Patent Description:
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'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 <NUM> 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: <NUM>) dust adhering and damaging spacesuit fabrics and system <NUM>) mechanical problems associated to lunar dust that included problems with fittings and abrasion of suit layers causing suit pressure decay <NUM>) vision obscuration; <NUM>) false instrument readings due to dust clogging sensor inlets; <NUM>) dust coating and contamination causing thermal control problems; <NUM>) loss of traction; <NUM>) clogging of joint mechanisms; <NUM>) abrasion; <NUM>) seal failures; and <NUM>) inhalation and irritation.

As an example, in <FIG> an image is shown of a NASA astronaut <NUM> during the Apollo <NUM> mission weaver a lunar dust <NUM> coated spacesuit <NUM> after an EVA operation. Similarly, in <FIG> an image of a spacesuit <NUM> is shown with a hole (or rip) <NUM> in the knee section of the spacesuit <NUM> 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 polytretrafluroethylene (as an example, TEFLON® produced by The Chemours Company of Wilmington, Delaware) 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. <CIT> in an abstract states "A Dust Mitigation System ("DMS") is disclosed that 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 back-surface or the front-surface of 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 transverse to the first direction.

A Multi-use Dust Mitigation System ("MDMS") is disclosed. The MDMS includes a finger section, a hand section physically attached to the finger section, a fabric-material within both the finger section and hand section, a plurality of conductive-fibers within the fabric-material, and a plurality of input-nodes approximately adjacent to the fabric-material. The fabric-material includes a front-surface and a back-surface. The plurality of conductive-fibers are approximately parallel along the fabric-material and are approximately adjacent to the front-surface of the fabric-material. 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 and 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.

In an example of operation, the MDMS performs a method for dust mitigation 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 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 a first direction of the along the fabric-material.

As another example of operation, the MDMS also performs a method for particle collection 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 a standing-wave, from the electric-field, along the front-surface of the fabric-material to capture a plurality of particles.

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 invention, and be protected by the accompanying claims.

The disclosure can 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.

Disclosed is a Multi-Use Dust Mitigation System ("MDMS"). The MDMS includes a finger section, a hand section physically attached to the finger section, a fabric-material within both the finger section and hand section, a plurality of conductive-fibers within the fabric-material, and a plurality of input-nodes approximately adjacent to the fabric-material. The fabric-material includes a front-surface and a back-surface. The plurality of conductive-fibers are approximately parallel along the fabric-material and are approximately adjacent to the front-surface of the fabric-material. 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 and 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.

In one example of an implementation, the MDMS implements an electrodynamic dust shield ("EDS") with active electrodes into a spacesuit, glove, mitt, or other device or systems (such as flexible space habitats, deployable structures, etc.) that utilizes fabric-materials or other flexible-materials by utilizing the conductive-fibers as electrodes. In this example, the active electrodes are conductive-fibers that can be carbon-nanotube ("CNT") fibers which are flexible electrically conductive-fibers. Generally, EDS technology utilizes electrostatic and/or electrodynamic and/ordielectrophoretic 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 MDMS, typical electrodynamic forces required to repel dust particles with sizes between about <NUM> micrometers ("µm") to <NUM> can be generated by applying AC voltage-signals in the range of approximately <NUM> volts ("V") to <NUM>,200V utilizing approximately <NUM> to <NUM> thick uninsulated CNT fibers spaced between approximately <NUM> millimeters ("mm") to <NUM> apart.

In this example, the MDMS 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 <NUM> to <NUM> degrees) conductive-fibers through, which an AC voltage-signal of high voltage (for example, approximately 800V to <NUM>,200V at a frequency between approximately <NUM> to <NUM> 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 can be positioned approximately parallel or slightly divergent to adjacent conductive-fibers. Additionally, the surface of the fabric material can be partitioned into different sections, where each section of the fabric-material can be configured to have different conductive-fiber patterns that are not parallel to other sections of the shield. For example, the shield can include sections that are at angles up to approximately <NUM> 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 can either be excited by utilizing single-phase or multi-phase AC voltage-signals or direct current ("DC") voltage-signals produced by an input-signal-source that can be a multi-phase signal source.

