ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. (Oct. 14, 2015) -- The U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center provides laboratory space and engineering controls to create advanced prototypes of several Next Generation Chemical Detectors, or NGCDs.
Preparing for a future yet to be imagined requires a scientific approach focused on designing research that is persistent in experimentation, scientists said. The center is working with 10 industry partners, by lending its laboratories and subject matter experts to test prototypes for the initiative.
"The government labs here at ECBC conduct this kind of chemical agent testing for traditional warfare agents and advanced threats," said Jeff Hofmann, deputy product director for sensors. "What's unique is allowing partners to come in and choose the chemical warfare agents they want to focus their testing on in order to develop their agent library, test the integrity of their systems, and conduct sensitivity type analyses. They're able to maximize the time they spend in our labs and collect quality data to advance their technology."
The program is a long-term acquisition project that is managed by the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense, or JPEO-CBD, to field four new chemical detection capabilities to American warfighters.
Until then, ECBC researchers temporarily working with JPEO's Joint Project Manager for Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Contamination Avoidance, or JPM-NBC CA, are testing some of the latest detection equipment and software algorithms in industry.
"Even though this is a long-term program, there are multiple phases built in that allow industry to conduct multiple rounds of testing to ensure their technologies are on par, or surpass what's available on the commercial market," Hofmann said. "If, at any point, a company has developed something that works better than what we're already testing, we have the ability to incorporate that into the next phase of the program. There is great potential to advance these technologies through new and existing partnerships. Our ultimate goal is to get the most efficient, accurate and state-of-the-art technology in the hands of the warfighter."
According to Hofmann, a comprehensive program to develop a detection capability for all phases of matter has never been done before. The NGCD will eventually be fielded to all services of the U.S. military in locations all around the world, including shipboard operations.
Technology Maturation and Risk Reduction
Continuously testing technology not only spurs its development more quickly, it also reduces the risk of manufacturing the capabilities prematurely.
Beginning in the first quarter of fiscal year 2015, ECBC conducted breadboard testing, an engineering term used for simple, stripped down prototypes, that were developed by the partners so they could collect the data necessary to build a detection algorithm for its software.
"That algorithm is a critical piece of the detection software," said Aaron Young, the test support lead for the NGCD team. "They are able to collect spectra from various agents of interest and write a program that looks for certain features within that data to signify the presence of an agent."
Partners returned at the end of June 2015 with modified prototypes that were smaller and lighter in form, and updated with the rudimentary algorithm.
The next phase, called brassboard testing, includes three additional phases: two technical tests customized for contractor-specific agents of interest, and one blind test where the ECBC and JPM selects the chemicals and conditions, but they will be unknown to the partners. The blind test will be standard for all 10 partners.
"What we are looking to create for the warfighter doesn't exist yet in the commercial sector, so having the chance to collaborate with industry through this kind of development program is incredibly beneficial to both sides: we're able to provide the subject matter expertise to advance their systems, and they're able to design new technologies that meet our requirements," Young said.
Having a diverse set of partners allows the ECBC and JPM to observe what works well among the different technologies, as well as what some of the performance limitations are. This kind of research up front helps the ECBC and JPM make smarter decisions about where it invests in further development before the engineering and manufacturing development phase of acquisition, said Young. Not to mention, these industry insights are also coupled with Warfighter input.
"Warfighter input is always important," Young said. "Near the end of the TMRR phase, Soldiers will conduct an early operational assessment and take the systems out in the field to use on missions. We'll get feedback from them through interviews and surveys, which will inform the design for improved capability."
-----
The U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center is part of the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, which has the mission to ensure decisive overmatch for unified land operations to empower the Army, the joint warfighter and our nation. RDECOM is a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Materiel Command.
Related Links:
Army.mil: Science and Technology News
U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command
Social Sharing