sequentially folding complex devices didn’t come easily, but the results were worth the wait,” said Kate Laflin, a research stu-dent who has studied self-assembly, microac-tuators, and their applications in chemical and biological sensing since 2008.

Laflin said she left behind her aspirations in medical research for the defense assignment.

“People have been very supportive at ARL and at JHU. The lab is a collaborative atmo-sphere, in that we’re working toward the same goal -- protecting the warfighter.”

As the two began looking into tagging ap-plications, Morris suggested trying lasers as a trigger, Laflin said. “What was so exciting is that it worked at such a low intensity.”

Once Laflin and Morris tested the use of la-sers, they wanted to push the boundaries of selective response on a micro-level, she said.

“It’s a simple concept, but to be able to de-sign and model a structure at the micrometer, and ultimately, nanometer scale, it took steps that didn’t seem intuitive at first,” Morris said. “After a good theoretical understanding, de-sign, modeling and testing -- it came together for us.”

It takes about 20 hours in ARL’s clean room to fabricate a sheet of millimeter-sized struc-tures that essentially are battery-free wireless actuators that fold when exposed to a laser with an intensity of just 680 mW/cm2, which can be eye-safe at infrared wavelengths. A common household light source would not be strong enough to cause folding, but the me-tallic structures may respond to high-powered light-emitting diode, or LED, lighting.

So far, this lighting could be directed at the structures from up to three feet away using a handheld laser, and depending on the wave-length and intensity of the laser irradiation, the folding will occur within 67 milliseconds to 21 seconds. It takes minutes at best for the folding to occur with a larger structure, Morris said.

At the millimeter scale the structures could attach, jump, apply friction, and perform as mechanical switches to serve a number of de-fense functions.

“There is a lot of cool science using the un-derlying technique of absorbing optical energy to release the energy stored in pre-stressed metallic bilayers,” Morris said.

The micro-device folding that the team has demonstrated can be applied to; the remote

initiation of energetic materials, micro thrust-ers for robotics, the attachment of transpon-der tags to fabric surfaces, and could possibly be integrated with logic/memory circuits, sen-sors, transponder tags, and optical modules such as light emitting diodes.

“Imagine making something so small you can’t even see it,” Laflin said.

The metallic structures act as mechani-cal switches. The benefit researchers have found from using a mechanical as opposed to electrical switch is, there is no electric current leakage.

Now that the team has figured out a way to direct and control actuation in an uncontrolled environment, reversible actuation is on the ho-rizon.

“Reversible actuation is good for mechani-cal switches and also for displays,” Morris said.

“Our hope is that new uses will spur from this basic scientific exploration of novel fabri-cation and self-assembly of materials, and will help future Soldiers in ways they may not even see,” Morris continued. “Imagine a kind of pix-ie dust; the structures will be so small that a cluster could be present without appearing to the natural eye.

“We are enabling true microsystems, where all of the energy and functions are self-con-tained in a millimeter- or smaller-sized pack-age,” Morris said.

RELATED LINKSArmy.mil: http://1.usa.gov/X5NGcC

Microstructures fold under a beam of light to make useful 3-D devices

A team of researchers figured out how to get 3-mm microstructures to fold in response to low-intensity laser light, but now their focus is even smaller. (U.S. Army photo by Christopher Morris)


By Joyce ConantARL Public Affairs

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — Unmanned systems have begun to have a sig-nificant impact on warfare. Unmanned drones providing sustained surveillance, swift precise attacks on high-value targets and small robots are used for missions to counter improvised explosive devices. The systems are generally remotely piloted and rely on near-continuous control by a human operator.

Researchers from the U.S. Army Research Laboratory Human Research and Engineering Directorate, or HRED, are developing robot intelligence that will enable robots to successfully navigate (move around) in their environment when given a voice command (instruction) by a human.

Army researchers say the future for unmanned systems lies in the development of highly capable systems with “a set of intelligence-based capabilities sufficient to enable the teaming of autonomous systems with Soldiers.”

To act as teammates, robotic systems will need to reason about their missions, move through the world in a tactically correct way, observe salient events in the world around them, communicate efficiently with Soldiers and other autonomous systems and effectively perform a variety of mission tasks.

The Symbolic and Sub-Symbolic Robotics Intelligence Control System, which was developed by HRED in cooperation with Towson State University in 2004, combines symbolic and sub-symbolic representations of knowledge into a unified control structure. The system is a goal-oriented production system, based loosely on the cognitive architectures, the Adaptive Character of Thought-Rational, or ACT-R, and Soar, which is a cognitive architecture from the University of Michigan.

The goal is to develop a system capable of performing a wide variety of autonomous behaviors under a variety of battlefield conditions.

“We have found that in order to simulate complex cognition on a robot, many aspects of cognition (long-term memory and perception) needed to be in place before any generalized intelligent behavior can be produced,” said Troy Kelley, cognitive robotics team leader, HRED.

Cognition arises from a collection of different algorithms, each with different functionalities, which together, produce the integrated process of cognition. This is also known as a functionalist representation. HRED is developing SS-RICS to be a modular system, or as a collection of modular

algorithms, each group of algorithms with different responsibilities for the functioning of the overall system. The important component is the interaction or interplay amongst these different algorithms, which leads to an integrated cognitive system.

“We are not necessarily attempting to produce a neurological representation of the individual components of the brain (thalamus, amygdale),” Kelley said. “The basic idea is that we are trying to use psychological theory to augment robotics development, especially in areas of learning and memory.”

Such examples include getting a robot to learn what a hallway or door is. The robots are exposed to a variety of different hallways and doors and then specific features are pulled out to incorporate a general rule for what they are, but need to be flexible.

“For example, in a foreign country you may see blankets or gates used as a door,” Kelley said. “A human is born with a lot of low level stuff that a robot would have to be programmed for -- it’s tough to get a robot to think like a person.”

The three functional components that HRED is developing to program the robots include memory, language and perception (such as color recognition). HRED has been concentrating on implementations of human memory as a way reducing the computational load faced by autonomous systems.

For example, it is understood from psychology experiments that humans load elements from long term memory into working memory when they are given a problem solving task. Once long term memories are accessed,

humans are then able to concentrate on a specific task. This separation of long term memories from working memory allows for increased computation efficiency because only the knowledge related to a specific task are searched during problem solving.

This implementation can be replicated on an autonomous system to help reduce the computational load.

Kelley and his team have traveled numerous times to Fort Indian Town Gap in Grantville, Pa., in support of the Robotics Collaborative Technology Alliance. At the military operations on urban terrain site, where Soldiers train, Kelley has worked to improve indoor navigation for autonomous systems.

“Typical indoor environments do not have reliable access to GPS information and autonomous systems cannot use this information for navigation,” Kelley said.

Kelley has worked to take a more human-based approach by using landmark-based navigation.

“Humans use landmarks and dead reckoning to navigate in unfamiliar indoor environments,” Kelley said.