In general, the MDMS may be configured to operate in multiple ways that include, for example, an initial configuration of the MDMS at fabrication and/or a reconfiguration of the MDMS after the activation of the MDMS during operation. Specifically, as an example, when fabricating the MDMS on a device (such as, for example, a spacesuit, glove, mitt, 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 MDMS is implemented so as to optimize the dust repelling properties of the MDMS. Additionally, the type of fabric-material may be chosen to have electrical and mechanical properties that optimize the operation of the MDMS. 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 MDMS.

Additionally, as a reconfiguration during operation example, the MDMS can include feedback controlled electronics (described later in relation to <FIG>), 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 can 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 can be local sensors within the shield area embedded within the fabric-material or flexible-material, the conductive-fibers themselves, or both. Additionally, the sensors can 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 MDMS 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 MDMS for adjusting the operation of the MDMS 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 MDMS controller of the MDMS. The MDMS 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 MDMS. The MDMS controller can 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 MDMS controller can 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 MDMS can 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 can 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 MDMS controller and the MDMS 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 MDMS at the shield. Utilizing the sensors, actuators, or both, the MDMS controller is configured to adjust the AC voltage-signals from input-signal-source to optimize the dust mitigation of the MDMS 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 MDMS controller is configured to vary the AC voltage-signals to adjust the mode of operation of the MDMS.

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 can be utilized by the MDMS 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 MDMS) on the shield of the fabric-material, a second optimized AC voltage-signal having a second waveform and second frequency value can be utilized by the MDMS to repel dust that has settled on the shield of fabric-material.

For example, if the MDMS is active prior to the dust settling on the shield, about <NUM> 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 MDMS, the MDMS will need to utilize a higher voltage AC voltage-signal (e.g., approximately <NUM>,000V to <NUM>,200V) to repel the dust from the shield. Additionally, once the dust has settled on the shield, the MDMS may need to utilize AC voltage-signals with higher spectral bandwidths that can be up to approximately <NUM> to dislodge the settled dust from the shield. In these examples, the MDMS controller can 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 MDMS to dislodge, repel, or both, the dust that is settling or settled on the shield based on input data from sensors that can provide the status of dust contamination on the shield. The lookup database can include values based on the sensors or other sources that are in signal communication with the MDMS. The storage unit can be part of the MDMS or remote but in signal communication with the MDMS. 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 can be locally embedded in the fabric-material, centrally located and/or remote from the MDMS, or co-located with the MDMS and the rest of the device that the MDMS is implemented on such as, for example, the systems and electronics of a spacesuit. In this example, a DC voltage-signal can also be utilized to dislodge dust particles that can be stuck on the shield. In this example, a DC voltage-signal can be initially applied prior to utilizing the low voltage AC voltage-signal.

In another example of an implementation, the MDMS also implements a particle sorting device ("PSD") or sample collection device ("SCD") with the active electrodes in the spacesuit, glove, mitt, or other device or systems that utilize fabric-materials or other flexible-materials by again utilizing the conductive-fibers as electrodes. In this example, the MDMS can function to clean dust, sort particles, collect samples, and move dust and charged and uncharged particles in a precise manner. In this example, the MDMS may be incorporated into a specialized glove or mitt (or other similar device), having the embedded conductive-fibers within the fabric-material, for cleaning dust contaminated surface (utilizing the dust repellant properties described earlier), for particle sorting, or both.

In this example, the palm side of the glove or mitt and the fingers are embedded with electrodes made of conductive-fibers based yarn (or similar electrically conductive yarns) and insulated yarns at predefined spacing intervals, suitable for applying AC or DC high voltages, or both, in predefined time sequence, for repelling dust and optimized for multi-se (multiple spinecho) functions of particle sorting. The MDMS based gloves or mitts can be optimized for use as a particle sorting tool, sample collection tool, and other related implementations. In general, the conductive-fibers can have a signal phase signal applied to produce a standing-wave of electric-field along the shield so as to levitate and suspend but not move particles within the electric-field.

