Patent Publication Number: US-11654442-B2

Title: Dust mitigation system utilizing conductive fibers

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION AND CLAIM OF PRIORITY 
     The present patent application is a continuation of U.S. Nonprovisional application Ser. No. 15/199,618, filed on Jun. 30, 2016, entitled “Dust Mitigation System Utilizing Conductive Fibers,” to Kavya K. Manyapu et al., which issued as U.S. patent Ser. No. 10/016,777 on Jul. 10, 2018, which nonprovisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to earlier filed U.S. provisional patent application No. 62/312,931, filed on Mar. 24, 2016, and entitled “Dust Mitigation System Utilizing Carbon Nanotube Fibers,” both of which applications are hereby incorporated herein by this reference in their entireties. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Field 
     The present disclosure relates to dust mitigation, and more, particularly to a dust mitigation system utilizing conductive-fibers. 
     2. Related Art 
     Exploration activities preformed on the Moon by both humans and robotic spacecraft occur on a planetary surface that is comprised of unconsolidated fragmental rock material known as the lunar regolith. The lunar surface is covered by several layers of thick regolith formed by high-velocity micrometeoroid impacts, and is characterized by the steady bombardment of charged atomic particles from the sun and the stars. The lunar regolith includes rock fragments and, predominantly, much smaller particles that are generally referred to as lunar soil. From the time of their first interactions with the lunar soil, the NASA Apollo astronauts reported that the lunar soil contained abundant small particles, which have been referred to as “lunar dust” (or just “dust”). This dust had caused several anomalies during the Apollo missions because of the lunar dust&#39;s strong tendency to collect on, adhere to, or otherwise contaminate the surface of equipment that were utilized in extravehicular activity (“EVA”) operations. Today, lunar dust is formally defined as “lunar soil” particles that are smaller than 20 μm in diameter; however for the purposes of this disclosure the term “lunar dust,” “lunar soil,” or “dust” may be utilized interchangeably. 
     Additionally, the Apollo mission also exposed the ability of lunar dust to rapidly degrade spacesuits and impact the mission operations. As an example, the Apollo technical crew debriefings and post-mission reports include numerous references by the Apollo crews to the effects of lunar dust on a range of systems and crew activities during lunar surface operations. Among the EVA systems that were mentioned frequently by the crews in relation to possible lunar dust effects were the Apollo spacesuits that were worn during lunar surface operations. These effects included: 1) dust adhering and damaging spacesuit fabrics and system 2) mechanical problems associated to lunar dust that included problems with fittings and abrasion of suit layers causing suit pressure decay 3) vision obscuration; 4) false instrument readings due to dust clogging sensor inlets; 5) dust coating and contamination causing thermal control problems; 6) loss of traction; 7) clogging of joint mechanisms; 8) abrasion; 9) seal failures; and 10) inhalation and irritation. 
     As an example, in  FIG.  1    an image is shown of a NASA astronaut  100  during the Apollo  17  mission weaver a lunar dust  102  coated spacesuit  104  after an EVA operation. Similarly, in  FIG.  2    an image of a spacesuit  200  is shown with a hole (or rip)  202  in the knee section of the spacesuit  200  that was caused by abrasion due to the lunar dust. As such, there is a need for a system and method to mitigate (i.e., remove or minimize) dust prior to sending humans back to either the lunar surface or other similar planetary surface. Moreover, there is also a need for to mitigate dust on Earth because of dust exposed systems such as, for example, flexible solar panels and other flexible systems that may be clogged by dust. 
     At present, attempted solutions have proposed the utilization of both active and passive methods that have been mostly limited to utilization on rigid surfaces such as solar panels, optical planes, glass structures and thermal radiators. Unfortunately, applying these technologies for spacesuit dust removal have remained a challenge due to the complexity of spacesuit design that includes irregular contours of the spacesuit, flexible structure of the soft areas of the spacesuit and polytetrafluroethylene (as an example, TEFLON® produced by The Chemours Company of Wilmington, Del.) coated spacesuit material. As such, there is also a need for a system and method for mitigating dust that is compatible with existing fabric-materials for utilization in a spacesuit (for example ortho-fabric or emerging new flexible materials) or other devices/systems utilizing fabric-materials such as, for example, space habitats, inflatable structures, flexible and/or deployable antennas, and flexible solar panels. 
     SUMMARY 
     A Dust Mitigation System (“DMS”) is disclosed. The DMS includes: a fabric-material having a front-surface and a back-surface; a plurality of conductive-fibers within the fabric-material; and a plurality of input-nodes approximately adjacent to the fabric-material. The plurality of conductive-fibers are approximately parallel in a first direction along the fabric-material and are approximately adjacent to the front-surface of the fabric-material and the plurality of input-nodes are in signal communication with the plurality of conductive-fibers and configured to receive an alternating-current (“AC”) voltage-signal from an input-signal-source. The plurality of conductive-fibers are configured to generate an electric-field on the front-surface of the fabric-material in response to the plurality of input-nodes receiving the AC voltage-signal from the input-signal-source and a traveling-wave (from the electric-field) that travels along the front-surface of the fabric-material in a second direction that is approximately transverse to the first direction. 
     In an example of operation, the DMS performs a method that includes receiving the AC voltage-signal from the input-signal-source at the plurality of input-nodes, generating the electric-field on the front-surface of the fabric-material with the plurality of conductive-fibers, and generating the traveling-wave, from the electric-field, that travels along the front-surface of the fabric-material in the second direction that is at the pre-set angle to the first direction. 
     Other devices, apparatus, systems, methods, features and advantages of the disclosure will be or will become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the disclosure, and be protected by the accompanying claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
       The disclosure may be better understood by referring to the following figures. The components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the disclosure. In the figures, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the different views. 
         FIG.  1    is an image of a NASA astronaut having a spacesuit contaminated with lunar dust after an EVA operation. 
         FIG.  2    is an image of a spacesuit with a hole in the knee section of the spacesuit that was caused by abrasion due the lunar dust. 
         FIG.  3 A  is side-view of a system block diagram of an example of an implementation of a Dust Mitigation System (“DSM”) in accordance with the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  3 B  is a top-view of a system block diagram of the implementation of the DMS (shown in  FIG.  3 A ) in accordance with the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  4    is a top-view of an implementation of a weave of the fabric-material with the plurality of conductive-fibers (shown in  FIGS.  3 A and  3 B ) in accordance with the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  5 A  is an amplified front-view of an example of an implementation of the weave shown in  FIG.  4    for an ortho-fabric-material with a plurality of conductive-fibers in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG.  5 B  is a less amplified front-view of the weave shown in  FIG.  5 A  for the ortho-fabric-material with the plurality of conductive-fibers in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG.  5 C  is a back-view of the weave shown in  FIGS.  5 A and  5 B  in accordance with the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  6    is an angled side-view of an example of an implementation of a portion of two conductive-fibers in accordance with the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  7 A  is an amplified front-view of an example of an implementation of the insulation of the plurality of conductive-fibers on the front-surface of the fabric-material in accordance with the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  7 B  is an amplified front-view of an example of an implementation of an insulating layer on the front-surface (shown in  FIG.  7 A ) of the fabric-material in accordance with the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  7 C  is an amplified front-view of an example of an implementation of a top-layer coating on the front-surface (shown in  FIGS.  7 A and  7 B ) of the fabric-material in accordance with the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  8    is an amplified front-view of an example of another implementation of an ortho-fabric-material with a first plurality of carbon-nanotube (“CNT”) fibers and second plurality of CNT-fibers in accordance with the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  9    is an amplified front-view of an example of yet another implementation of an ortho-fabric-material with a first plurality of CNT-fibers and second plurality of CNT-fibers in accordance with the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  10    is a front-view of an example of still another implementation of an ortho-fabric-material with a first plurality of CNT-fibers and second plurality of CNT-fibers in accordance with the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  11    is a front-view of an example of an implementation of an ortho-fabric-material with a plurality of CNT-fibers driven with multiple electrical waveforms in accordance with the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  12    is a front-view of an example of an implementation of an ortho-fabric-material with a plurality of CNT-fibers driven with another type of multiple electrical waveforms in accordance with the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  13    is a front-view of an example of an implementation of a non-ortho-fabric-material with a plurality of CNT-fibers in accordance with the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  14    is a front-view of an example of an implementation of a non-ortho-fabric-material with a plurality of CNT-fibers in accordance with the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  15    is a front-view of an example of an implementation of an ortho-fabric-material with a plurality of CNT-fibers and plurality of sensors in accordance with the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  16    is a top-view of a system block diagram is shown of an example of an implementation of micro-vibratory sensors and actuators embedded within the fabric-material or within the CNT-fibers that combine mechanical action with the electric-field to enhance dust repelling action of the DMS. 