Throughout the world, robots are being developed and used for many different reasons and purposes -- such as in the private sector for health care, manufacturing and work in dangerous or remote areas where humans are at risk. Additional work is being done in law enforcement for bomb disposal, hostage situations and autonomous surveillance of high valued areas.

“I know the Japanese have been attempting to develop robots to be as realistic as possible. However, I have seen research that shows that people sometimes find it difficult to interact with a robot that looks human-like because they find it uncomfortable or ‘creepy.’ Instead people would rather interact with a robot that looks like a robot -- they find this more comforting for some reason,” said Kelley. “This could be an issue going forward if robots are expected to interact with non-combatants at check points or in hostage situations,” he added.

“In many ways, what Troy and his team are working on is a much more difficult and needed area for the military than what the private sector is working,” said Pamela A. Savage-Knepshield, Ph.D., chief of the Human Factors Integration Division within HRED. “What Troy is doing will make it easier for our Soldiers to communicate and partner with robots to accomplish dangerous missions.”

RELATED LINKSArmy.mil: http://1.usa.gov/WrKGuq

Army researchers develop robot intelligence to support Soldiers

Army researchers Sean McGhee (left), contractor, cognitive robotics team, Eric Avery (center), cognitive sciences branch, and Troy Kelley, cognitive robotics team leader, pose with test robots. (U.S. Army photo by Joyce Conant)


By Jason Kaneshiro ARDEC Public Affairs

PICATINNY ARSENAL, N.J. — Soldiers know the value of smoke grenades in various scenarios, yet the grenades contained potentially harmful chemicals.

Now, the Army is working to produce pyrotechnic smoke grenades that are not only safer but also as effective as earlier grenades.

A collaborative effort that includes scientists and engineers at Picatinny Arsenal and Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., is getting closer to solving this problem by developing high-performance smoke compositions without toxic chemicals.

Pyrotechnic smoke is used in combat for signaling, marking targets and positions, and to conceal the movement of vehicles and troops. It can be delivered by grenades, mortar rounds or artillery shells.

“For many years the U.S. Army used high-performance hexachloroethane (HC) smoke compositions, but these are no longer produced because HC is highly toxic,” said Anthony P. Shaw, a chemist at Picatinny Arsenal. “Terephthalic acid (TA) compositions, which are non-toxic, were developed for use in training grenades, but now that the HC items are no longer made, Warfighters have to use the low-performance TA smoke in combat.”

So while eliminating the risk of exposure to toxic fumes is a plus, having only the inferior training grenades poses another problem.

“The TA smoke grenades can’t produce the same thickness and duration of smoke that the old HC ones could,” Shaw said.

Shaw, who works within the Energetics, Warheads and Manufacturing Technology Directorate, Pyrotechnics Division of the U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center, worked with Jay C. Poret, a physical scientist in the same lab, to tackle the problem.

Their work has been funded by the Environmental Quality Technology Program, which also falls under the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command.

Shaw and Poret discovered that smoke compositions containing boron carbide showed promise by giving a good cloud of smoke and leaving little residue behind.

One of their biggest challenges was figuring out how to test the obscuration performance (ability to hide) of the new compositions on a small scale.

“Small-scale testing is a good idea because it’s inexpensive relative to large-scale tests,” Poret said. “Because we wanted to do the small-scale testing first, we needed to design compositions that were not sensitive to configuration--ones that burn similarly on a

small scale as they do on a larger scale.”Pyrotechnic compositions don’t always

behave the same in small and large-scale tests. The benefit of compositions being “configuration-insensitive” is that scientists can readily predict their performance regardless of the hardware on which they are loaded.

For the initial small-scale tests, Poret designed an advanced optical measurement system for a phone booth-sized smoke chamber, which allowed one or two gram samples to be tested.

ARDEC Pyrotechnics Division is planning to construct a larger 8 feet long, 8 feet wide and 8 feet high smoke chamber in its new $18 million Pyrotechnics Complex that will enable intermediate-scale (10-30 gram) testing. The new Pilot Plant facility will be used for manufacturing future prototype compositions.

Computational methods played an important role in developing the new compositions. According to Poret, this effort is one of only a few examples where combustion-code modeling was used to develop a new pyrotechnic formulation.

“The computational modeling was important for figuring out how to optimize the compositions for efficiency--the more material we can aerosolize in the chemical reaction, the better the smoke cloud,” Poret said.

RDECOM develops healthier smoke grenadesArmy researchers test a full-size smoke grenade filled with the new composition developed at Picatinny Arsenal. (U.S. Army photo)


Another challenge was figuring out how to control the burn rate in the new compositions intended to replace the toxic HC and the less effective TA formulations.

“Smoke devices, such as smoke grenades, need to have a specific burning time to be useful for screening,” said Shaw. “This factor, the rate or “kinetics” of the system, is not something that our computational methods can easily predict.”

Rather than relying on computational methods to solve this problem, success hinged on Shaw’s extensive background in chemical kinetics, and Poret’s background in materials science, to find the solution.

“We found that small amounts of certain additives can have a profound effect on burning rate,” said Shaw. “Not only were we able to get the long burning times we needed for a grenade application, we can also tune the burning rate to suit almost any other smoke munition.”

With the small-scale testing completed, it was time to move on to larger-scale evaluations of the new smoke compositions. For that, Shaw and Poret turned to the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center located at APG.

ECBC has all the facilities and ranges needed for large-scale smoke testing, including a 190 cubic meter smoke chamber that can be used for testing large prototypes.

“We took our best ARDEC-developed compositions and tested them in full-size grenades at ECBC,” Shaw said.

ECBC maintains a full-scale facility known as the Pyrotechnics Complex that can manufacture gram quantities of experimental pyrotechnics as well as prototype devices in excess of 35 kilograms.

“The complex maintains a large collection of buildings containing inert material and precursor chemicals as well as several ammunition bunkers for explosive components and finished items awaiting shipment to customers or testing at ECBC,” said Joe Domanico, Pyrotechnics and Explosives branch chief at ECBC.

“A large aerosol chamber maintains state of the art characterization equipment, which allows ECBC to completely analyze a new smoke or aerosol’s performance along the entire spectrum of interest.”

ECBC’s mission is to develop new smokes and obscurants and the means to disseminate

them to meet current and emerging requirements.

The Research and Technology Directorate (Smoke and Target Defeat Branch) is in charge of the U.S. Army’s science and technology efforts in this area and has the unique facilities to evaluate the performance of obscurants.

“Traditionally, in pyrotechnics, ARDEC has been tasked with illumination flares, countermeasures, battlefield effects simulators and signaling/marking smokes, while ECBC’s mission has been obscuration smokes,” Shaw said.

The results of the tests at ECBC confirmed

the results found in the earlier ARDEC small-scale tests. “It gave us a lot more confidence in the value of our small-scale development approach at ARDEC,” Poret said.