In the example of glove or mitt, the MDMS can have a palm section configured for cleaning dust and a finger section configured for sorting or collection particles.

Specifically, in the example of the MDMS being incorporated into a glove, in <FIG>, a front-side view of an example of an implementation of a MDMS <NUM> in the form of a glove is shown in accordance with the present disclosure. The MDMS <NUM> includes a finger section <NUM> and a hand section <NUM> physically attached to the finger section <NUM>. The hand section <NUM> is also physically attached to a wrist section <NUM> that is part of a forearm section <NUM>. In this example, the hand section <NUM> includes a palm section <NUM> (on the front side of the glove) and an opisthenar (i.e., back of the hand) section (not shown) and the finger section <NUM> includes an internal finger surface <NUM> (on the front side of the glove) and an external finger surface (not shown) on the back side of the glove. The finger section <NUM> includes five finger sub-sections configured to accept five fingers from a user. The palm section <NUM> can include a top palm section <NUM>, a middle palm section <NUM>, and a side palm section <NUM> corresponding to the palm sections of human hand, where the middle palm section <NUM> is located between the top palm section <NUM> and side palm section <NUM>. The top palm section <NUM> is located between the middle palm section <NUM> and the finger section <NUM> and the side palm section <NUM> is located between the middle palm section <NUM> and a thumb section <NUM>. Similar to a human hand, the top palm section <NUM>, middle palm section <NUM>, and side palm section <NUM> allow the glove to open and close in the same physical fashion as a human hand.

In this example, the MDMS <NUM> includes a fabric-material within both the finger section <NUM> and hand section <NUM>. The wrist section <NUM> and forearm section <NUM> can also include the fabric-material. The fabric-material includes a plurality of conductive-fibers which can be optionally located throughout the fabric-material or in specific sections of the fabric-material. For example, a first sub-plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> (of the plurality of conductive-fibers) can be located within the fabric-material located in the palm section <NUM> of the glove as shown in <FIG>. In this example, the first sub-plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> can extend throughout the top palm section <NUM>, middle palm section <NUM>, and side palm section <NUM>. Moreover, the internal finger surface <NUM> can include a second sub-plurality of conductive fibers <NUM> of the plurality of conductive-fibers. Furthermore, while not shown in this example, it is appreciated that another sub-plurality of the plurality of conductive fibers (of the plurality of conductive-fibers) can be optionally located in the wrist section <NUM>, forearm section <NUM>, or both.

In this example, the first sub-plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> run along the fabric-material within the palm section <NUM> approximately parallel along a first direction <NUM> of the glove. The second sub-plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> run along the fabric-material, in the finger section <NUM>, in varying directions that are approximately along the first direction <NUM> when the glove is a resting position. In this example, the second sub-plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> includes further sub-portions of the second sub-plurality of conductive-fibers for a first sub-portion <NUM>, second sub-portion <NUM>, third sub-portion <NUM>, fourth sub-portion <NUM>, and fifth sub-portion <NUM> of the finger section <NUM>. Each of the corresponding sub-portions of the second sub-plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> within the first sub-portion <NUM>, second sub-portion <NUM>, third sub-portion <NUM>, fourth sub-portion <NUM>, and fifth sub-portion <NUM> of the finger section <NUM> are approximately parallel to each other within the corresponding sub-portion of the finger section <NUM> and extend from the palm section <NUM> to the tips (i.e., the ends) of the corresponding sub-portion of the finger section <NUM>. In this example, the first sub-portion <NUM>, second sub-portion <NUM>, third sub-portion <NUM>, fourth sub-portion <NUM> may be referred to as a first finger section of the finger section <NUM> and the fifth sub-portion <NUM> that corresponds to the thumb of the user may be referred to as a second finger section of the finger section <NUM>. The plurality of conductive-fibers can be a plurality of carbon nanotube ("CNT") fibers and the plurality of CNT-fibers can be braided with the fabric-material.

