PR Newswire
Nov 10, 2005 09:00 ET

Solidica and Freescale Semiconductor Unveil New Embedded Wireless Technology for Military Diagnostics

Rugged health monitor devices offer affordable networked intelligent sensors

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Nov. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Continuing its expansion into markets that transcend its rapid prototyping and tooling base, Solidica, Inc. has announced the development of a revolutionary new embedded sensor concept for use in advanced military vehicle diagnostics. Unveiled two weeks ago at the Defense Maintenance Symposium in Birmingham, Alabama, the new prototype sensors were created in collaboration with Freescale Semiconductor (Austin, TX.) Directly embeddable into any metal component, the sensors are able to measure a wide range of critical system health information and wirelessly convey the data to the platform in real time using Freescale's 2.4 GHz digital radio and microcontroller technology based on their ZigBee compliant platform. These data can then be used to make immediate tactical decisions at the operational level and can further be leveraged by the military in support of automated logistics activities as part of their emerging Sense and Respond initiatives. The combination of Solidica's embedded electronics expertise and their unique sensor and packaging designs not only provide a network of communicating and reacting monitors, but also self identify the smart components through an added RFID layer. Dr. Dawn White, Solidica CEO notes that, "Our unique ability to embed Freescale's 2.4 GHz chipset allowed us to rapidly generate the prototype by combining our core ultrasonic consolidation packaging methods and sensor designs with state of the art wireless technology. The result is a one of a kind health sensor that within its tamperproof metal body, is monitoring and analyzing a massive amount of sensor data and transmitting that data to the on board vehicle computer for action."

The unique enabler for these small rugged sensors is Solidica's ultrasonic consolidation technology, which through the power of solid state additive fabrication opens design horizons with nearly unlimited potential. Solidica fabricates their sensors using thin strips of metal, one layer at a time. Periodically, electronics and/or sub-millimeter integrated features are inserted between the layers during fabrication, drawing energy from their environment and allowing for an invisible monitoring capability that cannot be removed, or easily destroyed. Ken Johnson, Vice President of Strategic Development adds, "This is really just the beginning, we are looking to expand our development with support from the Department of Defense in 2006 to make this technology a reality for the warfighter in the near future. We further see the potential to mass produce our wireless sensors across a wide variety of industries and are currently partnering with several early adopters."

About Solidica

Headquartered in Ann Arbor, MI, Solidica is a rapidly growing technology company that provides advanced materials and solid-state fabrication solutions. Their proprietary Ultrasonic Consolidation technology combines the ability to quickly "grow" dense metal parts, novel material, and injection tools with the option of embedding fibers and advanced electronics. The company leverages its expanding internal research and product development resources to provide customers with innovative solutions in industries such as aerospace, automotive, medical, rapid prototyping/tooling, electronics, and military. Visit their website at http://www.solidica.com/ for more information or contact Ken Johnson at (734) 222-4680 x114.

Source: Solidica, Inc.

Web site: http://www.solidica.com/