“Going forward, we intend to continue

prototyping and modifying the compositions at ECBC,” Shaw said. “We’re also going to be talking to project managers to see which additional munitions we may be able to use this technology in.”

While the tests were successful, further research and evaluation must be conducted at ARDEC and ECBC.

“The formulation developed by Tony Shaw is one of several formulations under development and consideration as a new low-hazard visual smoke for hand grenades,” Domanico said.

“It is currently competing with other candidates developed by the ECBC Pyrotechnics and Explosives Branch, as well as several other candidate smoke compositions proposed by defense contractors.”

With such a high priority on smokes and obscurants, the competition is rigorous to ensure the Warfighter gets the best product possible, not only in performance but also in terms of cost, safety, and environmental impact, Domanico said.

“Good ideas come from everywhere,” Domanico said. “You should always be open to suggestions. Often, a failure in the pursuit of a single problem leads to a solution to an unrelated one.

“Keep track of everything you do in research, as one day that information may hold the key to an answer for another problem.”

“There’s no reason we can’t collaborate, especially when it can lead to a better product for the Warfighter,” Shaw said.

”By using expertise and facilities at both ARDEC and ECBC, the overall cost and development time to field these items will be reduced, so we’ll be able to bring new technologies to the Warfighter faster,” Poret said.

“It is sometimes forgotten that the Soldier is the big winner in joint research and development efforts,” Domanico said. “When the best of both organizations is applied to a particular problem, the success can be measured in terms of Soldiers’ lives that may be saved on the battlefield.”

RELATED LINKSARDEC: http://www.ardec.army.mil/ECBC: https://www.ecbc.army.mil

Pyrotechnic smoke is used in combat for signaling, marking targets and positions, and to conceal the movement of vehicles and troops. It can be delivered by grenades, mortar rounds or artillery shells. (U.S. Army photo)

“We took our best ARDEC-developed compositions and tested them in full-size grenades at ECBC.”

— Anthony P. Shaw

“Going forward, we intend to continue prototyping and modifying the compositions at ECBC.”

— Anthony P. Shaw

“Good ideas come from everywhere,” Domanico said. “You should always be open to suggestions.”

— Anthony P. Shaw


By Jason KaneshiroARDEC Public Affairs

PICATINNY ARSENAL, N.J. — It’s the summer of 2005 and a squad of New York Army National Guard Soldiers is on patrol in Iraq. In an instant, their medic is struck by a round fired from an insurgent.

But just as quickly, the medic springs back up and moves to cover, pointing in the suspected direction of fire.

The Soldiers give chase and catch up to one of the insurgents who has been injured in the pursuit. The medic treats the insurgent’s wounds, saving his life.

The medic’s own life is saved by the ceramic body armor plate he is wearing.

The ceramic armor he wore, dubbed Small Arms Protective Inserts, is standard issue to Soldiers and is an integral part of the Outer Tactical Vest body armor system.

Ensuring the integrity of those plates is a task undertaken by the Quality Engineering and System Assurance Directorate of the U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center at Picatinny Arsenal, which developed the Armor Inspection System.

In early 2005, representatives from Project Manager Soldier Survivability of Fort Belvoir, Va., the organization responsible for the armor plates worn by Soldiers, approached QE&SA personnel in the Radiographic Laboratory to ask if it was feasible to inspect the ceramic armor plates.

“Being a ceramic, these SAPI plates are a glass and like all glasses are brittle and prone to cracking,” said Lawrence J. D’Aries, QE&SA’s chief scientist for Non-Destructive Evaluation.

“In effect, these SAPI plates work in conjunction with the Kevlar backing in the plate carrier and effectively acts as a two-step countermeasure.”

When a round or fragment strikes the armor, the SAPI plate absorbs the kinetic energy of the incoming projectile by effectively shattering and dispersing the impact over a larger surface area.

The Kevlar backing acts as a shield to stop the shattered shards of ceramic from penetrating into the Soldier, D’Aries said.

The combination of ceramic armor and Kevlar backing has proved effective in combat.

But there’s a drawback to the use of ceramic armor because they are prone to cracking.

“Naturally, such cracking could degrade

the ballistic integrity of the plate,” D’Aries said.

Wearing armor that is susceptible to cracking could have serious consequences for Soldiers who depend on it.

But how do you test the integrity of something that is rigid, and yet fragile, without damaging it?

“Many non-destructive inspection techniques were tried in the past but none proved to be both possible and feasible,” D’Aries said. “Since our expertise at the Radiographic Lab is in radiographic (X-ray) inspection, this was the next and last technique to try.”

After a day of experimentation and test shots using various X-ray sources available at the lab, the scientists and engineers discovered that X-ray inspection was a viable solution.

“What was yet to be seen was whether it was going to be feasible to implement,” D’Aries noted.

To be feasible, any inspection system would need an automated material handling system to load and unload the plates into the testing system, along with the ability to quickly detect if a plate was cracked.

“With, on the order of over a million SAPI plates that required inspection, this task

was going to be a great challenge,” D’Aries said. “In addition, these plates were in multiple places around the world, so logistically it was not feasible to ship them all to a single inspection location. Multiple systems would be required worldwide.”

As a result, the Armor Inspection System prototype was developed with the assistance of a small business contract with JDLL, Inc., of Midvale, Utah, over the next 14 months. The prototype was first deployed to Kuwait in 2008.

“It performed admirably and further improvements in the hardware and software over the next few years resulted in the current ownership and deployment of a soon-to-be total of 18 AIS systems by the U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Navy to five overseas locations and multiple locations in the United States,” D’Aries said.

“Most of the items developed at ARDEC are offensive weapons,” D’Aries said.

“Although this is the story of assuring the ballistic integrity of body armor, a defensive ‘weapon,’ there is probably no other piece of equipment issued to our troops that is more important.”

RELATED LINKSOnline: http://1.usa.gov/WqK3kP

Armor plates made of ceramic can be prone to cracking, so finding the best solution for testing them became a challenge for Picatinny scientists who were sought out for their expertise.

Army scientists find solution for testing body armor


ECBC Public Affairs

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — At the U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center, scientists are fine-tuning odor-sensing technology that could be used to protect food supplies, identify biological agents and equip the warfighter with newfound capabilities.

Calvin Chue, Ph.D., a research biologist at Edgewood Chemical Biological Center, or ECBC, said nearly all living creatures or biological materials give off a specific profile of organic compounds, or a unique smell. Those compounds can be detected and identified using a volatile organic compound visual indicator that was developed in 2000 by Ken Suslick, Ph.D., at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

The “smell-seeing” technology developed by Suslick includes an array of different dyes that are sensitive to volatile organic compounds, or VOC, smells. Each of those dyes changes color in different ways, based on what it is exposed to. After sufficient exposure, the paper-based colorimetric array can be photographed, and the resulting image can be run through a software application that identifies what compounds are present.

