DEPLOYABLE MICROSENSORS
Tat was just the first part of what quickly became a multi-tiered effort. Te team not only had to find the best way to iden- tify and validate high-quality, low-SWaP sensor technologies; once the sensors were distributed and engaged in detection, they had to be able to send the detection data through a battlefield communications network so warfighters on the ground and their commanders would be alerted to threats in near real-time.
Te DEVCOM CBC Engineering Direc- torate had the capability to rapidly construct advanced microsensor demon- strator prototypes and integrate them with a variety of delivery vehicles and commu- nication networks. Tat way, the team could quickly see the strengths and weak- nesses of each using warfighter feedback.
A VIRTUAL VIEW
A MESH network device displays a virtual view of the puck array deposited by a quadcopter at the Army Expeditionary Warrior Experiments annual event at the Maneuver Support Center of Excellence at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, in March 2023. (Photo by U.S. Army)
Integrated Microsensor Evaluation System (DIMES). It is a series of playing card-sized packages, each one housing a commer- cial volatile organic compound sensing element, communications chip and power source. Tese sensing elements are a place- holder for future chemical agent-specific sensing technologies under development by the joint DEVCOM CBC-JSTO effort. Tese individual DIMES are then placed inside a circular dispenser called the carousel, so-called because it resembles an old-fashioned slide carousel. Te Engi- neering Directorate designed the carousel to be integrated with either a quadru- ped robotic system, called Spot, that the technology developer, Boston Dynamics, designed, or on an aerial platform such as the FLIR Skyraider using a standardized DEVCOM CBC-developed interface.
The Deployable Microsensor Initia- tive initially focused on the technical advances of chemical sensors. However, before the team could take advantage of the low size, decreased weight and reduced power (SWaP) needs of a new generation of sensors, they had to solve the problem of inconsistent methodologies for evaluating sensor performance. Tat meant they had to continuously scan sensor development progress across academic, government and industry laboratories to find the best candidates to assess for feasibility. It also required them to develop stan- dardized methodology that consistently assessed a variety of sensor technologies as the sensors continued to be improved. Te team drew upon expertise within the center to develop sensor evaluation proto- cols to assess and then compare sensor results and development progress.
48 Army AL&T Magazine Summer 2025
TAKING TO THE FIELD Meanwhile, MSCoE CDID took lessons learned from the demonstrations and experiments to draft an Army Capabil- ity Development Document (CDD) that specifies the operational benefit that the technology provides. Te CDD progressed from MSCoE CDID through Future Capabilities Command to Army Futures Command, where the validated concept was submitted to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology (ASA(ALT)). In August 2023, ASA(ALT) sent the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biolog- ical, Radiological and Nuclear Defense a letter designating it as the Office of Primary Responsibility for the matura- tion and acquisition of this technology. Tis designation moved the Deployable Microsensor System further down the acquisition cycle to becoming a recog- nized program of record.
By April 2024, the pace of the Micro- sensors program quickened further. Te concept demonstrator was put through its
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