The winner of an Army competition searching for innovative technology for troops would let soldiers see their enemies through walls.
The second Expeditionary Technology Search (xTechSearch) came to a close last week at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual meeting, when Lumineye, Inc., was announced as the winner for its radar technology.
Lumineye has created a “wall-penetrating radar” that would help soldiers “identify people and potential threats through walls,” according to the Army’s press release.
As the winner of the competition, The Army awarded Lumineye $250,000. Mike Howard, spokesman for the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology told Task & Purpose that the cash prize doesn’t necessarily mean that the Army will purchase the radar.
Lumineye Through Wall Sensing Demo
The radar is a 3D-printed device that “uses signal analysis software to differentiate moving and breathing humans from other objects, through walls,” TechCrunch said in an August report. What makes Lumineye’s technology different is that it’s portable, weighing less than two pounds, according to their website.
The xTeachSearch competition for the Army is a way to give small businesses an opportunity to pitch their innovative technologies to the service. Army Futures Command’s director of combat systems, Maj. Gen. Patrick Burden, said in the release that some technologies that will help soldiers “win on future battlefields will arise from the partnerships we establish here.”
At last week’s conference, the 12 finalists for xTechSearch 2.0 gave their final pitches to a panel of active duty and civilian judges, leaving Lumineye the winner.
Also at AUSA, Jeffrey Singleton — director of technology for the deputy assistant secretary of the Army for research and technology — announced the 12 finalists for xTechSearch 3.0, who will give their final pitches at the 2020 AUSA meeting in Huntsville, Alabama.
Earlier this year, Adranos, Inc., from West Lafayette, Indiana, won the Army’s first xTechSearch for their long-range missile and space launch systems.
Applications for the fourth round of xTechSearch are due before midnight on November 11, 2019.