EVERYTHING CONNECTED – Numorpho's Book of Business

Operational Digital Twine (ODT) Summary

OVERVIEW

Funding Opportunity: DoD Point of Need Manufacturing Challenge

To best protect and pursue our interests at home and abroad, the United States relies on a robust and innovative domestic manufacturing sector. The federal government has established Manufacturing Innovation Institutes (MIIs) to be national, public-private partnerships including leaders in industry, academia, and nonprofits.  The MIIs were established to develop, demonstrate, and accelerate the early adoption of advanced manufacturing by funding research, development, technology, engineering, education, and workforce development projects and by creating an ecosystem that advances advanced manufacturing.

Our response to the challenge is the Operational Digital Twine (ODT) enables localized production of parts in military frontline operational bases that is devoid of supply chain logistics and are in an austere environment where inclement conditions can add another dimension to the needs of the warfighters.

Utilizing Additive Manufacturing techniques frontline operations will be able to create spare parts on demand and in an expeditious manner. This use case addresses both remote manufacturing operations using 3D printing and also the well-being of war fighters by embedding smart devices (like brainwave and OCD – habit monitoring) utilizing locally created products like helmets.

This document is extracted from our Proposal to the DoD that was presented at ARM in Pittsburg. It maintains its original format with some changes for legibility, removal of classified information and names of partners to protect privacy.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PROBLEM STATEMENT

In this proposal, we address the need for expeditionary manufacturing to enable the warfighters to quickly 3D-print parts in the front lines.

Our goal is to develop a digital framework to manage the process, logistics and fulfillment of the scenario presented in the challenge:

U.S. forces are engaged in an operation at an austere forward operating base (FOB) in a remote location and no access to normal logistics support. Manufacturing at the FOB will provide capabilities and sustain personnel and equipment to successfully complete their operation.

HIGH LEVEL INTERACTIONS

We envisage a digital framework for expeditionary manufacturing and on-site management in the remote austere location for the Operational Digital Twine. It combines various technologies and components to enable efficient and secure operations.

NUMO_ODT_InteractionDiagram2

Here’s a breakdown of each element:

  1. DIGITAL PLAYBOOKS – Digital playbooks are essentially guides or manuals that provide step-by-step instructions and procedures for manufacturing processes. They are based on industry expertise and can help ensure that manufacturing operations in remote locations are carried out effectively and efficiently. In this case we will leverage MxD’s knowledge base and best practices based on their smart manufacturing initiatives driven by their Strategic Investment Projects (SIP) portfolio.
  2. FOUNDATION – Microsoft’s Azure Stack Edge serves as the foundational infrastructure for this digital framework. It provides a localized environment for securely managing files, data, and processes. This localized infrastructure is crucial for ensuring data security and reliability in remote locations where connectivity may be limited or unreliable.
  3. ORCHESTRATION – Numorpho’s Digital Twine Reference Architecture plays a critical role in connecting various data streams within the framework. Orchestration involves managing the flow of data and information between different components and systems, ensuring seamless integration and communication. This is essential for coordinating manufacturing processes and data exchange.
  4. ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING – Markforged Federal division’s off-line Eiger platform is used for additive manufacturing processes. It converts Computer-Aided Design (CAD) STL files into machine G-code, which is specific to the 3D printer being used. This element allows for the intelligent printing of parts and efficient production management in remote locations. Additive manufacturing is particularly valuable in situations where traditional manufacturing methods are challenging.
  5. SMART MONITORING – Enable proactive and predictive maintenance as well as enhance the wellbeing of warfighters by adding sensors to detect brain wave and obsessive-compulsive (OCD) behavior so that appropriate short-term and long-term help can be provided. The inclusion of sensor technology for health and behavioral monitoring is a forward-looking approach to ensure the physical and mental well-being of personnel in remote and austere locations.

PROPOSED SOLUTION

We will implement an innovative manufacturing solution for the management of front-line production. We will utilize Additive Manufacturing technologies and a local off-line infrastructure comprising of edge servers, 3D printers and trained personal. This will showcase the art of the possible coupled with the science of engineering to accomplish the needs for remote manufacturing and enable the heath monitoring of the warfighters. We will also physically test the framework (both the digital and physical aspects) in austere conditions.

The Diagram in Figure 1 below showcases our response comprising of two projects:

NUMO_DoD_PoN_Challenge_Projects

Project A – Remote Additive Manufacturing

In Project A, we address the need for expeditionary manufacturing to enable the warfighters to quickly 3D-print parts in the front lines.

Our goal is to develop a digital framework to manage the process, logistics and fulfillment of the scenario presented in the challenge:

U.S. forces are engaged in an operation at an austere forward operating base (FOB) in a remote location and no access to normal logistics support. Manufacturing at the FOB will provide capabilities and sustain personnel and equipment to successfully complete their operation.