         FIG.  17    is a front-view of the system block diagram shown in  FIG.  16    of the micro-vibratory sensors embedded within the fabric-material or within the CNT-fibers in accordance with the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  18    is a side-view of a system block diagram of an example of an implementation of the DSM with a DMS controller and the micro-vibratory sensors and actuators shown if  FIGS.  16  and  17    in accordance with the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  19 A  is a front-view of an example of a first implementation of a printed flexible conductor and conductive-fiber pattern for use with the DMS in accordance with the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  19 B  is a front-view of an example of a second implementation of a printed flexible conductor and conductive-fiber pattern for use with the DMS in accordance with the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  19 C  is a front-view of an example of a third implementation of a printed flexible conductor and conductive-fiber pattern for use with the DMS in accordance with the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  20    is a top-view of an example of an implementation of the DMS utilizing an ortho-fabric-material for a spacesuit and a plurality of CNT-fibers for the plurality of conductive-fibers in accordance with the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  21    is a top-view of an example of another implementation of the DMS utilizing the ortho-fabric-material for a spacesuit and a plurality of CNT-fibers for the plurality of conductive-fibers in accordance with the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  22    is a flowchart illustrating an example of an implementation of a method of dust mitigation performed by the DMS in operation in accordance with the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Disclosed is a Dust Mitigation System (“DMS”). The DMS includes: a fabric-material having a front-surface and a back-surface; a plurality of conductive-fibers within the fabric-material; and a plurality of input-nodes approximately adjacent to the fabric-material. The plurality of conductive-fibers are approximately parallel in a first direction along the fabric-material and are approximately adjacent to the front-surface of the fabric-material and the plurality of input-nodes are in signal communication with the plurality of conductive-fibers and configured to receive an alternating-current (“AC”) voltage-signal from an input-signal-source. The plurality of conductive-fibers are configured to generate an electric-field on the front-surface of the fabric-material in response to the plurality of input-nodes receiving the AC voltage-signal from the input-signal-source and a traveling-wave (of the electric-field) that travels along the front-surface of the fabric-material in a second direction that is approximately transverse to the first direction. More specifically, the phase of AC voltage-signals in the plurality of conductive-fibers may be adjusted to create the traveling-wave of the electric-field that travels along the front-surface of the fabric-material in a second direction that is approximately transverse to the first direction. By adjusting the phase of the AC voltage-signal or the slight divergence in the angle of the approximately parallel conductive-fibers, the approximate transverse angle of the second direction (i.e., the direction of the travelling-wave) may be adjusted from a transverse angle (i.e., 90 degrees) to a non-transverse angle that is still approximately transverse (i.e., approximately 90 degrees—for example approximately 80 degrees to approximately 120 degrees). 
     In an example of operation, the DMS performs a method that includes receiving the AC voltage-signal from the input-signal-source at the plurality of input-nodes, generating the electric-field on the front-surface of the fabric-material with the plurality of conductive-fibers, and generating the traveling-wave, from the electric-field, that travels along the front-surface of the fabric-material in the second direction that is at the pre-set angle to the first direction. 
     The DMS implements an electrodynamic dust shield (“EDS”) with active electrodes into a spacesuit, or other device or systems (such as flexible space habitats, deployable structures, etc.) that utilizes fabric-materials or other flexible-materials by utilizing conductive-fibers as electrodes. In this example, the active electrodes are conductive-fibers that may be carbon-nanotube (“CNT”) fibers which are flexible electrically conductive-fibers. Generally, EDS technology utilizes electrostatic and/or electrodynamic and/or dielectrophoretic forces to repel dust particles from approaching the surface, and/or carry deposited dust particles off the surface of a material. Repelling of dust particles is accomplished by creating electric fields that levitate the approaching dust particles away from the surface. Deposited dust particles are carried away by breaking the adhesive forces between the dust and the surface due to electrostatics or Van der Waal forces and then levitate the dust away from the surface of the material. The magnitude of the forces repelling, levitating and carrying away dust particles depends on the dielectric properties of the dust particles, the substrate (in this case flexible structures), the size of the dust particles, and the characteristics of the input AC voltage-signals applied. As an example utilizing the DMS, typical electrodynamic forces required to repel dust particles with sizes between about 10 micrometers (“μm”) to 75 μm may be generated by applying AC voltage-signals in the range of approximately 800 volts (“V”) to 1,200V utilizing approximately 180 μm to 200 μm thick uninsulated CNT fibers spaced between approximately 1.2 millimeters (“mm”) to 2.0 mm apart. 
     In this example, the DMS includes a fabric-material having a top-surface where a portion of the top-surface (also herein referred to as a “shield” having a “shield area” associated with the portion of the top-surface) includes a series (i.e., a plurality) of approximately parallel or slightly divergent (for example with a divergence of approximately 15 to 20 degrees) conductive-fibers through which an AC voltage-signal of high voltage (for example, approximately 800V to 1,200V at a frequency between approximately 5 to 100 Hertz) is applied resulting in the generation of a traveling-wave of electric-field along the shield. 
     Each conductive-fiber of the plurality of conductive-fibers may be positioned approximately parallel or slightly divergent to adjacent conductive-fibers. Additionally, the surface of the fabric material may be partitioned into different sections, where each section of the fabric-material may be configured to have different conductive-fiber patterns that are not parallel to other sections of the shield. For example, the shield may include sections that are at angles up to approximately 90 degrees from other sections of the shield. The position and spacing of the plurality of conductive-fibers depends upon the application and enables re-configurability of the traveling-wave of the electric-field along the shield. In this example, the resulting traveling-wave of the electric-field repels the dust particles on the shield and the repelled dust particles travel in a direction that is along or against the direction of the travelling-wave, depending on the dielectric properties of the dust particles and the charges (and induced charges) on the dust particles. This approach also prevents further accumulation of dust particles on the shield and removes most charged dust particles from the shield. In general, the conductive-fibers may either be excited by utilizing single-phase or multi-phase AC voltage-signals. 
     In general, the DMS may be configured to operate in multiple ways that include, for example, an initial configuration of the DMS at fabrication and/or a reconfiguration of the DMS after the activation of the DMS during operation. Specifically, as an example, when fabricating the DMS on a device (such as, for example, a spacesuit, space habitat, inflatable structures, fabric-based antenna, blanket, flexible material devices, or other similar systems, devices, or components), the orientation of the conductive-fibers may be designed and configured to allow for various contours, flexibility, or both of the fabric-material in which the DMS is implemented so as to optimize the dust repelling properties of the DMS. Additionally, the type of fabric-material may be chosen to have electrical and mechanical properties that optimize the operation of the DMS. As an example, the configuration of both the placement and geometric alignment of the conductive-fibers within the fabric-material and the optimization of the surface properties of the fabric or flexible material are directly related to the physical robustness and dust repelling (i.e., dust mitigation) performance of the DMS. 