The fabric-material includes a front-surface and a back-surface, where the back-surface is within the glove adjacent to the hand, wrist, and forearm of the user. The front-surface includes the internal finger surface <NUM>, an outer surface of the palm section <NUM>, the external finger surface on the back side of the glove, an outer surface of the opisthenar section, an outer surface of the wrist section <NUM>, and an outer surface of the forearm section <NUM>. In this example, the plurality of conductive-fibers are within the fabric-material along the internal finger surface <NUM> and the outer surface of the palm section <NUM> such that the plurality of conductive-fibers are approximately parallel along the fabric-material and are approximately adjacent to the front-surface of the fabric-material, which in this example, the front-surface of the fabric-material includes the internal finger surface <NUM> and the outer surface of the palm section <NUM>.

The MDMS <NUM> also includes a plurality of input-nodes (not shown) approximately adjacent to the fabric-material along the back-surface of the fabric-material. The plurality of input-nodes are in signal communication with the plurality of conductive-fibers and configured to receive an AC voltage-signal from an input-signal-source and the plurality of conductive-fibers are configured to generate an electric-field on a portion of 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. In this example, the portion of the front-surface of the fabric-material can be optionally a first portion of the front-surface of the fabric-material located at the internal finger surface <NUM>, the outer surface of the palm section <NUM>, or both.

In this example, the plurality of conductive-fibers are approximately parallel along the fabric-material in the first direction <NUM> along the glove. In an example of operation, the plurality of conductive-fibers are configured to generate a traveling-wave, from the electric-field, that travels along the front-surface of the fabric-material in a second direction <NUM> along the glove that is approximately transverse to the first direction <NUM>. In another example of operation, the plurality of conductive-fibers are configured to generate a standing-wave, from the electric-field, along the front-surface of the fabric-material in the second direction <NUM> that is also approximately transverse to the first direction <NUM>.

In this example, the first sub-plurality of conductive fibers <NUM> and second sub-plurality of conductive fibers <NUM> are configured for cleaning, particle sorting, and sample collection. The MDMS controller is configured to provide a multiphase AC signal to produce with the input-signal-source a traveling-wave, single phase AC signal to produce a standing-wave, variable phase shift signal, or variable voltage waveform.

In other words, the MDMS controller is configured to selectively cause the input-signal-source to produce a single phase AC signal that is transmitted to the plurality of conductive-fibers to generate a standing-wave or cause the input-signal-source to produce a multi-phase signal that is transmitted to the plurality of conductive-fibers to generate a traveling-wave. The MDMS controller is further configured to selectively cause the input-signal-source to produce a variable phase shift in the multi-phase signal, the multi-phase signal with a variable voltage waveform, and the multi-phase signal with a variable phase for individual conductive-fibers within the plurality of conductive-fibers.

As an example of operation, the MDMS controller can configure the palm section <NUM> and finger section <NUM> for both the palm section <NUM> and finger section <NUM> to clean dust or to clean dust with the palm section <NUM> and sort particles with the finger section <NUM>. In another example of operation, the MDMS controller can configure the palm section <NUM> and finger section <NUM> to clean dust, particle sort, and sample collect. In this example, the MDMS controller reconfigures the electrodes within the MDMS and excites the electrodes with different waveform signals with the input-signal-source. In this example, a portion of the electrodes can be utilized to levitate (i.e., "pick-up") specific particles having specific particle sizes utilizing specific waveform signals from the input-signal-source. The specific particles can be levitated by utilizing a standing-wave pattern on the conductive-fibers that are feed by a waveform signal from the electrodes. As an example, for sample collection, the standing-wave pattern can levitate specific sized particles and then drop them into a collection bin. This is accomplished by utilizing the MDMS controller to turn on (i.e., energizes) the energy to the electrodes to produce the standing-wave pattern on the conductive-fibers that levitates the specific sized particles and then turns off (i.e., de-energizes) the energy to the electrodes to eliminate the standing-wave pattern on the conductive-fibers that drops the specific sized particles into the collection bin. In this example, the heavier the particles that are to be levitated, the more voltage that is needed to drive the electrodes within the MDMS with the exception of polarized particles that can be levitated with a lower diving voltage. For cleaning, the MDMS controller configures the MDMS to receive and the input-signal-source to produces a multi-phase signal.