The ECBC is teaming with Specific Technologies of Mountain View, Calif., through a cooperative research and development agreement to utilize the VOC detection application with the military in mind. What was once used to determine whether coffee beans were Starbucks or Folgers, could now be used to discern biological agents or test for the spoiling of foodstuffs.

“We’ve been working with them [Science Technologies] as well as the Defense Science Technology Laboratory in Great Britain to validate and verify that the same technology can be applied to biological agents, and we will expand it to foodstuffs and transport issues,” Chue said.

“We believe it will significantly help troops with their supply and logistics chain,” Chue said. “If the warfighter just received a shipment of grapes or meat or dairy from the United States, it may look good but what do you have that tells you that this is going to spoil in a day versus a week? This kind of technology can help.”

Chue said the ECBC has been working on VOC detection for the past 10 years using a different method, called gas chromatography, as part of an effort to replace dogs on detection missions. But

the gas chromatography technology proved to be a burdensome and complex project that required specific training for the large, non-portable equipment, he said.

With the innovative VOC detection applications, Chue and the ECBC team are able to broaden the scope of work for implementation in the military arena at a cost-effective rate.

Right now, scientists are developing ways to embed the VOC technology into mason jars in order to better evaluate the foodstuffs inside and determine the preservation rate. Other avenues of implementation could protect the warfighter from biological agents that may have contaminated a container or item.

“We are integrating this kind of technology into a variety of mechanisms, but those mechanisms need to be decided. There are a number of fields that this will ultimately benefit and could actually have a wide range of applications,” Chue said. “We envision this growing into a mobile platform where it could be inserted into various containers that you could take a picture of in order to determine the state of the VOCs inside.”

As part of the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, it is ECBC’s mission to integrate lifecycle science, engineering and operations solutions to counter chemical-biological threats, and the VOC detection applications

being developed by the center and its partners is a progressive way to advance the safety of U.S. forces and the nation.

RELATED LINKSOnline: http://1.usa.gov/WqKfAw

ECBC investigates ‘smell-seeing’ technology for military application

Army scientists envision future smartphone add-ons to allow for immediate field analysis of odors. (U.S. Army photo illustrations)

Edgewood Chemical Biological Center scientists are developing ways to embed the volatile organic compounds technology into mason jars to better evaluate the foodstuffs inside and determine the preservation rate.


By Dan LafontaineRDECOM Public Affairs

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — A team of U.S. civilian engineers and technicians deployed to Afghanistan recently marked one year of solving Soldiers’ technological hurdles.

The U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command Field Assistance in Science and Technology-Center, or RFAST-C, Forward Deployed Prototype Integration Facility provides a platform for its subject matter experts’ knowledge and talents to be translated into battlefield solutions, said Michael Anthony, the team’s director.

‘RAPID AND AGILE PROCESS’

Anthony, who arrived in Afghanistan

in November 2012, said RFAST-C’s greatest objective is not to develop new technology, but to make modifications that improve existing systems such as ground vehicles and weapons.

“Historically speaking, these War f ighters have unparalleled access to technology. What I ’m seeing on the ground here is War f ighters asking for assistance in making execution of their missions easier,” said Anthony, whose job in the United States is chief of the Mission Command Capabilit ies Division at RDECOM’s Communications –

Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center.

“ I f irmly believe the success of this operation is primarily because of the forward physical presence that allows this very rapid and agile process to work,” he said.

RFAST-C, located within the 401st Army Field Suppor t Brigade at Bagram Air f ield, Afghanistan, established init ial operations in spring 2011 and has fully suppor ted Operation Enduring Freedom since December 2011. The group takes requests from all services - - Army, Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy.

Anthony said the RFAST-C has had positive feedback from visit ing Army general of f icers and Senior Executive Service of f icials.

“They were truly impressed with the capability and acknowledged the value

Dirt gets stirred up as U.S. Army Pfc. Erik Tyson, of 2nd Platoon, Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, U.S. Army Europe, fires an AT-4 anti-tank rocket during a live-fire exercise outside Combat Outpost Sangar in Zabul province, Afghanistan, July 1, 2010. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Eric Cabral)

Army engineering team marks a year of solutions in theater

“These Warfighters have unparalleled access to technology.”

— Michael Anthony


Daniel McGauley (left), RDECOM Field Assistance in Science and Technology-Center, describes a piece of technology, which was designed and fabricated at the center, Jan. 15. McGauley briefs (from left) Maj. Gen. Harold Greene, ASA (ALT); Heidi Shyu, assistant secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology; and Gen. Dennis L. Via, Army Materiel Command commander. (U.S. Army photo)

of having civilians voluntarily forward-deploy in support of current operations,” Anthony said.

Gen. Dennis Via, commanding general of Army Materiel Command; Heidi Shyu, assistant secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology; and Maj. Gen. Harold Greene, deputy for acquisition and systems management at ASA (ALT), visited RFAST-C Jan. 15.

Greene served as RDECOM’s deputy commanding general from October 2009 to May 2011.

“Visiting the RFAST-C really showed the power of the material enterprise team in action. Great civilian scientists and engineers operating on the forward edge of the battlefield to rapidly provide solutions to our Soldiers,” Greene said. “We saw a number of innovative solutions that provide increased capability to our Soldiers in record time.”

Anthony said the team is continually evolving because RFAST-C members and their associated areas of expertise rotate. In addition, the deployed Warfighter units and their mission requirements change.

“Our organization is relatively small, very agile and adapts as needed. I have not seen a project that’s come in that we could not execute,” Anthony said.

Three engineers, three technicians/equipment operators, a power and energy subject matter expert, an executive officer and a director currently comprise RFAST-C.

Personnel are chosen to deploy in six-month rotations from the command’s seven research, development and engineering centers across the United States.

RFAST-C’s usual process is to rapidly engineer a Soldier-inspired solution, coordinate and develop a prototype, get feedback from Soldiers, modify the prototype, collect more feedback, and then pass the engineered solution to the programs of record and research and development community where it is placed into the engineering pipeline for future upgrades and systems.

PARTNERING FOR ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS

The most frequently supported organizations are Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan, CJTF Paladin, Army Rapid Equipping Force, 1157th and 396th Transportation Companies, and Joint Program Office Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles.

Recent requests have included weapons modifications, command wire detection hooks, and reinforced doors for holding cells, Anthony said.

The most common requests are brackets for the family of MRAP vehicles. Because the military employs many MRAP variants as well as a large number of systems on the vehicles, the RFAST-C works closely with JPO MRAP to satisfy the organization’s urgent and unique requests that enable mission readiness, Anthony said.

Program Manager Electronic Warfare has fielded sophisticated electronic gear, known

as the Counter Radio Controlled Improvised Explosive Device Electronic Warfare Duke Version 3, on ground vehicles to protect against IEDs, Anthony said.

The equipment, when installed on MRAPs, has obstructed views of the road. RFAST-C received many requests to

reduce or eliminate visibility issues.“Tactical Army transportation

companies execute their risky missions on the rough terrain in Afghanistan and rely heavily on systems like CREW Duke 3 and MRAPs,” Anthony said. “RFAST-C engineers, with JPO MRAP and PM EW, rapidly fabricated brackets to allow for moving one of the Duke antennas.”