     Additionally, as a reconfiguration during operation example, the DMS may include feedback controlled electronics (described later in relation to  FIG.  16  to  18   ), electromechanical devices, or both within (or associated with) the fabric-material or flexible-material that receive inputs from sensors associated with or within the shield area of either the fabric-material or flexible-material. Examples of the sensors may include optical or capacitive sensors that may be located on, or within, the shield area of the fabric-material or flexible-material or somewhere remote from the shield area but associated with the fabric-material or flexible-material shield area. As such, these sensors may be local sensors within the shield area embedded within the fabric-material or flexible-material, the conductive-fibers themselves, or both. Additionally, the sensors may be remote sensors that are located remote from the shield areas such as, for example, sensors located at different areas of a spacesuit or other devices or systems associated with the DMS at the shield area. As a further example, some of these sensors may be completely remote from the shield areas such as sensors on a weather satellite (or satellites) that provide dust data to the DMS for adjusting the operation of the DMS to better optimize dust mitigation on the shield. 
     In all of these sensor examples, the sensors provide sensor output signals (which are information signals having sensor data information that was produced by the individual sensors) to a DMS controller of the DMS. The DMS controller is configured to vary the waveforms and frequencies of the AC voltage-signals provided to the conductive-fibers based on the received sensor output signals so as to optimize the dust mitigation properties of the DMS. The DMS controller may be in signal communication with the input-signal-source and capable of fixing or adjusting the individual AC voltage-signals produced by the input-signal-source in voltage, frequency, and phase in response to the received sensor output signals. In this example, the DMS controller may be any general electronic controller that may include a microcontroller, a central processing unit (“CPU”) based processor, digital signal processor (“DSP”), an application specific integrated circuit (“ASIC”), field-programmable gate array (“FPGA”), or other similar device or system. 
     In addition to sensors, the DMS may also include a plurality of actuators that may be located on the back-surface of the fabric-material or flexible material below the shield area. These actuators may be electromechanical devices capable of moving, shaking, vibrating, or performing other types of mechanical work that assists in dislodging, moving, and repelling dust particles on the shield. The actuators are in signal communication with the DMS controller and the DMS controller is also configured to control the operation of the actuators based on the received sensor output signals so as to optimize the dust mitigation properties of the DMS at the shield. Utilizing the sensors, actuators, or both, the DMS controller is configured to adjust the AC voltage-signals from input-signal-source to optimize the dust mitigation of the DMS based on the properties of the fabric-material or flexible-material (e.g., the layers, coatings, dielectric properties, etc.) and the dust (e.g., the size, mass, dielectric proprieties, distribution, etc.). As such, the DMS controller is configured to vary the AC voltage-signals to adjust the mode of operation of the DMS. 
     As an example in a first mode of operation (i.e., a dynamic dust movement mode), a first optimized AC voltage-signal having a first waveform and first frequency value may be utilized by the DMS to repel dust before the dust settles on the shield of the fabric-material. Alternatively, as an example of a second mode of operation where static dust has settled (i.e., shield is predisposed to dust prior to activation of DMS) on the shield of the fabric-material, a second optimized AC voltage-signal having a second waveform and second frequency value may be utilized by the DMS to repel dust that has settled on the shield of fabric-material. 
     For example, if the DMS is active prior to the dust settling on the shield, about 90 percent or more of the dust is repelled utilizing a lower voltage AC voltage-signal (e.g., approximately 800V to 900V), while alternatively if the dust has already settled on the shield prior to activating the DMS, the DMS will need to utilize a higher voltage AC voltage-signal (e.g., approximately 1,000V to 1,200V) to repel the dust from the shield. Additionally, once the dust has settled on the shield, the DMS may need to utilize AC voltage-signals with higher spectral bandwidths that may be up to approximately 200 Hz to dislodge the settled dust from the shield. In these examples, the DMS controller may utilize a lookup database on a storage unit (i.e., a memory unit or module) to determine the type of AC voltage-signal (i.e., the type of signal waveform, frequency, voltage, phase, etc.) to utilize or adjust in the DMS to dislodge, repel, or both, the dust that is settling or settled on the shield based on input data from sensors that may provide the status of dust contamination on the shield. The lookup database may include values based on the sensors or other sources that are in signal communication with the DMS. The storage unit may be part of the DMS or remote but in signal communication with the DMS. As an example, the location of the driving and control electronics that generate the AC voltage-signals (such as, for example, the input-signal source) that are passed to the conductive-fibers within the fabric-material may be locally embedded in the fabric-material, centrally located and/or remote from the DMS, or co-located with the DMS and the rest of the device that the DMS is implemented on such as, for example, the systems and electronics of a spacesuit. 
     In  FIG.  3 A , a side-view of a system block diagram is shown of an example of an implementation of a DMS  300  in accordance with the present disclosure. The DMS  300  includes a fabric-material  302  having a front-surface  304  and back-surface  306 , a plurality of conductive-fibers  308  within the fabric-material  302 , and a plurality of input-nodes  310  on the back-surface  306  of the fabric-material  302  in signal communication with the plurality of conductive-fibers  308  via a first plurality of signal paths  312  within the fabric-material  302 . 
     The plurality of conductive-fibers  308  are configured as a series (i.e., a plurality) of approximately parallel conductive-fibers  308  along the fabric-material  302  approximately adjacent to (i.e., either on or close to) the front-surface  304  and the plurality of input-nodes  310  are configured as a series of input-nodes that are approximately adjacent to the back-surface  306  of the fabric-material  302  where each input-node from the plurality of input-nodes is in signal communication with a corresponding conductive-fiber from the plurality of conductive-fibers  308  via an corresponding signal path of the first plurality of signal paths  312 . The plurality of conductive-fibers  308  are located within a shield area  311  that is a portion of the front-surface  304  (also referred to as the top-surface of the fabric-material  302 ) defining the shield  313  of the DMS  300 . 
     In this example, the plurality of conductive-fibers  308  are shown as approximately parallel and oriented in first direction  314  along the shield  313  of the fabric-material  302  (within the shield area  311 ) that is either into or out of the page in the side-view of  FIG.  3 A . For the purposes of illustration, the first direction  314  is shown as being into the page, however, it is appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the first direction  314  may alternatively be in the opposite direction out of the page without limiting the present disclosure. If the plurality of conductive-fibers  308  are not parallel, the plurality of conductive-fibers  308  may be slightly divergent such as, for example, the plurality of conductive-fibers  308  may be divergent with approximately 15 to 20 degrees of deviation from parallel. 
     In this example, the plurality of conductive-fibers  308  are woven, or braided, into the front-surface  304  of the fabric-material  302  (where the fabric-material  302  may be, for example, a woven (or braided) fabric-material, flexible-material, or both) at the shield  313 . Additionally, each conductive-fiber of the plurality of conductive-fibers  308  may be a carbon-nanotube (“CNT”) fiber. Moreover, each input-node of the plurality of input-nodes  310  may be an electrode. Furthermore, each conductive-fiber of the plurality of conductive-fibers  308  may also be an electrode. 
