Adaptive Armor Actuator Mechanisms

Conventional vehicle armor has evolved considerably over the years, including homogeneous plates, composite materials, and reactive substrates. Variable orientations have also been implemented, including curved, sloped, angled, and spaced plates. A common characteristic among these conventional armor solutions is that they are static and incapable of changing in response to local threats. Adding a means by which the armor panels of a vehicle can adapt, or change under the direction of an occupant, would provide an improvement in protection capability. Many conventional actuation technologies exist that have the required performance capabilities for adaptive armor, but are limited in practical utility primarily due to their weight. As such, InnoVital Systems, Inc., in collaboration with the University of Maryland, proposes to develop an innovative adaptive armor actuation system using our patented, light weight, pneumatic artificial muscles. Phase I work demonstrated the possibility of our system to surpass the solicited performance metrics. Building upon this work, Phase II will focus on further system and modeling refinements, closed-loop control, and integration into functional hardware capable of realistic operations in a relevant environment.