We intend to:

  • Use our Digital Twine automation architecture to blueprint every aspect of the process,
  • Implement a secure data management framework (hardware + infrastructure) provided by Microsoft’s proven industry solutions for defense and intelligence,
  • Utilize Markforged Eiger additive manufacturing platform for off-line 3D printing that has already been validated by the US military for remote location job submission and print management, and
  • Reuse knowledge from several MxD DoD strategic investment plans (SIPs), courses and workshops that we have been part of since 2021.

Project B – Vanguard Well Being

In Project B, we address the need for monitoring Warfighter Medical, Health, and Nutrition to enable their well-being by using bio-metric sensors embedded to wearables.

Our goal is to enable the wellbeing of the front-line fighters corresponding to the scenario:

U.S. forces are engaged in an operation at an austere forward operating base (FOB) in a remote location, no access to normal logistics support and there is need to monitor their well-being.

We will coordinate the logistics and management of sensors embedded in wearables and its data streaming in terms of need monitoring, safety, security, privacy, storage, and availability. We will utilize the Digital Framework that we have proposed in Project A – The Operational Digital Twin to ensure that all aspects of data transfer and physicality of the wearables is accounted for in this project. We will also test the wearables for functionality and usability in austere conditions.

For Project B, the Vanguard Well Being, we will:

  • Print the Armadillo Helmet as a proof for remote manufacturing using Markforged X7 Field 3-D printer.
  • Provide a robust casing to house the NoMo Diagnostic wearables including a skullcap.
  • Embed NoMo Diagnostic Sensors in the Helmet, and the HabitAware bracelet as wearables on the warfighter, and
  • Transfer sensor data to edge servers defined in Project A for bio-metric analysis.

DUAL-USE IMPLICATIONS

The product that we will use to showcase this capability is the folding Armadillo Helmet. This innovative product was developed using parametric modeling, generative design, additive manufacturing technologies, and process automation. The primary intent of the Armadillo Helmet project was to showcase 3D printing and facilitate custom manufacturing by scanning head forms and printing the helmet locally, reducing supply chain implications. From a commercial perspective, the goal of the project was to minimize the package size in order to save on transportation and warehousing, and also to enable ease-of-use wherein the helmet could easily be put into a backpack for convenience.

These factors would add to the dual purpose (commercial and military use) basis for the project. The helmets would promote safety thru the use of new materials that Markforged is championing (like, Carbon Fiber, Kevlar, Composites and Metal), and warfighter/civilian health and well-being by embedding sensors. This will also enable 3D printing and sensor bio-metric data whose basis will be detailed in our second proposal – Project B: Vanguard Well Being. This will further affirm and provide for an adjacent and circular basis for building the digital framework. We will also account for the dual-use condition for commercial production of having green, low-touch and localized custom manufacturing that we are embarking at Numorpho Cybernetic Systems.

By including NoMo Diagnostic and HabitAware bio-metric sensor capabilities, we are employing proven commercial products to be utilized for the well being of military personal on the field and on-going as they progress to being part of the civilian life. NoMo’s miniaturized quantitative electroencephalogram (ECG) device with a novel biosensor will be worn under-the-helmet by both athletes and military to alert when mild traumatic brain injury (concussion) is detected. HabitAware’s discreet bracelet is worn on the wrist and passively senses undesirable behavior patterns for longitudinal studies that relate to mental health. Both technologies have translational applications in the commercial space, especially for at-home use.

This dual-use scenario could seamlessly cascade from closed localized considerations in the forward operating base to secure distributed provisioning as it enters the commercial space where war veterans would comingle with society after they enter civilian life.

TECHNICAL METHODOLOGY

Our approach for this remote manufacturing challenge is to create a connected digital framework that concerts the end-to-end process to enable 3D printing in austere environments. Here are details of our methodology.

The DIGITAL TWINE Reference Architecture

Our Digital Twine is a new way of managing the product’s genesis. It is a strategy of thinking about and treating the end-to-end production process as a singular entity – an ecosystem of co-operating, self-organizing processes that are secure and make the different systems work in coordination. It is an endeavor to design a platform for of production linking people, organizations, data, processes, and machines in the new paradigm of Industry 4.0 utilizing digital technologies in the same way the Internet was a new way of thinking about the exchange of information.

NUMO_DigitalTwine_RA_RemoteManufacturing

Represented above is the reference architecture for the digital framework that connects the dots between the different facets for remote manufacturing – from the start where we will utilize a catalog of CAD/STL files to the printing and maintain parts and the enabling of secure management of data in the front lines.

Each of the numbered dots represents the coordination of people, processes, and technologies that we will evolve as part of this project alongside with our partners: Microsoft, Markforged and MxD to enable the expedited, optimal and harmonious response to enabling parts production in austere conditions in the front line. It represents the pull-push of information that we will implement to make the digital framework actionable. This will also be the basis to develop the Standard Operating Procedure manual for the transition plan beyond the concept stage.

Making Sense of the Sensors

For Project B – Vanguard Well Being, we will coordinate the details of embedding sensors for monitoring and managing the data engineering in conjunction with our partners from the mHUB ecosystem. mHUB is based in the Chicagoland area, the largest innovation center in the Midwest and a sister organization of MxD. They jointly host the 4th Industrial Revolution awards that celebrates regional manufacturing and hardtech entrepreneurs for their leadership and innovation as the industry stands on the brink of a new technological revolution.

