Innovative, Low Cost Hydraulic Spreader with Portable Gas Power and Manual Override

An innovative hydraulic spreader tool that can be powered by liquid fuel or manual means is proposed. The advanced development of the spreader tool will follow a step-wise progression of computer-aided design followed by physical construction, demonstration and government review until the full performance requirements have been met and a hand-held spreader tool prototype has been delivered to DARPA. The spreader power supply and hydraulic drive train design will extend and improve upon the design that was demonstrated in Phase I. The optimized spreader tool design will be benchtop tested early in the Phase II project and then, once it has met DARPA requirements, will be miniaturized and packaged to fit within the confines of a lightweight, fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) composite spreader tool housing that will also be designed in the proposed Phase II project. KaZaK will team with the Mechanical Energy & Power Systems (MEPS) Laboratory at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) to bring the most current knowledge on miniature hydraulic piston actuation into the design process.