The Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi (IIT-D) and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) are jointly developing a lighter, smart, intelligent and relatively cheaper jacket for soldiers with integrated interconnects, antennas, sensors and chips. It is being developed at IIT-D’s Joint Advanced Technology Centre (JATC) set up by DRDO.

More than a dozen researchers at the JATC research vertical Smart and Intelligent Textile are working on developing the jacket in three phases, according to the IIT-D website.

Textile-based flexible circuit boards and multi-chip modules will be developed in the initial stage. Next, modelling, fabrication and testing of different types of radio frequency and microwave antennas on textile-based and polymeric substrates will take place.

Finally, several kinds of sensors will be developed and integrated into the textiles. Features like signal processing chip, chemical sensor and communication chip will help the soldiers in mobility, threat detection and communication. (DS)