[PConline News] I believe we had heard a little before, how smart wearable devices are applied in the military, and Intelligent Textiles has always been at the forefront of wearable technology military applications. Today, it introduced a fabric keyboard and a The fabric charging equipment allows the soldiers to continue to charge the body equipment after leaving the armored vehicle. It is very convenient and practical.
In modern warfare, the military consumes more batteries than bullets. Then, how to ensure the constant supply of electric energy for various devices is an urgent problem to be solved.
Intelligent Textiles Ltd (ITL) is a British military equipment company founded by Asha Thompson and Stan Swallow. Their company's wearable military equipment combines electronic engineering, product design and textile technology.
Textile technology? ! That's right, you didn't get it wrong, it's textile technology. The company weaves electronic equipment into fabrics—this is not a simple embedding, but is spun into the product itself.
Thompson said: "Our keyboard is not made of plastic and circuit board, but weaving conductive materials into fabrics that can function as a circuit board."
This kind of technology can weave electronic equipment into the fabric like traditional fiber weaving. Just like some of the products that are very popular today, such as weaving some electronic devices into sleeves or wetsuits to help wearers keep warm. This technology supports the use of smart fabric materials to replace traditional hardware materials.
When Swallow spoke at the Wearable Technology Show, he described their company as if it were a textile company that "pretends to be a military company," a highlight.
However, in reality, they are indeed a fully-fledged military company. They have applied this high-tech fabric technology to Canadian military armored vehicle IAV Stryker.
ITL also developed a full keyboard made of a piece of fabric that has been put into use at Stryker, replacing the traditional hardware keyboard consisting of 100 parts. The function of this fabric keyboard is the same as that of a traditional hardware keyboard. The advantage of this fabric keyboard is that it does not encounter the soldier's head, but it also has a small defect: the soldiers can no longer use the keyboard as a step into and out of the tank.
ITL has developed a number of military equipment, including JTAC equipment - to help soldiers call "air support" and "computer support"; and SWIPES equipment - components of the US military Nett Warrior equipment, equipped with a chest-mounted Samsung Galaxy Note 2 Smartphones; Broadsword equipment used by British military company BAE.
ITL is currently developing a "real wearable device" - the Spirit equipment. This equipment will be used in the U.S. Army and Navy. It will adopt a modular, scalable, inductive, and hidden design, and it will listen to it. It feels great.
Thompson said that these body armored devices are like "a circuit in a house". Soldiers' clothes are covered with built-in plugs to connect power and data. "The army needs a lot of sockets," Swallow said. Many military sockets were originally designed for use in armored vehicles, but ITL is working hard to develop connectors that can be worn on soldiers.
So, this means that these connectors provide enough plugs, and that whether the wearer is left-handed or right-handed, they can be easily connected. If one plug is broken, the wearer can quickly change the radio or computer to another. Plug on.
“The connector requirements and standards previously applied to armored vehicles cannot be copied onto wearable connectors,†Swallow said. Soldiers can use two hands to pick up plugs when they are in an armored vehicle, but when soldiers go out of armored vehicles and reach the battlefield, it is not quite the same thing. He pointed out: “Soldiers are likely to hold a rifle on the battlefield. Then he can only use one. Only hand to plug the plug. And he was still very likely to be in a dark environment, or in a state of fear, or in the hail of bullets."
In modern warfare, the general soldier’s equipment includes weapons, body armor, GPS, radio, night vision equipment, and so on. The "whole armed" adds up to about 50 kilograms - "It's the equivalent of having a girlfriend on it," Swallow joked. "The Taliban called our army a donkey, because our soldiers have heavy equipment and sweat, and the Taliban have only one gun, a bottle of water and a cell phone." Obviously, we will be struggling. many.
However, there is a bigger problem - power. ITL said that military operations consume more batteries than bullets - partly because soldiers will "wasting" 70% of their batteries. In order to ensure that the batteries on the battlefield are adequate, they need to replace all the batteries before the combat mission begins. This project will take 40 minutes. If an equipment's battery is covered and cannot be re-used like a remote control, the equipment must be scrapped and cannot be used on the battlefield.
The design requirements and standards for military equipment cannot be compared with those for general consumers, because the quality of military equipment is related to the life and death of the soldiers. Therefore, we will not allow him to experience any breakdown. However, the design requirements and standards for different military equipment are also different: Armored vehicles have different equipment than soldiers. Thompson said "Why spend money in unnecessary places?"
"According to a friend of our Canadian army, the AA battery used on the battlefield is the most expensive battery in the universe - more expensive than the batteries they send into space," Swallow said. “From the moment you bought a battery in the store to the point of sending it to the front line of war, in a short period of time, its price would at least 100 times.â€
Military costs are an important factor for the country, the military, the government, and taxpayers. ITL believes that its technology can help reduce military costs by using fabric fibers instead of machinery. Thompson said: "I can't say it's cheap, but it's really relatively cheap."
“The Canadian Army had turned to us for help seven years ago because of the wire problem,†Swallow recalled. Soldiers cannot use wireless technologies such as Bluetooth or ZigBee because these networks are easily detected and destroyed by the enemy. However, "The soldiers do not like to use wires."
"The use of wires in an armored vehicle is fine, but putting it on a soldier is troublesome. It will continue to entangle and eventually it may become an enemy's killing weapon." So, ITL explores how to use fabrics instead of wires. “Fabric is not as thick and heavy as wire, and it is easy to break. A fabric with a width similar to that of a wireboard can spread the same number of conductors. It can not only reduce the load, but also be more flexible, and can also be hidden inside the body armor.
The principles of these fabric keyboards also apply to batteries. The battery can also be worn on soldiers by weaving fabrics instead of placing it in equipment or armored vehicles. If you think that the wireless charging function of Starbucks or IKEA is cool, then you have a look at this: Broadsword fabrics have built-in inductive charging pads that receive the power of the wireless charging pads built into the seats of the tank, allowing soldiers to get out of the tank. You can continue to charge their equipment for the next mission.
Thompson referred to military equipment as "the power of technology," and ITL's system "provides a solution to a real problem."
“It's like a tech swan dance show,†Swallow said. “One minute on the stage, ten years off the stage. These smart fabrics are very simple to use, but they’re hard at work in the R&D process.â€
Let us look forward to these good guys who help the soldiers.
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