In another vehicle modification, CJSOTF-A asked RFAST-C to design and fabricate emergency escape hatches for its non-tactical vehicles, Anthony said. The weight of up-armored doors makes exiting vehicles extremely dif f icult in the event of a roll-over, an important safety concern.

“Feedback from the Special Forces teams was that the escape hatch was successfully utilized under duress, and it was deemed of high value and a complete success,” Anthony said. “We’ve made the Special Operations community very happy because they’ve grown to be one of the organizations we work with most frequently.”

FUTURE OF RFAST-C IN THEATER

The current plan is to staff RFAST-C through 2013, Anthony said. The Army is evaluating options for 2014 that include transitioning to an enduring U.S. force; retrograde (moving equipment and materiel to a reset program or another theater of operations); or demilitarization.

RDECOM Director Dale A. Ormond provides a personal note to RFAST-C personnel when they return to the United States to express the command’s gratitude for their contributions in supporting current operations of deployed forces.

The current RFAST-C roster includes: Anthony; executive officer Daniel McGauley, Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center; engineer Vincent Alessio, Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center; engineer Ted Gomulka, Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center; engineer Stephen Roberts, ARDEC; engineer Charles Augustus, Army Research Laboratory; equipment operator Jon-Luke DeStefano, ARDEC; engineering technician Robert Spetla, ARDEC; and Brian Siefert, TARDEC.

RELATED LINKSOnline: http://1.usa.gov/YbXpkq

“Great civilian scientists and engineers operating on the forward edge of the battlefield to rapidly provide solutions to our Soldiers. ”

— Maj. Gen. Harold Greene

“We’ve made the Special Operations community very happy because they’ve grown to be one of the organizations we work with most frequently.”

— Michael Anthony


By Eric Kowal Picatinny Arsenal Public Affairs

PICATINNY ARSENAL, N.J. — The best way to evaluate the effectiveness of a product is to put it in the hands of the user, obtain feedback, and make adjustments accordingly.

With a newly developed Virtual Environment Test Bed, or VETB, scientists and engineers at the Target Behavioral Research Laboratory at Picatinny Arsenal can record how Soldiers react and perform inside a newly modified Objective Gunner Protection Kit, or OGPK.

The OGPK is an armored turret that provides much-needed protection for tactical vehicle gunners in combat situations. Soldiers voted the OGPK as one of the Army’s top 10 Greatest Inventions in 2007, the year it was first fielded.

“The purpose of testing the OGPK in a virtual test bed is to evaluate gunner performance in various threat scenarios,” said Thomas Kiel, chief, Turret Engineering and Force Protection, U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center.

A customized version of the “America’s Army” gaming environment was integrated with the actual OGPK hardware and weapon system to provide a more realistic simulation.

The evaluation team requested that infantry Soldiers who participated in the “user jury” have experience using the OGPK in either Iraq or Afghanistan.

In November, Soldiers from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, at Fort Carson, Colo., visited Picatinny Arsenal to participate in the evaluation. In all, six teams of Soldiers, including units from Fort Hood, Texas, and Fort Benning, Ga., will contribute to the development of the system.

Measurements of the gunner’s reaction times and ability to engage targets effectively are quantified in the system. Correlations between performance and human factors are then evaluated to generate opportunities to improve protection and the ability to fight while being constrained by a shell of armor.

Eventually, more complex testing can be done to quantify the effects of physiological stress on the gunner.

“Warfighter survivability is absolutely the most important aspect of the Objective Gunner Protection Kit design,” Kiel said.

The first four Soldiers entered the test bed facility individually, and each received a mission brief.

The environment immerses the gunner within the lead vehicle in an escort convoy, with instructions to suppress any armed insurgents trying to interfere with the mission.

The environment includes a six-sided room

where the scenario is projected from five different projectors on five 12-foot-long walls. The back wall is larger than the others and there is no projection on that wall.

Throughout the scenario, the Soldier encounters 68 different targets. Sitting atop the 12-foot-high walls surrounding the room are nine paintball guns, which are used to simulate in-coming fire from the opposing forces. These guns fire rubber pellets at the gunner inside the OGPK when strategic targets are not engaged within two to three seconds.

A motion-capture system is integrated with the Kevlar helmet that Soldiers are required to wear. Other gear includes an Interceptor Body Armor vest, radio communications, ear piece, goggles and gloves.

The motion-capture system records Soldier movement and response time to shots fired from various locations on the screen, as well as when the weapon is positioned toward targets, and the time it takes to engage the enemy on the screen.

Spc. Robson Alokoa, a test user who has deployed three times to Iraq, said that the hand crank configuration for turret rotation during his scenario was better placed.

Also, visibility was far more advanced than what he has experienced.

“There was much better movement than the

one (turret) I’m used to. I was able to use my left hand for movement and the right for shooting,” Alokoa said.

“I could see from all around so I was able to keep my eyes pointed in all directions,” he said.

Sgt. Jarred Dunton agreed with Alokoa that the placement of the crank handle in the new turret was better configured than when he had been deployed.

“The crank handle used to get caught on my gear which obviously is not very good if you are in the middle of a gun fight,” Dunton said.

Because the evaluation is simulated, the testing can be done early in the design phase of a project and performance data can be gathered on many different designs, and through analysis, will lead to an optimal design,” he said.

“Our next step is to create a virtual environment test bed for the dismounted Soldier,” Riedener said. “[We’ll] be able to evaluate the performance of Soldiers and the squad as part of a lethal system and allow trade-off analysis at that level.”

The feedback from the evaluations will help with the final development of the ARDEC-produced OGPK 2.0 for integration into the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle.

RELATED LINKSOnline: http://1.usa.gov/WqKrjh

Testing seeks data on modified gunner protection design

With a newly developed Virtual Environment Test Bed, scientists and engineers at the Target Behavioral Research Laboratory record how Soldiers react and perform inside a newly modified Objective Gunner Protection Kit. Marc Federico (right) and Robert Demarco view and track gunner reaction times from computers outside the virtual test bed at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J. (U.S. Army photo by Todd Mozes)


By Joyce ConantARL Public Affairs

WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M. — The U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Survivability/Lethality Analysis Directorate’s state-of-the-art Electromagnetic Vulnerability Assessment Facility here is used to conduct experiments that address the electromagnetic vulnerability requirements of the U.S. Army Weapon and Communication-Electronics Systems.

Electromagnetic vulnerability is the charac-teristics of a system that cause it to suffer a definite degradation (incapability to perform the designated mission) as a result of having been subjected to a certain level of electro-magnetic environmental effects, also called EMV.

