The focus of this paper is on the development of textile-based wearable electronics that can be integrated into military protective clothing. A materials and manufacturing survey was conducted to determine the best performing and most durable materials to withstand the rigors of textile manufacturing and potential military use. Narrow woven technology was selected as one of the most promising textile manufacturing methods. A working wearable narrow fabric version of the Universal Serial Bus (USB), as well as a radiating conductor, were successfully developed and fabricated. A circular knit T-shirt with an integrated spiral bus was also developed. Military products developed include components of a personal area network providing data and power transport, and a body-borne antenna integrated into a load-bearing vest.
The focus of this paper is on the development of textile-based wearable electronics that can be integrated into military protective clothing. A materials and manufacturing survey was conducted to determine the best performing and most durable materials to withstand the rigors of textile manufacturing and potential military use. Narrow woven technology was selected as the most appropriate manufacturing method. A working wearable narrow fabric version of the Universal Serial Bus (USB), as well as a radiating conductor, were successfully developed and fabricated. Military products developed include components of a personal area network providing data and power transport and a body borne antenna integrated into a load-bearing vest.
Today's complex geo-political climate has forced the U.S. armed services into new operational strategies. The prevalence of international terrorism, the threat from chemical and biological weapons, and the pressure to “do more with less” has placed increasing demands on the military. This new operational environment requires highly mobile troops having enhanced decision-making capability provided through the rapid transfer and dissemination of information to each member of the squad. What is missing is the ability to process and use this information via an Intranet at the level of the individual soldier. The purpose of our work has been to develop, evaluate and implement such a wearable conductive network for the dismounted soldier.
Electrical components place high demands on the properties and performance of materials. Potential service environments have both broad temperature ranges and widely varying stress states. Polyimides are a class of polymers that possess the necessary performance characteristics for electronic applications. LARC-CPI, a novel semicrystalline thermoplastic polyimide developed by the NASA Langley Research Center [1], combines the excellent properties of polyimides with an ability to crystallize. This enhances mechanical performance and chemical resistance and imparts the processing benefits associated with thermoplastic materials. The high Modulus of Elasticity (2.5 to 3.6±0.2 GPa [2]), glass transition temperature (Tg = 222 °C [3]) and melting temperature (Tm = 350 °C [3]) combined with a relatively low dielectric constant (ε = 3.2 [4]) of LARC-CPI appear to meet the criteria for a wide range of electronic materials applications. Since many of the properties are attributed to the crystalline region and its orientation, thorough characterization of any ordered structures present in LARC-CPI is essential. The chemical repeat unit for LARC-CPI and a model repeat unit can be seen in Figure 1.
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