Rice team developing 3D printed military ‘smart helmet’

The team, led by principal investigator Paul Cherukuri, executive director of Rice’s Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering, has received $1.3m from the US Office of Naval Research through the Defense Research University Instrumentation Program to develop the helmet.

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According to Rice, the Smart Helmet program aims to modernise standard-issue military helmets by 3D-printing a nanomaterial-enhanced exoskeleton with embedded sensors to actively protect the brain against the effects of kinetic or directed-energy.

Rice said it will use Carbon Inc.’s L1 printer to develop a strong-but-light military-grade helmet that incorporates advances in materials, image processing, artificial intelligence, haptic feedback and energy storage. The printer enables rapid prototyping that in turn simplifies the process of incorporating the sensors, cameras, batteries and wiring harnesses the program requires, Cherukuri said.

“Current helmets have evolved little since the last century and are still heavy, bulky, passive devices,” he said. “Because of advances in sensors and additive manufacturing, we’re now reimagining the helmet as a 3D-printed, AI-enabled, ‘always-on’ wearable that detects threats near or far and is capable of launching countermeasures to protect soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines.”