The Electromagnetic Vulnerability Assessment Facility, or EMVAF, is used to sustain Army Research Laboratory’s, or ARL’s, ongoing mission to evaluate Army weapon systems’ survivability against the full spec-trum of electromagnetic energy threats on the battlefield and in operations other than war. This includes the means to determine weapon systems’ survivability against radio-frequency directed energy weapons, electronic warfare jamming and unintentional interference.

The EMVAF is a secure electromagnetic spectrum research facility that houses two double-shielded anechoic chambers, each of which enable precise controlled measure-ments. The main shielded anechoic chamber is 100 feet by 70 feet by 40 feet, and has a turntable capable of supporting 100-ton test vehicles. It is the largest of its type in the Army.

An anechoic chamber is designed to re-duce all spurious radio frequency, or RF, ener-gy to a minimum. In so doing, experiments can be performed in an RF environment with the minimum number of variables making the RF engineers analysis faster and more definitive.

At the EMVAF, two methods of reducing the spurious RF energy are the 100-decibel iso-lation that each layer of the shielding system provides and the radar absorbing material, or RAM, ability to absorb RF energy that is gen-erated within the chamber.

In simple terms, the RF shielding is the fully seam welded steel structure surrounding the chamber that includes RF tight doors. This is also known as a Faraday cage, which guar-antees that RF energy generated outside the shield stays out of the chamber environment.

Likewise, RF energy that is generated in-side the shield stays inside the chamber. The modern world RF environment is very noisy. Keeping the noisy world outside of the cham-

ber reduces the number of accidental interfer-ence or variables for an experiment. Keeping the signals generated inside the chamber and within the chamber offers a level of security to a system developer depending on the clas-sification of signals they may be generating.

The RAM that lines the inside of the cham-ber is designed to absorb the RF energy that is generated during an experiment. This is critical since each chamber is in essence a huge metal box, which would otherwise allow the RF to bounce off the walls and back to the item under investigation.

By absorbing the RF energy at the boundar-ies, the engineer can strictly control and thus identify what energy is specifically occurring between the item under investigation and the receive antenna in the chamber.

With the high level of control of the RF en-ergy in the chamber, engineers can perform a wide range of RF tests within the chambers. These tests can include radiated emissions as well as radiated interference tests. In the first case, the engineer is looking at what the test item is radiating and in the second what RF energy will cause problems for the system.

The EMVAF, and more specifically the Survivability/Lethality Analysis Directorate, or SLAD, has available a wide range of person-nel expertise that can be brought to bear on any given experiment. If a specific project at

the EMVAF requires expertise in electronic warfare, computer network operations, coun-ter-improvised explosive device, laser and op-tics or infrared, all can be supported with local expertise in the area.

If specific radio communications exper-tise is required that cannot be fulfilled lo-cally, then experts within SLAD at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., can be brought in to support the requirement. In short, SLAD has the ability to supply the expertise required to make certain projects supported at the EMVAF receive the high quality data need-ed to move forward.

In addition to the chambers, the EMVAF includes control rooms, laboratory and of-fice space. It is the Army’s premiere facility for performing controlled measurements for RF and microwave survivability/lethality/vul-nerability of electronic systems.

Expertise in electronic warfare, coun-ter IED, computer network operations, and modeling and simulation can all be brought in from local SLAD resources to meet spe-cific requirements of a given customer. In so doing, the experiment design can be closely tailored to meet the exacting requirements of the given program.

RELATED LINKSOnline: http://1.usa.gov/WqKzzh/

Army Research Laboratory assesses electromagnetic vulnerabilities

The Electromagnetic Vulnerability Assessment Facility houses two double-shielded anechoic chambers to enable precise controlled measurements. The main shielded anechoic chamber has a turntable capable of supporting 100-ton test vehicles and is the largest of its type in the Army. (U.S. Army photo)


ECBC Public Affairs

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — Natural disasters like earthquakes, hur-ricanes and tsunamis can unveil points of weakness in man-made infrastructure, and now robots are being called in to help.

Scientists at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory and Edgewood Chemical Biological Center are developing suction cups that could be placed on robots designed to perform tasks in unstructured and contaminated environments.

The self-sealing suction cup is a collaborative project between the two Army laboratories and the University of Maryland, where Chad Kessens, a robotic manipulation researcher for ARL, is pursuing his doctorate in mechanical engineering

As part of the program, Kessens tested the limits of robotic grasping by developing a new suction technology to expand the

range of graspable object shapes and sizes. An expanded grasping capability could improve how emergency responders observe areas of devastation by increasing the effectiveness of robotic operations while reducing human risk.

The collaborative effort between ARL and ECBC demonstrates a desire to improve technology, share resources and utilize the expertise of personnel working in laboratories across the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command.

“Manipulation of unknown objects is a very difficult task for a robot. In traditional applications, the robot would have a model for the object it wants to pick up and would then know how to pick it up. The self-sealing suction cup design could enhance grasping technology, making grasping of unknown objects easier,” Kessens said.

On Dec. 7, 2012, a 7.3-magnitude

earthquake off the coast of Japan, shaking buildings in Tokyo and caused a small tsunami to revisit an area that was destroyed by the Fukushima-Daiichi disaster in 2011.

“When something like Fukushima happens, it would be very useful if the robots that are sent in could perform some sort of manipulation activity like closing a valve, recovering an object or operating a tool in a contaminated area,” Kessens said. “Even opening a door or a hatch could allow the robot to better observe what’s going on inside the reactor while eliminating the risk of exposing people to radiation.”

Inspired by the octopus, Kessens’ design features a self-sealing component that imitates the sea creature’s ability to individually actuate suction cups based on the object it wants to pick up--from large and small fish to rocks and even a jar of peanut butter. Though suction technology has been applied to the robotics field since the 1960s,

ECBC, ARL collaborate on octopus-inspired suction cups

ECBC engineering technician Brad Ruprecht used a multi-material 3D printer to produce numerous self-sealing suction cup prototypes for ARL’s Chad Kessens, a robotic manipulation researcher. ECBC’s advanced design and rapid prototyping capabilities provided workable samples right off printer.(U.S. Army photo by Doug Lafon)


Four fingertip-sized suction cups can pick up a wine bottle. The prototypes are composed of elastomeric and rigid materials, with plans to be tested in both air and water.

it has been limited in its scope and practical only for objects with a specific size and shape. According to Kessens, a traditional suction grasper uses one vacuum pump as a central suction source, which limits the effectiveness of the technology for grasping if some cups on the grasper do not attach to a given object, creating leak points where air enters at the point of engagement.

Instead, Kessens is modifying the technology so a robot could grasp a large range of items by maximizing the strength of the suction. The self-sealing suction cup features a plug that sits nominally in the suction inlet. When the source pump is turned on, the plug of any cup not in contact with an object gets sucked in, sealing itself. This increases the pressure differential and strengthens the suction capability of the cups that are engaged on an object. The design also uses passive reaction forces that cause the cup to activate and open when the lip contacts an object, breaking the seal to initiate suction.