     In this example, the plurality of conductive-fibers  308  are configured to receive an AC voltage-signal  316  from an input-signal-source  318  (via a second plurality of signal paths  320 , the plurality of input-nodes  310 , and the first plurality of signal paths  312 ), where the input-signal-source  318  is in signal communication with the plurality of input-nodes  310  via the second plurality of signal paths  320 . In an example of operation, once the plurality of conductive-fibers  308  receive the AC voltage-signal  316 , each conductive-fiber of the plurality of conductive-fibers  308  is electrically energized and acts as an electrical radiating-element along (or approximately adjacent to) the front-surface  304  of the fabric-material  302  resulting in an electric-field  322  along the front-surface  304  of the fabric-material  302 . The electric-field  322  generates a traveling-wave along the front-surface  304  of the fabric-material  302  in a second direction  324  that is transverse to the first direction  314 . It is appreciated that the second direction  324  may optionally be from left-to-right or from right-to-left based on the characteristics of the electric-field  322  or at a preset angle to the traverse. 
     In this example, the input-signal-source  318  may be a three-phase power supply signal-source that produces the AC voltage-signal  316  as a three-phase AC voltage-signal  316  having a plurality of AC phased-signals that include a first-phase signal  326 , second-phase signal  328 , and third-phase signal  330 . It is appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that instead of the input-signal-source  318  being a three-phase input-signal-source  318  producing a three-phase AC voltage-signal  316 , other multi-phase input-signal-sources may be utilized such, for example, a two-phase or four phase input-signal-source producing a two-phase or four phase AC voltage-signal respectively may also be utilized. Once the AC voltage three-phase signals  326 ,  328 , and  330  are applied to the DMS  300 , any dust particles  332  on the front-surface  304  of the fabric-material  302  are repelled and moved off the front-surface  304  for the fabric-material  302  in a repulsion direction  334  that is parallel to the first direction  314 . Turning to  FIG.  3 B , a top-view of a system block diagram is shown of the implementation of the DMS  300  (shown in  FIG.  3 A ) in accordance with the present disclosure. 
     It is noted that while the plurality of input-nodes  310  are shown approximately adjacent to the back-surface  306 , this is for the purpose of illustration because the plurality of input-nodes  310  may be located in varying positions adjacent to the fabric-material  302 . As an example, the plurality of input-nodes  310  may be located on the back-surface, within the fabric-material  302  adjacent but just below the back-surface  306 , on the front-surface  304 , within the fabric-material  302  adjacent but just below the below the front-surface  304 , at a side (not shown) of the fabric-material, within the fabric-material with an access via to either the front-surface  304  or back-surface  306 , or any place adjacent the fabric-material that does not result in unacceptable interference with the generated electric-field  322  when the plurality of conductive-fibers  308  are feed with the AC voltage-signal  316 , since the AC voltage-signal  316  will induce an electromagnetic fields from the plurality of input nodes  310  and the first plurality of signal paths  312  that if too close to the plurality of conductive-fibers  308  may interact and/or interfere with the induced currents produced by the AC voltage-signal  316  on the plurality of conductive-fibers  308  and/or the resulting electric-field  322 . 
     The circuits, components, modules, and/or devices of, or associated with, the DMS  300  are described as being in signal communication with each other, where signal communication refers to any type of communication and/or connection between the circuits, components, modules, and/or devices that allows a circuit, component, module, and/or device to pass and/or receive signals and/or information from another circuit, component, module, and/or device. The communication and/or connection may be along any signal path between the circuits, components, modules, and/or devices that allows signals and/or information to pass from one circuit, component, module, and/or device to another and includes wireless or wired signal paths. The signal paths may be physical, such as, for example, conductive wires, electromagnetic wave guides, cables, attached and/or electromagnetic or mechanically coupled terminals, semi-conductive or dielectric materials or devices, or other similar physical connections or couplings. Additionally, signal paths may be non-physical such as free-space (in the case of electromagnetic propagation) or information paths through digital components where communication information is passed from one circuit, component, module, and/or device to another in varying digital formats without passing through a direct electromagnetic connection. 
     In this example, the plurality of conductive-fibers  308  are a plurality of CNT-fibers that are utilized as electrodes within the fabric-material  302  because they are good electrical conductors and are mechanically strong and flexible (i.e., they have high resilience to fatigue) when compared to traditional metal electrodes. It is appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that CNT-fibers are a high performance technology breakthrough material with applications in nanotechnology, electronics, material science, optics, etc. Generally, CNT-fibers are multifunctional materials that combine the best properties of polymers, carbon fibers, and metals because CNT-fibers have exceptional properties of mechanical strength and stiffness, electrical and thermal conductivity, and low density (e.g., approximately 1 g/cm 3  for a CNT-fiber compared to about 8.96 g/cm 3  for copper) that exist on the molecular level. Specifically, CNT-fibers are allotropes of carbon with a cylindrical nanostructure that have a cylindrical structure with a diameter of about one nanometer (“nm” equal to 10 −9 ), a length-to-diameter ratio up to about 132,000,000 to 1, high thermal conductivity (with a range of approximately 100 mWm 2 /kgK to 1000 mWm 2 /kgK), normalized electrical conductivity (with a range of approximately 1 kS m 2 /kg to 6 kS m 2 /kg, normalized by density), and high mechanical strength and stiffness (with a tensile strength in the approximate range of 1 GPa to 1.3 GPa). 
     At present, lightweight CNT-fibers may be produced with lengths that are on the orders of meters while having properties approaching the high specific strength of polymeric and carbon-fibers, high specific electrical conductivity of metals, and specific thermal conductivity of graphite-fibers as shown recently by academic sources. These CNT-fibers are high-strength fibers with relatively low-conductivity (e.g., about 1.1 MS/m for a CNT-fiber) when compared to high-conductivity metals (e.g., about 49 MS/m for off the shelf copper magnet wire) that have relatively low-strength such as, for example, copper. However, while the electrical conductivity for these CNT-fibers might be lower than copper and other known highly conductive materials, the advantage of CNT-fibers is their low-density that makes the current carrying capacity (“CCC”), when normalized by mass, much higher than the metal conductors. 
     As a result of these properties, in the present example, CNT-fibers have been utilized as the plurality of conductive-fibers  308  of the DMS  300  because the CNT-fibers overcome the challenges of integrating the DMS  300  with metal wires or strips as electrodes instead of the conductive-fibers  308 . Specifically, the mechanical properties of CNT-fibers are higher than the mechanical properties of the high-conducting metallic-materials and the mass of a CNT-fiber is low compared to a metal electrode. Therefore, even if the CNT-fiber thickness needs to be increased to match the low-resistance of a metal electrode, the overall mass contribution of the CNT-fiber is less than that of the metal electrode. It is appreciated that while the CNT-fibers are utilized in this example, other fibers such as Litewire may be also utilized, in other applications, as long as the other fibers have high-strength with high-resilience to fatigue, high-conductivity on par with metallic-materials, and that the mass of the other fibers are low when compared to metal-electrodes. 
     As such, the utilization of CNT-fibers for the plurality of conductive-fibers  308  within the fabric-material  302  are preferred because the fabric-material  302  is flexible and in the case of spacesuit fabrics, flexible and complex to fabricate. Specifically, the use of metallic-materials (such as, for example, copper or indium tin oxide) within the fabric-material  302  of a spacesuit would be difficult because the metallic-materials are challenged by fatigue breakage and often exhibit high cycle fatigue resulting in failure of the metallic-materials due to cyclic loading under repeated loads. Unfortunately, spacesuits, as an example, undergo repeated motions that flex, bend, fold, or twist spacesuit materials (e.g., fabric-materials and other such flexible-materials) specifically within the leg or arm portions of the spacesuit. As such, spacesuit-materials need to be highly flexible and nearly fatigue-free. Additionally, fabricating a spacesuit with these metallic-materials is also challenging because the spacesuits have irregular contours and non-smooth surfaces. As a result, with spacesuit fabric-materials, it is not possible to adhere metallic-material wires to the fabric-material surfaces of a spacesuit utilizing known techniques such as, for example, sputtering or ink-jet printing. Additionally, spacesuit fabric-materials (e.g., beta cloth, ortho-fabric, or both, or other examples of suitable fabric-materials or flexible-materials, such as used in BIOSUIT® or flexible materials used for space habitats, inflatable structures, flexible deployable antennas and combinations thereof) that are exposed to dust are generally coated with polytetraflouroethylene (“PTFE” a synthetic fluoropolymer of tetrafluorethylene generally known as “TEFLON®”) that is not conducive to directly bonding any electrodes to the surface of spacesuit materials. However, it is noted that for other fabric-materials in which bonding is suitable, the electrodes may be bonded without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure. 
