SBIR/STTR Award attributes
The Human Systems Division (HSD), under the Agile Combat Support Directorate, in partnership with BESPIN, under the Business Enterprise Systems Directorate, has a national defense mission need related to ensuring that all Airmen are equipped with good-fitting Organizational Clothing and Individual Equipment (OCIE) / Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). When Airmen are equipped with ill-fitting gear, it compromises their job performance, their personal safety, the safety of others, and their combat readiness. Female pilots in particular lack consistent access to properly fitting tactical gear and equipment options, exposing them to serious injury or mission failure. To quote Captain Lauren Ellis of the AF: “In certain situations, having ill-fitting gear, such as harnesses and survival vests, can result in a loss of life. If an aircrew member ejects from the aircraft with equipment that doesn't fit, they can be severely injured or lose their life.” Currently, the AF lacks the necessary data/systems (e.g., a centralized database of user-driven feedback) to efficiently and effectively meet the complex personal protective equipment needs of its diverse community of Airmen. To solve this problem, we engaged HSD and BESPIN through an initial Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II contract to create a minimum viable product (MVP) called GearFit (formerly called Aircrew Flight Equipment). The scope of this MVP focused on gathering feedback from Aircrew on issues they’re having with their gear (e.g., harness is too tight). During the successful MVP process, Skylight and the Government team learned that the Air Force’s fitment problem is multi-dimensional in nature and requires a cohesive, integrated, modular suite of products. For example, a product to gather feedback from Aircrew and another product that enables Requirements Managers to make smarter supply chain decisions. This type of multi-product, multi-team environment warrants further research & development (R&D) to determine how best to harmonize design, product, and system engineering – thus the need for a Sequential SBIR Phase II. Not only will this additional R&D benefit HSD and BESPIN, it’ll also increase the viability of successfully commercializing GearFit for use by organizations in the defense, security, safety, and healthcare fields.