Moreover, in this example of operation, the spreading the fingers (i.e., first sub-portion <NUM>, second sub-portion <NUM>, third sub-portion <NUM>, fourth sub-portion <NUM>, and fifth sub-portion <NUM>) or shaping the position of the fingers within the finger section <NUM> optimizes the distribution of the electric field produced within the finger section <NUM> for a particular task or function. Specifically, pointing the individual fingers concentrates the electric field and when the fingers are closer the finger section <NUM> produces an intensified electric field that can be utilized for sorting, cleaning, or both of particles of smaller grain sizes. The fingers can also be spread out wider such that the finger section <NUM> produces an electric field that is capable of cleaning a larger area.

In this example, it is appreciated that while both finger section <NUM> and palm section <NUM> may be configured for cleaning, the finger section <NUM> can be useful for sorting and capturing specific particles of a given size because of the range of motion available (i.e., the movement of the fingers to a closer configuration or the point (i.e., tip) of the fingers). The fingers in the finger section <NUM> can also be used for capturing particles that are dispersed in a cloud. However, if particles are more distributed on the surface, the palm section <NUM> can be utilized to cover larger surfaces for cleaning.

In <FIG>, a back-side view of an example of an implementation of the MDMS <NUM> is shown in accordance with the present disclosure. In this example, the hand section <NUM> includes the opisthenar section <NUM> and the finger section <NUM> includes the external finger surface <NUM> on the back side of the glove. Similar to the example shown in <FIG>, the external finger surface <NUM> and opisthenar section <NUM> can also have a plurality of conductive-fibers within the fabric-material. In this example, the hand section <NUM> within the opisthenar section <NUM> can include a first sub-plurality of conductive fibers <NUM> (of the plurality of conductive-fibers) and the finger section <NUM> can include a second sub-plurality of conductive fibers <NUM> of the plurality of conductive-fibers.

In this example, the first sub-plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> run along the fabric-material within the opisthenar section <NUM> approximately parallel along the first direction <NUM>. The second sub-plurality of conductive-fibers run along the fabric-material, in the finger section <NUM>, in varying directions that are approximately along the first direction <NUM> when the glove is a resting position. In this example, the second sub-plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> includes further sub-portions of the second sub-plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> for the first sub-portion <NUM>, second sub-portion <NUM>, third sub-portion <NUM>, fourth sub-portion <NUM>, and fifth sub-portion <NUM> of the finger section <NUM>. Each of the corresponding sub-portions of the second sub-plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> within the first sub-portion <NUM>, second sub-portion <NUM>, third sub-portion <NUM>, fourth sub-portion <NUM>, and fifth sub-portion <NUM> of the finger section <NUM> are approximately parallel to each other within the corresponding sub-portion of the finger section <NUM> and extend from the opisthenar section <NUM> to the tips of the corresponding sub-portion of the finger section <NUM>. As discussed earlier, in this example, the first sub-portion <NUM>, second sub-portion <NUM>, third sub-portion <NUM>, fourth sub-portion <NUM> are part of the first finger section of the finger section <NUM> and the fifth sub-portion <NUM> that corresponds to the thumb of the user is part of the second finger section of the finger section <NUM>.

