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US DARPA to develop Warrior Web clothing

Developing lightweight under-suit to enhance physical performance is a primary focus for the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Dr Joseph Hitt from the DARPA made presentation on the Warrior Webs programme of DARPA, which was initiated in September 2011, at the last week’s Smart Clothes symposium, organised by Harvard University’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.

22nd November 2013

Innovation in Textiles
 |  Lubbock, TX

Protective, Industrial

Developing lightweight under-suit to enhance physical performance is a primary focus for the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

Dr Joseph Hitt from the DARPA made presentation on the Warrior Webs programme of DARPA, which was initiated in September 2011, at the last week’s Smart Clothes symposium, organised by Harvard University’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.

Lightweight and smart

Dr Hitt said that soldiers these days carry about 48 kilograms of load, which results in many musculoskeletal injuries. Therefore, lightweight and smart under-suits are being developed to reduce these injuries and enhance the performance of war fighters.

This integrated smart suit technology programme is a thirty months effort and involves leading universities, industrial organisations and defence contractors, such as Harvard University, Stanford University, University of Delaware, SRI International, Boston Dynamics.

Comfort and acceptability

According to Dr Hitt, some of the challenges with such new technologies are acceptance by the user, comfort and transport properties and acceptability by the ever changing human nature.

Warrior Web programme focusses on three main aspects such as fatigue, form and force. Radcliffe’s Smart Clothes symposium also featured talks on topics such as vapour printed devices, exoskeleton natural armours and many smart clothing related emerging research and development activities.

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