     It is appreciated that beta-cloth is a type of fireproof silica fiber cloth used in the manufacture of spacesuits such as the Apollo/Skylab A7L spacesuits and the Apollo thermal micrometeroid garment. In general, beta-cloth includes fine woven silica fiber that is similar to fiberglass and is a fabric-material that is coated with PTFE and will not burn and will only melt at temperatures exceeding 650° C. Ortho-fabric is utilized for the outer layer of the spacesuit and includes a complex weave blend of GORE-TEX® (i.e., a synthetic waterproof fabric-material that includes a membrane that is permeable to air and water vapor), KEVLAR® (i.e., poly-paraphenylene terephthalamide, a para-aramid synthetic fiber of high tensile strength), and NOMEX® (a flame-resistant meta-aramid synthetic fiber) materials. 
     Turning to  FIG.  4   , a top-view of an implementation of a weave  400  of the fabric-material  302  with the plurality of conductive-fibers  308  (shown in  FIGS.  3 A and  3 B ) is shown in accordance with the present disclosure. Similar to the examples shown in  FIGS.  3 A and  3 B , seven (7) conductive-fibers  308  are shown within the shield area  311  of the fabric-material  302 , however, it is appreciated by of ordinary skill in the art that any plurality of conductive-fibers  308  may be utilized based on the desired repulsive properties of the shield  313 . 
     In this example, the conductive-fibers  308  are CNT-fibers that are weaved into the fabric-material  302 . Moreover in this example, the weave  400  of the fabric-material  302  is shown having a plurality of fabric-material  302  warp threads  402  (i.e., a plurality of fabric-material  302  horizontal threads) and plurality of fabric-material  302  welt threads  404  (i.e., a plurality of fabric-material  302  vertical threads) forming the front-surface  304  of the fabric-material  302  and a plurality of insulating threads  406  adjacent to and in-between the plurality of conductive-fibers  308 . In this example, the plurality of fabric-material  302  warp threads  402 , plurality of insulating threads  406 , and plurality of conductive-fibers  308  run along the first direction  314  of the weave  400  while the plurality of fabric-material  302  welt threads  404  run along the second direction  324  of the weave  400 . In this example, the fabric-material  302  may be an ortho-fabric-material and the plurality of fabric-material  302  warp threads  402  and plurality of fabric-material  302  welt threads  404  are threads (i.e., a yarn or textile fibers) of the ortho-fabric-material generally two-plied (i.e., two threads of material twisted together (“plied”) to for a “2-ply” thread) or multi-ply (i.e., more than 2-ply) textile fibers utilized to produce the weave  400  of fabric-material  302 . It is appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the fabric material  302  is generally at least 2-plyed to increase the strength of the fabric-material  302 . Additionally, the plurality of insulating threads  406  may also be of the same ortho-fabric-material as the plurality of fabric-material  302  warp threads  402  and plurality of fabric-material  302  welt threads  404  as long as the ortho-fabric-material is capable of electrically insulating each conductive-fiber of the plurality of conductive-fibers  308  from each other. Furthermore, each conductive-fiber of the plurality of conductive-fibers  308  may also be 2-plyed or multi-plied conductive-fibers. As such, in this example, the fabric-material  302  is shown as a sub-weave  408  of the weave  400  of the fabric-material  302 . The sub-weave  408  includes the plurality of conductive-fibers  308  (as a plurality of warp conductive-fibers) along the plurality of fabric-material  302  welt threads  404  and in between the plurality of fabric-material  302  warp threads  402 , where the sub-weave  408  includes the plurality of insulating threads  406  spaced in-between the plurality of conductive-fibers  308 . 
     In this example the plurality of conductive-fibers  308  and plurality of insulating threads  406  are shown as extending uniformly in one direction (i.e., first direction  314 ), however, it is noted that the plurality of conductive-fibers  308  and plurality of insulating threads  406  may be intermixed in both warp and weft in any ordering or pattern desired based on the design of the DMS  300  as will be shown later in this disclosure. It is further noted that the plurality of insulating threads  406  may have a dielectric constant value or values that do not significantly diminish the traveling-wave of the electric-field  322  produced by the DMS  300 . While the weave  400  of fabric-material  302  is shown in this example, it is noted that the fabric-material  302  may instead be braided. 
     Turning to  FIGS.  5 A,  5 B, and  5 C , front and back view is shown of an example of an implementation of a weave, or braid, of the fabric-material  302  as an ortho-fabric-material  500  (e.g., the outer-layer material of the spacesuit) with a plurality of CNT-fibers  502  utilized as the plurality of conductive-fibers  308  in accordance with the present disclosure. In  FIGS.  5 A and  5 B , the front-surface  304  (also referred to herein as the “top-side”) of the ortho-fabric-material  500  is shown while in  FIG.  5 C , the back-surface  306  of the ortho-fabric-material  500  is shown.  FIG.  5 A  is an amplified front-view of the front-surface  304  of the ortho-fabric-material  500  showing a single CNT-fiber  504  (of the plurality of CNT-fibers  502 ) woven, or braided, into the threads (i.e., fibers) of the ortho-fabric-material  500 , while  FIG.  5 B  shows a less amplified front-view of the front-surface  304  of the ortho-fabric-material  500  showing multiple CNT-fibers (of the plurality of CNT-fibers  502 ) woven, or braided, into the threads of the ortho-fabric-material  500 . In this example, the plurality of CNT-fibers  502  do not penetrate the entire fabric-material  302  thickness of the ortho-fabric-material  500 . The weave, or braid, is done such that only the front-surface  304  has the plurality of CNT-fibers  502 . As such, in  FIG.  5 C , the ortho-fabric-material  500  is shown not to have any CNT-fibers  502  passing through the back-surface  306  of the ortho-fabric-material  500 . 
     In  FIG.  6   , an angled side-view of an example of an implementation of a portion of two CNT-fibers  600  and  602  is shown in accordance with the present disclosure. The two CNT-fibers  600  and  602  (of the plurality of CNT-fibers  502 ,  FIGS.  5 A- 5 C ) may include side fibrils  604  and  606  (i.e., generally known as “hairs” of the CNT-fiber) that are formed by slightly frayed strands in the CNT-fibers  600  and  602 , which may be oriented in an organized or random fashion. In generally, the utilization of the side-fibrils  604  and  606  increases the dust repellant effect of the DMS  300  by creating irregularities in the electric-field  322 ,  FIG.  3 A . 
