Thursday, October 20, 2011

US Patent 8037775 - Passive hit locator including CNT arrays

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/8037775.html

In combat situations, it may be advantageous to know the location of damage from projectiles on equipment. This patent from Raytheon teaches how to use single walled carbon nanotube material to construct light weight sensor arrays fabrics allowing for a simpler hit detection system. Claim 1 reads:

1. A system for locating impacts, comprising:

at least two passive arrays of a plurality of aligned single walled carbon nanotubes, each carbon nanotube operable to emit electrical activity when compressed;

at least one sensor coupled to the at least two arrays configured to detect emitted electrical activity from the plurality of single walled carbon nanotubes; and

a computer configured to determine the location of an impact on the at least two arrays in response to the detected emitted electrical activity from the plurality of single walled carbon nanotubes.

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