Ashwin-Ushas Corporation — Department of Health and Human Services SBIR Phase II: NIOSH

Description

With regard to Personal Protective EyewearPPEtechnologiesa major occupational hazard in high risk industrial sectors such as manufacturingminingconstructionwarehousingenvironmental remediationcleanup and biomedical cleanupe gin Ebola workbut one which has received very limited attention to dateis that associated with the worker transitioning from very bright to dark areasfogging of the PPE exacerbates the situationPer recent OSHA statisticsthe number of fatal accidents potentially caused by light darkL Dplus fogging issues may be up toof the totalinworkerswith non fatal accidents having a similar proportionIn biohazard workthe suit wearer critically needs automatedhands free L D plus antifogging controlCurrent PPE technologies for L D controle gphotochromics changing color with UV lightnot working indoors or in carsclip on sunshades or extra sunglassesand for antifogginge gsuperhydrophilic coatings or double pane polycarbonateare all grossly inadequateIndeedthe US Army Public Health Command specifically prohibits photochromics or clip ons for military personnelNow in very recent prior and ongoing workthis firm has developed and patented a new electrochromics technologybased on uniquematched dual polymer Conducting Polymer electrochromicswhich change color with smalle gVDCvoltagethis has excellent performanceovercoming drawbacks preventing practicalcommercial electrochromic eyewear heretoforeTypical performanceL D contrasttovsair referencethinltmmflexibledurable constructionunique applied voltage algorithm residing on an inexpensivelt$Microcontroller yielding switching times of lts L Dinstantaneous D Lautomatedfunctionphotosensor basedrechargeable Li battery poweredvery low powerh withL D L switches per h before batteries need rechargingW cmVDCconforming to ANSI Zand US militaryAPELspecificationsFurthermorethis firm has also developed a uniqueactive defogging technologyIn the Phase I workthese two technologieselectrochromicsdefoggingwere combinedwith spectaclesgoggles demonstrated having excellent electrochromic performanceactive defogging in ltsecondsand very low power consumptionA preliminary CAD design for final form eyewear was arrived atProposed Phase II work willFurther optimize performance of these spectacles gogglesincluding controlpower consumptiondefog performanceDemonstrate their function with full body biomedical suitsDesign and set up a semi automatedpilot production line forspectaclesgoggles per monthleveraging the firm s just initiated commercial production of its standardnot defoggingelectrochromic sunglassesEstablish commercialization tie ups with partners identifiedIf successfulthe inexpensivelt$product resulting from this work will be the first commercially viable electrochromicsdefogging eyeweardrastically upgrading PPEAncillary marketsskiwearmotor sportsbicyclingfootballmilitarymay further lower cost