     In  FIGS.  7 A,  7 B, and  7 C , front-views of an example of an implementation of the insulation of the plurality of CNT-fibers  502  (shown in  FIGS.  5 A,  5 B, and  5 C ) on the front-surface  304  of the ortho-fabric-material  500  are shown in accordance with the present disclosure. In this example, a plurality of thermoplastic-fibers  700  are mounted during the fabrication of the ortho-fabric-material  500 . In this example, the assembled ortho-fabric-material  500  and the plurality of thermoplastic-fibers  700  are annealed at elevated temperatures, melting the thermoplastic-fibers  700  to create a micron-sized insulating layer  702  that increase the safety of the combination of ortho-fabric-material  500  and the plurality of CNT-fibers  502  while only having minimal reduction in the electric-field  322  (for example, less than approximately 10% reduction) that repeals the dust particles  332 . In  FIG.  7 C , a top-layer coating  704  is shown completely covering the front-surface  304  of the ortho-fabric-material  500  and plurality of CNT-fibers  502 . The top-layer coating  704  may be electrically insulating or polarizing for local enhancement of the electric-field  322 . The top-layer coating  704  may be applied after the assembly of the plurality of CNT-fibers  502  and the front-surface  304  of the ortho-fabric-material  500  is complete. As an example, the top-layer coating  704  may be hydrophobic-material with patterning of the surface texture for maximum hydrophobicity (such as, for example, Lotus coating developed by NASA GSFC) and/or a material that bends the electronic-bands structure of the assembly (i.e., the coating plus CNT-fibers) to equalize the bandgap of the plurality of CNT-fiber  502  in the shield  313  to the typical bandgap of dust particles (as an example, the work-function developed at NASA GRC). 
     Turning to  FIG.  8   , an amplified front-view of an example of another implementation of an ortho-fabric-material  800  with a first plurality of CNT-fibers  802  and second plurality of CNT-fibers  804  is shown in accordance with the present disclosure. In this example, the first plurality of CNT-fibers  802  and second plurality of CNT-fibers  804  are shown to have multi-directional patterning. As an example, two areas  806  and  808  of the ortho-fabric-material  800  are shown with the first area  806  having the first plurality of CNT-fibers  802  oriented in a “vertical” direction (i.e., a vertical weave) while the second area  808  having the second plurality of CNT-fibers  804  oriented in a “horizontal” direction (i.e., horizontal weave). 
     Similarly, in  FIG.  9   , a front-view of an example of yet another implementation of an ortho-fabric-material  900  with a first plurality of CNT-fibers  902  and second plurality of CNT-fibers  904  is shown in accordance with the present disclosure. In this example, the first plurality of CNT-fibers  902  and second plurality of CNT-fibers  904  are superimposed in a “vertical” weave and “horizontal” weave, insulated by a thin film of insulating-material or fabric-material. The superimposed weaves may be variable and/or different to enhance the electric-field  322 . The individual CNT-fibers of the first plurality of CNT-fibers  902  and second plurality of CNT-fibers  904  may be insulated on either side of the individual CNT-fibers. 
     In  FIG.  10   , a front-view of an example of still another implementation of an ortho-fabric-material  1000  with a first plurality of CNT-fibers  1002  and second plurality of CNT-fibers  1004  is shown in accordance with the present disclosure. In this example, the first plurality of CNT-fibers  1002  and second plurality of CNT-fibers  1004  may have varying spacing and dimensions. The width (e.g., diameter) of the individual CNT-fibers of the first and second plurality of CNT-fibers  1002  and  1004  are not restricted to 90 degrees. The distance between the individual adjacent CNT-fibers of the first and second plurality of CNT-fibers  1002  and  1004  may vary. Additionally, the clustering of the first and second plurality of CNT-fibers  1002  and  1004  may vary with inter-fiber distances having a wider spacing  1006  and a narrow spacing  1008 . 
     In  FIG.  11   , a front-view of an example of an implementation of an ortho-fabric-material  1100  with a plurality of CNT-fibers  1102  driven with multiple electrical waveforms is shown in accordance with the present disclosure. In this example, the plurality of CNT-fibers  1102  are driven by a low-frequency (for example 10 Hz) AC, multi-phase sinusoidal signal  1104  with three-phases among six CNT-fibers (phase-one  1106 , phase-two  1108 , and phase-three  1110 ). Similarly, in  FIG.  12   , a front-view is shown of an example of an implementation of the ortho-fabric-material  1100  with the plurality of CNT-fibers  1102  driven with another type of multiple electrical waveforms in accordance with the present disclosure. In this example, the plurality of CNT-fibers  1102  are driven by a low-frequency (for example 10 Hz) AC, multi-phase sinusoidal signal  1200  with two-phases among four CNT-fibers (phase-one  1202  and phase-two  1204 ). These examples allow for wider-spectrum waveforms with random spectral components (in the range of 0.1 Hz to 100 Hz) distributed among clusters of CNT-fibers  1102 . 
     In  FIG.  13   , a front-view of an example of an implementation of a non-ortho-fabric-material  1300  with a plurality of CNT-fibers  1302  is shown in accordance with the present disclosure. 
     In  FIG.  14   , a front-view of an example of an implementation of a non-ortho-fabric-material  1400  with a plurality of CNT-fibers  1402  and  1404  is shown in accordance with the present disclosure. The non-ortho-fabric-materials  1300  and  1400  may be substrates with ribbons having flexible fibers, oriented fibers of non-conductive material (as example non-conductive polymer), which has the CNT-fibers  1302 ,  1402 , and  1404  embedded at predetermined intervals in a matrix. The ribbons may be stabilized with a backing made of matrix curing material. The non-ortho-fabric-materials  1300  and  1400  may alternatively be charged fabric fibers utilizing charged polymers that allow local enhancement of the electric-field  322  for complex geometric contours of the assembly. The non-ortho-fabric-materials  1300  and  1400  may also be conductive polymers with embedded CNT-fibers where the fabric-material is composed of two different types of fibers such as one strand of 2-ply that is conductive and one strand that is insulative. In general, materials used in the 1-ply strands and in the first (i.e., non-conductive) side of the two-ply strands should have a dielectric constant that does not significantly diminish the traveling-wave of the electric-field  322  presented in the first (i.e., nonconductive) side of the fabric-material. Additionally, the spacing, ordering, and pattern of non-conductive and conductive strands and the phasing and frequency of the input-signal-source  318  may be designed to tailor repelling and dispersing effects on the first (non-conductive) surface of the fabric-material. For example, to repel dust particle sizes between approximately 5 to 300 μm in lunar conditions, the ranges for conductive-fiber width are anticipated to be between approximately 0.5 to 400 μm, conductive-fiber spacing between approximately 0.3 to 4 mm, voltages between approximately 500 to 2,000V, frequency between approximately 5 to 200 Hz, and single to multiphase input signals. These parametric values may increase by a factor of approximately 3 to 5 for Earth applications to account for the effects of gravity, humidity and atmospheric conditions. 
     Turning to  FIG.  15   , in  FIG.  15    an amplified front-view of an example of an implementation of an ortho-fabric-material  1500  with a plurality of CNT-fibers  1502  and plurality of sensors  1504  is shown in accordance with the present disclosure. The sensors  1504  may be micro-sensors that are attached to the ortho-fabric-material  1500  or embedded within the plurality of CNT-fibers  1502 . The sensors  1504  are configured to identify the amount of dust coverage that may then activate the DMS  300  with the AC voltage-signal  316  based on the pre-specified minimum dust coverage value. The sensors  1504  may sense the optical reflectively on the front-surface  1506  of the ortho-fabric-material  1500 , change in mass, etc. 
     In  FIG.  16   , a top-view of a system block diagram is shown of an example of an implementation of micro-vibratory sensors and actuators  1600  embedded within the fabric-material  1602  or within the CNT-fibers  1604  (that are woven into the fabric-material  1602 ) that combine mechanical action with the electric-field  322  to enhance dust repelling action of the shield  313  of the DMS  300 . 