While Kessens has demonstrated remarkable success in air, he believes his design might work even better underwater.

“There are several advantages. Objects are typically not porous and there are generally smoother surface features underwater. There are also higher pressure differentials,” Kessens said. “When you are operating in the atmosphere using air, you’re limited to the atmospheric pressure for how much force you can generate from the suction cup. But when you go underwater, you have all of the extra pressure from the depths of the sea so that gives you more force to utilize for the effectiveness of the cups.”

The joint project is in the middle of its lifecycle and comprehensive prototype testing still needs to be done Kessens said. While the ARL scientist provided the concept and design, ECBC generated the prototypes through its expertise in rapid prototype manufacturing. According to Brad Ruprecht, engineering technician and senior model maker in the Advanced Design and Manufacturing Division of ECBC’s Engineering Directorate, the biggest challenge was determining how small the cups could be while still making them functional. Part of the process was ECBC’s design capability, including experienced engineering personnel and advanced equipment, to craft a prototype using a multi-material 3D printer.

“What I loved about the project is Chad came to ECBC first and foremost because we had the multi-material machine, and he leveraged that to get a working model

right off of the 3D printer,” Ruprecht said. “It has levers and springs and everything else needed to be a working prototype, and it’s worked very well for him. He’s received a lot of good data from it and is definitely moving forward with his designs.”

Ruprecht used the 3D printer to create prototypes composed of elastomeric materials such as a liquid photo polymer that solidifies into plastic once exposed to ultraviolet light, and more rigid materials like nylon. In about 20 minutes, the ECBC engineer could produce 20 prototypes of different shapes and sizes.

One of the challenges for Ruprecht was handling the small parts of the suction cup like the central plug crucial to the design. The 3D printer fills the space, or clearance, between parts with support material that stabilizes the cups during printing. This material, however, needs to be removed upon final production, forcing Ruprecht to be creative when removing the support material without destroying the prototype itself.

“When the suction cup shrunk in size, there was a huge challenge in getting the support material out of the clearances and overhangs without destroying it because it was very delicate at that point,” Ruprecht said. “Eventually we bought a Waterpik, and it was a nice, fine-pointed stream of water that could spray out the support material. Especially on the first iteration of the prototype, there were a lot of delicate parts.”

Now on its fourth iteration of the design,

the self-sealing suction cup ranges anywhere in size from the palm of a hand to the point of a fingertip. Four fingertip cups can pick up a bottle of wine. The next step is developing a substrate such as a hand or tentacle, where the cups would be located on a robot. Until then, there are several prototypes to finalize the design and conduct testing.

“With 3D printing, you’re getting a working ensemble of suction cups right off of the machine with the elastomeric and rigid materials together,” Ruprecht said. “But if you were to go underwater with it, you probably wouldn’t use the same materials. They tend to absorb moisture and degrade faster. You’d want something that is going to hold up to salt water like a thermal plastic.”

Though the 3D printer is limited to the materials it was designed to print, Ruprecht said the technology serves the purpose of giving a researcher adequate time to gather large amounts of data from the prototypes. Mass manufacturing for commercial or industry purposes, on the other hand, would more likely use injection molding that melts down any thermal plastic into a mold, allowing the user to select from a variety of materials. According to Ruprecht, injection molding would also be cost effective and quicker to produce on a large scale, a secondary area of expertise for ECBC.

RELATED LINKSOnline: http://1.usa.gov/WqKrjh


ECBC Public Affairs

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — U.S. Army engineers are creating and testing a new technology to detect and classify nerve agent in minutes.

Edgewood Chemical Biological Center engineers Jim Genovese and Robin Matthews and contractor Kwok Ong earned a patent for the Rapid Agent Identif ication of Nerve Agent detector in late 2011.

ECBC is developing the detector for the Joint Project Manager for Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Contamination Avoidance.

The detector’s technology is modeled after the M256A1 and Chemical Reconnaissance, Explosive Screening System. The Department of Defense uses the previous detectors to provide chemical vapor detection capability at low cost, minimal training and without the need for a power source. Capitalizing of f these earlier designs saved money.

“Now that we have a customer to make this for, we have two main updates that we are trying to make to the original RAIDON,” said Genovese, Innovative Development

Engineering Acquisition Team leader. “The initial RAIDON technology simply identif ied the dif ference between VX and GB nerve agent. Now, we are trying to get the detector to decipher between the entire range of nerve agents and include thiophosphoric pesticide and carbamates.”

As the group per fects the detector during testing, it has enlisted the help of several other teams, making this a directorate-wide ef for t.

The group is working with the Protective Factor Testing Chamber Branch for testing and the Advanced Design and Manufacturing Division for the injection molding and rapid prototyping.

The participation from the other branches helps propel the ef for t, allowing the RAIDON to be ready for the PM transition, and ultimately, be deployed to the Soldier. Genovese expects the group will have an initial prototype to send to the program manager by early 2013.

“Luckily, since the directorate has become a one-stop shop, we can do all of this work in-house with a rapid turnaround,” Genovese said.

The colorimetric technology used in the RAIDON saves time, allowing the group to focus on the science and meet their deadline. Since the technology capitalizes on a method that is already established, all that remains is testing and packaging.

RELATED LINKSECBC: https://www.ecbc.army.mil

Modeled after the designs of the M256A1 and Chemical, Reconnaissance, Explosive Screening System, the new nerve agent identification technology reduces time and money and requires minimal training. (U.S. Army photo)

Engineers develop, test rapid nerve agent detectors

“We are trying to get the detector to decipher between the entire range of nerve agents and include thiophosphoric pesticide and carbamates.”

— Jim Genovese

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By Dan LafontaineRDECOM Public Affairs

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — The U.S. Army’s eCYBERMISSION program repor ted a record year in 2012 for science, technology, engineering and mathematics outreach, of f icials an-nounced.

eCYBERMISSION is one of sev-eral STEM ef for ts of fered by the Army Educational Outreach Program. AEOP provides student oppor tunities from el-ementary school to college and includes STEM competit ions, real-world research oppor tunities, summer programs, career fairs, teacher professional development, and student internships.

In the 2011-12 school year, 15,406 students and 690 team advisers par-ticipated, said Louie Lopez, STEM out-reach program manager for the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command. Both f igures are the largest in the program’s 10-year his-tory.

RDECOM is the Army’s executive agent for the eCYBERMISSION pro-gram, a web-based STEM competit ion for sixth- through ninth-grade students, in which teams compete for awards while working to solve problems in their community. The program is designed to encourage students to become more ac-tively engaged in STEM education.

Registration numbers for 2012-13 com-petition year have already surpassed last year’s f igures. As of Jan. 2, 16,679 stu-dents and 948 team advisers had regis-tered. The deadline was Jan. 15.

Retaining team advisers was a major focus in 2011-12, with the eCYBERMIS-SION team increasing the frequency of call and personalized e-mail campaigns to previous advisers. Retention has in-creased steadily from 24 percent in 2008-09 to 50 percent in 2011-12.

