Gimme Shelter
Army Develops Super Structures to Safeguard Troops
Shelters protect people from the sun and wind and help them stay warm. Army shelters must do more -- they shield soldiers from chemical and biological agents and the fragments from enemy mortar.
Engineers at an Army research lab in Natick, Mass., design shelters with even better capability. Their portable homes are energy-efficient, thanks to LED lighting and solar panels; easy to assemble with the use of inflatable tubes called air beams; and are invisible at night!
"It's wonderful to develop a technology ... and know that we are helping our soldiers," says mechanical engineer Claudia Quigley. "We want them to feel as close to home as we can, and that's really our goal."
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CONCEPTS EXPLORED
Shelter Technologies
Air Beams
Efficient Energy Use
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RELATED LINKS
Soldier Systems Center
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MILITARY BRANCH
Army
LAB'S NDEP PAGE
n/a
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