Modular RAPID Armor System with Space Frame Locking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current protective structures for urban environments are inadequate in providing rapid and effective protection against small arms, fragmenting rounds, improvised explosives, and blast threats, requiring improvements for both personnel and asset protection in dense urban settings.
Innovation Solution
The development of a Ready Armor Protection For Instant Deployment (RAPID) system, which includes a quickly deployable wall assembly with space frame units, wheels for ease of setup and takedown, and integrated locking mechanisms, allowing for rapid deployment and scalability to create barriers, checkpoints, and buffer zones, providing ballistic and blast protection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional protective structures (concrete structures or earthen embankments) are used, then protection against blast and ballistic threats is improved, but deployment time and complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The protective barrier is divided into multiple modular panel sections that can be independently handled, transported, and assembled. Each panel is a self-contained unit with standardized connection interfaces, allowing rapid assembly without requiring heavy equipment or complex construction processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The panels are pre-fabricated with integrated connection mechanisms and protective coatings before deployment. The modular design allows panels to be prepared in advance and stored ready for assembly, eliminating on-site manufacturing time and enabling instant deployment when threats are detected.
2Reliability
If traditional protective structures are used, then protection effectiveness is improved, but device complexity and heavy equipment requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system is segmented into standardized modular panels that can be assembled using simple connection mechanisms. This eliminates the need for heavy construction equipment, cranes, or specialized machinery, allowing deployment by small teams with minimal equipment.
Solution Approach 2:
The panels incorporate self-aligning and self-locking connection features that automatically engage when panels are brought together. The design enables personnel to assemble the barrier without requiring external equipment or complex procedures, making the system self-deploying.
3Productivity
If modular panel systems are used for rapid deployment, then deployment speed is improved, but protection effectiveness against ballistic threats may be reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The panels utilize composite material construction combining multiple layers and materials (such as ceramic tiles, metal matrices, or polymer composites) that provide ballistic protection equivalent to traditional monolithic structures. The composite design maintains protective performance while enabling modular assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The protective panels incorporate localized reinforcement in critical areas where ballistic threats are most likely to impact. The modular design allows different panel types with specialized protective properties to be deployed in specific locations based on threat assessment, optimizing protection without compromising overall system performance.
Data Source
AI summary
Ready armor modular protective systems that can be rapidly deployed in an urban environment. Exemplary armor systems include a container, and a wall assembly that fits inside of the container when in a collapsed configuration. The wall assembly includes a first end section, a second end section, a constraint mechanism, and first and second locking mechanisms. The first end section has a first space frame unit, and the second end section has second and third space frame units. A locking mechanism prevent relative vertical displacement from occurring between adjacent second and third space frame units. The constraint mechanism keeps the first and third space frame units at a fixed distance from one another. The constraint mechanism, when coupled with the first and third space frame units, keeps the locking mechanism from being removed from the second end section.