Our approach for this remote manufacturing challenge is to monitor and manage warfighter wellbeing by embedding sensors to stream data to edge servers for storage, processing, and analytics. For this we will print the Armadillo Helmet on site using Markforged X7 Field Edition 3-D printer, embed it with sensors provided by NoMo Diagnostics and also include the HabitAware bracelet for a holistic ability to monitor the wellbeing of the warfighter.

NUMO_MakingSenseOfSensors

Knowledge Reuse

For the requirement to state Consortium Developed Intellectual Property (CDIP), itemized below are the projects that we have been part of at MxD that we will be using as playbooks and guidebooks for our progression along this project:

OUR APPROACH

The goal of this project will be to enable cataloging CAD and STL part files, its secure management and the ability to 3D print it in a remote/austere environment. We will use our Reference Architecture, the Digital Twine to compose a dynamic blueprint of the use case for remote manufacturing with all the considerations for define, make, manage and maintain. The use case will be implemented on Microsoft’s secure platform for defense and intelligence and will utilize Markforged off-line Eiger platform for Additive Manufacturing and Markforged X7 Field 3D printer for manufacturing the parts on site.

For the Vanguard Well Being Project, we will:

  • Enable the 3D printing of full helmets or individual slats in the front line utilizing a series of materials that we will investigate for safety, cost and other considerations. This would be the precursor or a proof-of-concept to print other parts in the future.
  • Embed NoMo Diagnostics sensors whose PCB will be embedded in a robust casing and attached to the helmet using a skullcap.
  • Include the HabitAware sensors for additional bio-metric streaming to the edge servers defined in Project A.
  • Manage the inventory of filament material, sensors and casings with data management and notifications capabilities to replenish stock.

From our partners:

  • The Markforged ecosystem of materials supports a large variety of composites that have been tested for various conditions that we plan to utilize for this project.
  • In order to deliver these units out in the field, the hard shell/skull cap units will be outfitted with the NoMo Diagnostics qEEG sensors and weatherproofed PCBs. One of the key processes is the database setup and workflow.
  • HabitAware will develop the software and algorithms necessary to classify warfighter behaviors from sensor data and create software that integrates with the digital infrastructure. They will demonstrate the classification of a behavior of interest in real-time and its transfer to the digital framework.

SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL MERIT

Our proposed digital framework will conform to best-practice solutions for Industry 4.0 solutions based on several decades of working with major corporations in the aerospace, automotive and other manufacturing domains. Our Digital Twine reference architecture will be patented as part of our overall IP for process automation comprising of the MANTRA M5 platform for enabling Make-Manage-Move-Market and Maintain activities.

It will also utilize conformed technologies from Microsoft’s Defense and Intelligence solutions, Markforged Federal divisions off-line printing and advanced composite use for 3D printing for the military, and MxD’s DoD based initiatives as described above. All of this would correspond to TRL 4 or above in the technical maturity of our solution.

Here are reference sites to attest to the above:

The theme for Numorpho Cybernetic Systems is Everything Connected and in the course of this concept project we will collaborate with our partners to provide an integrated framework of sensor data management to enable the current and future wellbeing of warfighters in the front line. This utilizes our several decades background in architecting engineering and technology systems to manage data and information securely and robustly, and its procession to knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom.

Markforged X7 Field Edition 3D printer is a rugged field-deployable industrial 3D printer for tactical response to supply chain challenges in remote locations. Whether in the armed services, field services, or factory operations — X7 FE bridges gaps in the path from art to part, where the road is not well-travelled to produce parts with minimal effort at any point of need. It comes in a rugged Pelican case with custom foam modules and moving component locks to mitigate damage during transport.

Avnet’s global team provides deep engineering and supply chain expertise throughout the product lifecycle. Whatever the challenge, Avnet has the people, equipment, and global capabilities to turn ideas into realities. As part of the Defense ecosystem and as advisors on this project, Avnet will help us with their expertise in sensors and associated applications to bridge the gap between the physical world and the digital one.

Using the data that is collected, we will be able to see both the health of an individual soldier as well as the degradation of mechanical properties of the helmet that soldier is wearing. This will enable rapid detection of head injuries out in the field using NoMo Diagnostics unique qEEG data and prediction of needed replacement parts or maintenance using the mechanical data of the helmets.

HabitAware has established itself as the market leader in human behavior detection using passive sensor technologies for critical-need applications. Current in-market demonstrations include a wrist-worn bracelet that detects behaviors associated with trichotillomania (hair-pulling disorder) and dermatillomania (skin-picking disorder), among other body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs). Its technology, through passive behavior classification, has the potential to identify undesirable behavior patterns that professionals can leverage to get to the root of a soldier’s struggle.

Here are reference sites to attest to the above:

NITIN UCHIL Founder, CEO & Technical Evangelist
nitin.uchil@numorpho.com

numorpho

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