JetPack Aviation (JPA) has entered into a development agreement with Georgia Tech to design and build a Soldier Vertical Mobility System (SVMS) for military applications, the company said.
JPA, which is currently working with the US Navy under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA), will provide its proprietary jetpack technology. Georgia Tech will add advanced electronic subsystems for the new SVMS.
JetPack Aviation senior staff recently hosted Georgia Tech team members at their headquarters in Van Nuys, CA where discussions took place regarding the development of an SVMS.
Under sponsorship from a GTRI Internal Research and Development grant, the early development stage has focused on three specific subsystems: an autonomous control system for an SVMS, a pilot exoskeleton, and a Heads-Up Display (HUD) helmet for the pilot. This multidisciplinary effort is bringing together efforts from the Georgia Tech Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering schools, the ATAS and ELSYS labs of GTRI, and JetPack Aviation.
Court Bivens and Michael Mayo of the ATAS lab at GTRI have been leading the project and coordinating the integration of all subsystems into the SVMS.
The joint SVMS team hopes to move forward by soliciting R&D funds from the US military. Additional funding would enable Georgia Tech and JetPack Aviation to fully integrate the described subsystems into an SVMS and tackle issues such as survivability and reliability, electrical and mechanical infrastructure, and human factor disciplines.
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