Fiber Optic Tactical Apparel for Combat and Training

For this project, we will be adapting our Light Lace® embedded wearables for airmen use cases. For this application, we are proposing to directly integrate Light Lace® into combat shirts to provide high adherence and an accurate biometric monitoring solution. Figure 7 shows the Light Lace® integrated combat shirt, the proposed solution for this effort. For illustration purposes, the “pod” is placed in the middle of the back. However, thanks to the fiberoptic sensing modality and no length constraints for the fibers, the pod can be placed anywhere on the body. If the user requires or prefers the pod to be on the front or towards the bottom of the shirt, for example, that can easily be done without requiring extra R&D or engineering effort. The illustration shows one fiberoptic sensor running straight from the neck to the waist for measuring posture. Depending on the posture of the user, the fiber will stretch a different amount and at different locations. ORC will then use this data to output real time posture metrics. The other sensors are placed around the chest for measuring biometrics, such as respiration rate, breathing pattern and heart rate. This measurement is achieved by measuring chest expansion as well as vibrations from pulse. Due to the high signal to noise ratio of ORC’s patented Light Lace® sensors, it can capture minute movements such as heart rate, as well as larger deformations like respiration, all through the same sensor. ORC has already tested hundreds of Light Lace® integrated textiles for measuring biometrics, and has achieved accurate results compared to the market leaders. Figure 8 shows a combat shirt iteration that is capable of measuring respiratory metrics. This combat shirt has Light Lace® fibers integrated into the chest area.  effort will focus on building a wearable sensing solution that can not only deliver real time cardiopulmonary information of the user, but also measure posture and quantity human response to unique operational environments, directly via combat shirts. To achieve this end goal, ORC will work with the end-user to define customer requirements, and build a seamless and comfortable wearable sensing solution. Different sensor placements will be examined and a mobile application or an API will be developed to visualize the metrics in real time.