     In  FIG.  17   , a front-view (along plane A-A  1606 ) is shown of the system block diagram shown in  FIG.  16    of the micro-vibratory sensors and actuators  1600  embedded within the fabric-material  1602  or within the plurality of CNT-fibers  1604  in accordance with the present disclosure. The plurality of CNT-fibers  1604  (i.e., a series of approximately parallel CNT-fibers) are woven into the fabric-material  1602  which, in this example, may be the ortho-fabric-materials of a spacesuit. The fabric-material  1602  has an outermost layer  1700  and on top of the outermost-layer  1700  is a work-function coating  1702 . The fabric-material  1602  also includes an underneath-layer  1704  of the fabric-material  1602  underneath the outermost-layer  1700 . The micro-vibratory sensors and sensors  1600  are located between the outermost-layer  1700  and underneath-layer  1704 . In this example, the DMS  300  combines a passive, electrostatic, and vibratory mechanical action to repel dust off of the shield  313 . 
     Turning to  FIG.  18   , a side-view is shown of a system block diagram of an example of an implementation of the DMS  1800  with a DMS controller  1801  and the micro-vibratory sensors and actuators  1600  (shown in  FIGS.  16  and  17   ) in accordance with the present disclosure. This example is similar to the example shown in  FIG.  3 A  with the added elements of a first sensor  1802 , a second sensor  1804 , and an actuator  1806  within the micro-vibratory sensors and actuators  1600 , and the DMS controller  1801 . In this example, as described earlier, the DMS controller  1801  may be any general electronic controller that may include a microcontroller, a CPU based processor, DSP, an ASIC, FPGA, or other similar device or system. The first sensor  1802  and second sensor  1804  are devices capable of identifying the amount of dust particle  332  coverage on the shield  313  and then provide that information to the DMS controller  1801 , which is in signal communication with the first and second sensors  1802  and  1804  via signal paths  1808  and  1810 , respectively. The first and second sensors  1802  and  1804  may be micro-sensors that are powered by a DMS power supply (not shown) or by harvesting the mechanical energy from the motion of the wearer of the DMS  1800 . The first and second sensors  1802  and  1804  determine the amount of dust particle  332  coverage on the shield  313  and provide that information to the DMS controller  1801  via sensor data signals  1812  and  1814  that are transmitted to the DMS controller  1801  via the signal paths  1808  and  1810 , respectively. Once received by the DMS controller  1801 , the DMS controller  1801  then determines if the AC voltage-signal  316  needs to be adjusted to change the characteristics of the electric-field  322  on the shield  313  to remove the dust particle  332  on the shield  313 . If the AC voltage-signal  316  needs to be adjusted, the DMS controller  1801  sends an adjustment signal  1816  to the input-signal-source  318  via signal path  1818 . Once received, the input-signal-source  318  modifies the waveform and/or frequency of the AC voltage-signal  316  (in response to the adjustment signal  1816 ) provided to the plurality of conductive-fibers  308  to optimize the dust mitigation properties of the DMS  1800 . In addition, the DMS controller  1801  may provide an actuation/adjustment signal  1820  to the actuator  1806  via signal path  1822 . Once received, the actuator  1806  will begin to provide mechanical work (e.g., vibrational energy) to the outermost-layer  1700  of the fabric-material  1602  to assist in dislodging and/or removing the dust particles  332  from the shield  313 . In this example, the actuator  1806  may be a piezoelectric device (such as, for example, a micro-vibratory device) or some strands (not shown) within some of the conductive-fibers  308 . The actuator  1806  may operate under the control of the DMS controller  1801 , from inputs from the first and second sensors  1802  and  1804 , or other control devices external to the DMS  1800 . Similar to the first and second sensors  1802  and  1804 , the actuator  1806  may be powered by the DMS power supply (not shown) or by harvesting the mechanical energy from the motion of the wearer of the DMS  1800 . 
     In this example it is noted that only two sensors  1802  and  1804  and one actuator  1806  are shown for convenience in the illustration of  FIG.  18   . It is appreciated, that this is not a limitation and the DMS  1800  may include a plurality of sensors and a plurality of actuators below the outermost-layer  1700  of the fabric-material  1602  without limitation. 
     Another application for the DMS  1800  utilizing one or more actuators is the ability to remove sacrificial coatings (e.g., temporary or peel able solar-fabric, camouflage-fabric, coating needed for optical properties, water repellant, anti-radar, etc.) by producing high-frequency vibration or low-frequency curving with the plurality of actuators so assist to peel off of any sacrificial coatings from the front-surface of the fabric-material  1602 . 
     In addition to sensors and actuators, the DMS  1800  may also include one or more micro-heaters (not shown) that are utilized to assist in the dust mitigation process or personal heating. The micro-heaters may be utilized to increase the resistivity of the plurality of conductive-fibers  308  or to provide heat to wearer of the DMS  1800  via heating the plurality of conductive-fibers  308 . In the example of CNT-fibers for the plurality of conductive-fibers  308 , the micro-heaters may be implemented as part of the plurality of conductive-fibers  308  that may be implemented either on the outermost-layer  1700  of the fabric-material  1602  or as a secondary plurality of conductive-fibers (not shown) in the underneath-layer  1704  of the fabric-material  1602 . The micro-heaters are configured to produce a temperature on, or in, the fabric-material  1602  that may be controlled by the DMS controller  1801  or by direct inputs from the sensors within the fabric-material  1602 . The micro-heaters may be powered by the DMS power supply. 
     It is further noted that the plurality of conductive-fibers  308  may also be utilized for radiation protection of the DMS  1800 . In this example, the weave patterns of the plurality of conductive-fibers  308  is optimized and the input-signal-source  318  produces AC voltage-signals  316  that generate an electric-field that repels electrons, protons, or both. This application will utilize higher frequencies than the dust repellent application of the DMS  1800  and may be superimposed on the plurality of conductive-fibers  308  to produce multiple types of waveforms with wider spectral range in a dual-use implementation. As an example, the patterns of the conductive-fibers may be varied to create different zones of spatial patterns of the conductive-fibers where the spatial separation of the conductive-fibers vary from zone-to-zone and the spatial separation of the applied waveforms of the AC voltage-signals vary from zone-to-zone. 
     Moreover, the plurality of conductive-fibers  308  may also be utilized for energy harvesting where the DMS  1800  may be incorporated in the fabric-materials of spacesuits, mountaineering clothing and equipment, and government and military suits and devices. In general, the plurality of conductive-fibers  308  may be tuned to operate in the frequencies for dust mitigation and a second frequency (or frequencies) for receiving ambient electromagnetic energy that may be rectified into harvested into received electrical power. In addition, in the case of CNT-fibers for the conductive-fibers, piezoelectric elements may be embedded within the CNT-fibers or the fabric-material to harvest mechanical energy from the movement of the wearer and transform it into electrical power. Furthermore, the CNT-fibers may be configured to receive ambient thermal energy (e.g., external heat-energy, radiation from the Sun, heat from the body of the wearer) which is converted to electrical power via the CNT-fibers acting as thermoelectric converters. 
     Moreover, the plurality of conductive-fibers  308  may also be utilized for anti-jamming applications in wearable communication systems or systems utilizing fabric-materials such as, for example, an antenna utilizing a fabric-material. In this case, the fabric-material and plurality of conductive-fibers may utilized in combination with a fabric based antenna system that may be part of a wearable communication system by utilizing CNT-fibers for the conductive-fibers. In this example, the CNT-fibers may operate as sensors capable of detecting a jamming signal or the DMS  1800  may also include embedded electric-field sensors capable of detecting the jamming signal. Once a jamming signal is detected, the DMS  1800  may include additional devices, components, or systems capable of producing an anti-jamming AC voltage-signal with a higher frequency than the frequencies produced by the DMS  1800  to mitigate the dust from the shield. In order to produce these anti-jamming AC voltage-signals, the DMS controller  1801  may be in signal communication with an external communication system. 