Retaining team advisers, primarily teachers in STEM subjects, establishes consistency and assists in recruiting students to par ticipate, Lopez said.

The 2011-12 competit ion year also saw the largest number of volunteers in the program’s history, with 1,773 ambas-sadors, cyber guides and vir tual judges. This is a 25 percent increase over the previous year.

RDECOM Director Dale A. Ormond presented Presidential Volunteer Service Awards to three APG civilian

employees Dec. 19 for their service to eCYBERMISSION.

“It’s great things to get kids engaged in science and engineering, looking at prob-lems and coming up with innovative so-lutions. None of this is possible without volunteers,” Ormond said. “Science, tech-nology and engineering is going to make a difference, and we have to get our young people involved.”

The program relies heavily on volunteers to provide a successful experience for stu-dents, Lopez said. Volunteers promote the competition, provide online assistance to students, and evaluate and judge students’ projects through the eCYBERMISSION web site.

The U.S. Military Academy has provided more than 600 virtual judges, the large majority of whom are cadets, annually for

the past few years. Forty-three U.S. states and territories in-

creased the number of registered students in 2011-12, and 237 students registered from Department of Defense Education Activity schools in Armed Forces Europe and Armed Forces Pacific.

Since the program’s inception in 2002, nearly 100,000 students have participated worldwide. The U.S. Army has awarded almost $9 million in savings bonds to win-ning teams.

Also new for the 2012-13 year is RDECOM’s partnership with the National Science Teachers Association, a nonprofit organization that will oversee the program cycle for eCYBERMISSION.

RELATED LINKSECBC: http://1.usa.gov/WqJveZ

eCYBERMISSION national finalists tour the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington June 20 as part of the week-long National Judging and Educational Event. (U.S. Army photo by Conrad Johnson)

eCYBERMISSION program registers a strong year in STEM


CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

chance to do what they need to do to further interrogate it,” Hilger said. “You can see [the threat] before you get to it.”

The Army recently deployed the SCISSOR-G prototype to theater for 90 days of test and evaluation by Soldiers, Hilger said.

“We are giving the route clearance patrol the ability to look for cues and clues while they’re on the move,” Hilger said. “They’re generating the information live. They’re not waiting for an intel brief to give them photographs or a data feed from an [unmanned aerial vehicle].”

The Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization requested that CERDEC NVESD take an existing sensor designed for detection from the air and adapt it for use on a ground vehicle, Hilger said. The SCISSOR-G is the Army’s first detection system of its type embedded with a route clearance patrol.

The SCISSOR-G consists of a sensor and a multi-sensor graphical user interface, or MS GUI. The sensor is mounted on a vehicle, usually a Husky, using a 10-inch turret with state-of-the-art infrared and high-definition color cameras. The MS GUI has a touch screen monitor to control the turret and cameras.

The MS GUI is flexible enough to enable the sensor control and data visualization to be on the same vehicle as the turret or in a trailing vehicle. The two components of the system enable a single operator to monitor the roadway for threats in real time, Hilger said.

When SCISSOR-G is configured for two vehicles, commands and data are transmitted via a radio link. If the MS GUI operator in the sensor vehicle detects a threat, he would alert the lead-vehicle driver to a specific area for threat confirmation.

Hilger emphasized that the detection of an irregularity or clue does not necessarily mean that a threat is present. Information is provided to the MS GUI operator to determine whether further investigation is required based on the threat signature.

The SCISSOR-G is the result of more than 10 years of research into techniques for explosive threat detection, Hilger said. Twelve CERDEC NVESD personnel from three branches combined their areas of expertise to complete the project in the past year-and-a-half.

The Army Test and Evaluation Command conducted testing on the SCISSOR-G before its deployment to theater.

RELATED LINKSArmy.mil: http://1.usa.gov/WqKNXg

Army War College Fellows visit NatickBy Bob ReinertUSAG-Natick Public Affairs

NATICK, Mass. — Army War College Fellows at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tufts University and Harvard University learned about the important work done at the Natick Soldier Systems Center during a Jan. 18 visit to the installation.

The visitors began their day by receiving a welcome and overview at the Grant Confer-ence Center.

“I think we’ve got an excellent day for you,” said Col. Kevin Hillman, military deputy of the Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center. “A lot of things that we do here are of interest to every Soldier out there and every servicemember. It’s a very reward-ing place to … make a difference.”

Craig Rettie, director of the Warfighter Di-rectorate at NSRDEC, told the attendees that Natick concerns itself with “Soldier and small-unit problems. The cognitive piece of it is also very important. I’m talking about how the hu-man brain processes information.”

Rettie introduced Mathew Correa of NSR-DEC, who spoke about the large amount of information gathered on today’s battlefield.

“That information then needs to be … (used) to make decisions based on your envi-ronment … to actually do something with it -- a warfighter action,” Correa said.

“The Soldier is the best sensor that we have on the battlefield.”

Annette LaFleur and Deana Archambault followed with a presentation on female body armor, which Archambault noted for its com-fortable fit.

“It feels like a giant hug,” Archambault said.

After the welcome and overview, the visitors toured some of NSSC’s unique fa-cilities, such as the Doriot Climatic Chamber and the Ouellette Thermal Test Fa-cility.

“It is crucial for senior leaders to see the latest emerging equipment and rations so they un-derstand where the force is headed,” said Lt. Col. George Mason, who is at Harvard. “Of particular value was the demonstration of the new female-specific body armor as well as the uniform design and prototyping.”

“Great work by the team at Natick Soldier Systems Center,” said Lt. Col. Chris Young, a Training With Industry fellow at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. “They really seem to be making the Soldiers’ health, safety and security a top

priority in everything they do.“It is great to see that the Natick Soldier

Systems Center takes feedback from Sol-diers to make Soldier gear more comfortable and safer, protecting our Soldiers better. The new female body armor is a great example of this.”

Young said he was impressed with what he saw at NSRDEC’s Department of Defense Combat Feeding Directorate.

“The Combat Feeding program has made great improvements in the last 20 years,”

said Young, adding that it was “amazing to see all the hard work that goes into making food better tasting, healthier, and more practically packaged.”

Another highlight for Young was the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medi-cine at NSSC.

“Great to see the Army is doing serious research into preventing Soldier injuries from muscular/skeletal problems to the di-agnosis of Traumatic Brain Injury,” Young said. “Super work being done to make sure field rations are healthy yet still taste good, providing the Soldier with the right food to sustain the fight.”

RELATED LINKSOnline: http://1.usa.gov/WqKD1Y/

Paula Collins, an MIT Lincoln Laboratory technical staff leader, tries on female body armor with help from Deana Archambault (left) and Annette LaFleur, Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center. (U.S. Army photo by David Kamm)

“A lot of things that we do here are of interest to every Soldier out there and every servicemember. It’s a very rewarding place to … make a difference.”

— Col. Kevin Hillman

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