Rapidly Deployable Lightweight Shelters for Austere Environments

The proposed SBIR program will develop a rapidly deployable lightweight shelter for austere environments that has substantially improved thermal efficiency by comparison to existing systems. A shelter concept is proposed and preliminary structural and thermal analyses are used to demonstrate the potential of the system. The Phase I effort will leverage the tools that are demonstrated in the proposal to optimize the design for weight, durability, and thermal performance. An innovative deployment mechanism is also proposed that reduces deployment time significantly over existing methods. The Phase I Option includes the development and testing of scale-model prototypes of critical components. A commercialization strategy is presented that addresses both military and civilian markets.