     Turning to  FIGS.  19 A,  19 B, and  19 C , front-views of examples of different implementations of printed flexible conductor and/or conductive-fiber patterns are shown for use with the DMS  300  in accordance with the present disclosure. The patterns may be placed on the fabric-material and in signal communication with an active controller (i.e., the DMS controller) to better control dust repelling action. The various shapes provide varying optimizing dust repelling actions. The printed patterns may be then attached to a flexible-material, fabric-material, and/or surface of the appropriate dielectric properties. 
     It is appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that while most of the examples in this disclosure have been directed to spacesuits, the disclosure also applies to other types of devices that utilizes flexible-material or fabric-material such as electric fences, dust protection systems for wearable communication, radiation protection, thermal protection, umbrella antennas, tents, canopy surfaces, flexible solar collectors, flexible solar cells, self-cleaning antennas, deployable structures, inflatables, CNT-fiber embedded devices with piezoelectric-mechanical motion for mountaineering, etc. 
     As an example of operation, a few ortho-fabric-material test coupons of approximately three inches by three inches were applied with multiple configuration of DMS  300  to test the use of CNT-fibers as electrodes and the resulting dust removal capability when the electrodes were applied with a multi-phase AC voltage-signal. 
       FIG.  20    shows a top-view of an example of an implementation of the DMS  2000  utilizing an ortho-fabric-material  2002  for a spacesuit and a plurality of CNT-fibers  2004  for the plurality of conductive-fibers in accordance with the present disclosure. In this example, the plurality of CNT-fibers  2004  are woven into ortho-fabric-material  2002  within the shield  2006  that is defined by the shield area  2008 . The plurality of CNT-fibers  2004  are directed along the first direction  2010 . 
     In this example, the CNT-fibers of the plurality of CNT-fibers  2004  were produced from concentrated solutions of chlorosulfonic acid via wet-spinning. The CNT-fibers were assembled into twisted, multifilament yarns with a Planetary 3.0 rope-making apparatus from the Domanoff Workshop of Minsk, Belarus. The yarns utilized for this example consisted of 28 CNT-filaments plied together. In this example, the word “yarn” is interchangeable with “fibers” since each CNT-fiber consisted of 28 CNT-filaments. The individual CNT-filaments were about 26+/−2 μm in diameter and had an average linear density of approximately 0.82+/−0.2 tex. The conductivity of the individual CNT-filaments were about 2.1 MS/m (specific conductivity was approximately 1390 Sm 2 /kg). While the plied yarns had approximately the same specific conductivity as individual CNT-filaments, the conductivity of the yarns decreased to about 1.1 MS/m because the density of the yarns was approximately 0.8 g/cm 3 , compared to the about 1.5 g/cm 3  density of the individual CNT-filaments. In this example, the DMS  2000  was configured to be tested with a three-phase AC power supply for the input-signal-source (not shown). Similar to  FIG.  20   ,  FIG.  21    shows a top-view of an example of another implementation of the DMS  2100  utilizing the ortho-fabric-material  2002  for a spacesuit and a plurality of CNT-fibers  2102  for the plurality of conductive-fibers in accordance with the present disclosure. In  FIG.  21   , the plurality of CNT-fibers  2102  are shown as directed in an angled direction  2104  that is at an angle to the first direction  2010 . 
     In an example of operation, the DMS  2000  was tested utilizing an input-signal-source that produced multi-phase AC voltage-signals that ranged between approximately 600V to 1,200V with very low current values in the order of micro-amps and had a frequency of approximately 10 Hz with a square waveform. The tests were conducted at room temperature and pressure utilizing the JSC-1A lunar simulant with a size range of approximately 50 μm to 75 μm and 10 μm to 50 μm. The specifications for the simulant were developed by Orbital Technologies Corporation of Madison, Wis. While performing the tests, two methods of depositing the simulant over the DMS  2000  were utilized. The first method employed conductive-fiber (i.e., CNT-fibers) activation as the first step prior to dust deposition (i.e., deposition of the simulant), after which the simulant was continuously dropped (i.e., termed “drop-test”) over the DMS  2000  to represent dynamic dust interacting with the spacesuit during an EVA operation. With the second method, approximately 10 mg of simulant was deposited over the shield area on the DMS  2000  covered with the plurality of CNT-fibers  2004  prior to the CNT-fibers being activated. This second test method represents a scenario where the dust statically adheres to the spacesuits during an EVA. In this example, it is noted that while the AC voltage-signal utilized were on the order of approximately 600V to 1,200V, the amount of current passing through the plurality of CNT-fibers  2004  was very low (i.e., on the order of micro-amps). The results of the tests showed that the DMS  2000  was capable of repelling lunar dust simulant with particle size between approximately 10 μm to 75 μm in both dynamic and static dust settings in ambient conditions (i.e., approximate temperature of 20° C., relative humidity of 68%, and Earth gravity). As a result, the tests demonstrated positive results for utilizing the DMS  2000  for repelling lunar dust simulant when applied with a multi-phase AC voltage-signal. It is noted that two-phase AC voltage-signals may also be utilized with DMS  2000  and DMS  2100 . As an example, the DMS  2000  and DMS  2100  may utilize an input-signal-source that produces two-phase AC voltage-signal (with 180° phase shift) that ranges between approximately 600V to 1,200V with very low current values in the order of micro-amps and has a frequency of approximately 10 Hz with a square waveform. 
     In  FIG.  22   , a flowchart is shown illustrating an example of an implementation of a method  2200  of dust mitigation performed by the DMS  1800  in operation in accordance with the present disclosure. In this example, the DMS  1800  will be assumed to be the DMS  1800  shown in  FIG.  18    that includes the micro-vibratory sensors and actuators  1600 . 
     The method begins  2202  by sensing  2204  any dust particles with the sensors  1802  and  1804  within the fabric-material  1602 . If the sensors  1802  and  1804  detect dust particles on the shield  313  of the fabric-material  1602 , the sensors  1802  and  1804  send sensor data signals  1812  and  1814  to the DMS controller  1801 . The DMS controller  1801  receives  2206  the sensor data signals  1812  and  1814  and, in response, activates the plurality of conductive-fibers (i.e., the plurality of CNT-fibers  1604 ) by sending an adjustment signal  1816  to the input-signal-source  318  that produces  2208  the AC voltage-signal in response to the adjustment signal  1816 . Once the AC voltage-signal is received  2210  at the plurality of input-nodes  310  (described in relation to  FIG.  3 A ) of the fabric-material  1602 , the AC voltage-signals are passed to the plurality of conductive-fibers that corresponding generate  2212  an electric-field on the front-surface of the fabric-material  1602 . The electric-field corresponding generates  2214  a traveling-wave that travels along the front-surface of the fabric-material  1602  in a direction that is traverse to the direction that the conductive-fibers run along the fabric-material  1602 . This traveling-wave repulses  2216  the dust particles from the shield of the DMS  1800 . In additional, based on the sensor data signals  1812  and  1814 , the DMS controller  1801  may also send the actuation/adjustment signal  1820  to the actuator  1806  to cause the actuator  1806  to vibrate  2218  under the outermost-layer  1700  of the fabric-material  1602  in order to assist is losing and removing any dust from the shield. The process then ends  2220 . 
     It will be understood that various aspects or details of the implementations may be changed without departing from the scope of the disclosure. It is not exhaustive and does not limit the claimed disclosure to the precise form(s) disclosed. Furthermore, the foregoing description is for the purpose of illustration only, and not for the purpose of limitation. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above description or may be acquired from practicing the disclosure. The claims and their equivalents define the scope of the disclosure.