It is appreciated that based on the examples shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, the plurality of conductive-fibers within the fabric-material can be located in the palm section <NUM> and internal finger surface <NUM>, opisthenar section <NUM> and external finger surface <NUM>, or both the palm section <NUM> and internal finger surface <NUM> and opisthenar section <NUM> and external finger surface <NUM>. Moreover, while not shown in this example, it is appreciated that another sub-plurality of the plurality of conductive fibers (of the plurality of conductive-fibers) can be optionally located in the wrist section <NUM>, forearm section <NUM>, or both.

Similar to the example described in regards to the front side of the glove in regards to <FIG>, in this example, the first sub-plurality of conductive fibers <NUM> and second sub-plurality of conductive fibers <NUM> can also be configured for cleaning, particle sorting, and sample collection. Again, the MDMS controller is configured to provide a multiphase AC signal to produce with the input-signal-source a traveling-wave, single phase AC signal to produce a standing-wave, variable phase shift signal, or variable voltage waveform.

Turning to <FIG>, a front-side view of another example of an implementation of a MDMS <NUM> in the form of a mitt is shown in accordance with the present disclosure. The MDMS <NUM> includes a finger section <NUM> and a hand section <NUM> physically attached to the finger section <NUM>. The hand section <NUM> is also physically attached to a wrist section <NUM> that includes a forearm section <NUM>. In this example, the hand section <NUM> includes a palm section <NUM> (on the front side of the mitt) and an opisthenar section (not shown) and the finger section <NUM> includes an internal finger surface <NUM> (on the front side of the mitt) and an external finger surface (not shown) on the back side of the mitt. The finger section <NUM> includes a first finger section <NUM> configured to accept four fingers from a user and a second finger section <NUM> configured to accept a thumb from the user. The palm section <NUM> can include a top palm section <NUM>, a middle palm section <NUM>, and a side palm section <NUM> corresponding to the palm sections of human hand, where the middle palm section <NUM> is located between the top palm section <NUM> and side palm section <NUM>. The top palm section <NUM> is located between the middle palm section <NUM> and the finger section <NUM> and the side palm section <NUM> is located between the middle palm section <NUM> and a thumb section <NUM>. Similar to a human hand, the top palm section <NUM>, middle palm section <NUM>, and side palm section <NUM> allow the mitt to open and close in the same physical fashion as a human hand.

In this example, the MDMS <NUM> includes a fabric-material within both the finger section <NUM> and hand section <NUM>. The wrist section <NUM> and forearm section <NUM> can also include the fabric-material. As described earlier, the fabric-material includes a plurality of conductive-fibers which can be optionally located throughout the fabric-material or in specific sections of the fabric-material. For example, a first sub-plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> (of the plurality of conductive-fibers) can be located within the fabric-material located in the palm section <NUM> of the mitt as shown in <FIG>. In this example, the first sub-plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> can extend throughout the top palm section <NUM>, middle palm section <NUM>, and side palm section <NUM>. Moreover, the internal finger surface <NUM> can include a second sub-plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> (of the plurality of conductive-fibers).

In this example, the first sub-plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> run along the fabric-material within the palm section <NUM> approximately parallel along the first direction <NUM>. The second sub-plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> run along the fabric-material, in the finger section <NUM>, in directions that are approximately along the first direction <NUM> along the mitt when the mitt is a resting position and extend from the palm section <NUM> to the tips of the first finger section <NUM> and second finger section <NUM> of the finger section <NUM>. Again, the plurality of conductive-fibers can be a plurality of CNT fibers and the plurality of CNT-fibers can be braided with the fabric-material.

The fabric-material again includes a front-surface and a back-surface, where the back-surface is within the mitt adjacent to the hand, wrist, and forearm of the user. The front-surface includes the internal finger surface <NUM>, an outer surface of the palm section <NUM>, the external finger surface on the back side of the mitt, an outer surface of the opisthenar section, an outer surface of the wrist section <NUM>, and an outer surface of the forearm section <NUM>. In this example, the plurality of conductive-fibers are within the fabric-material along the inner finger surface <NUM> and the outer surface of the palm section <NUM> such that the plurality of conductive-fibers are approximately parallel along the fabric-material and are approximately adjacent to the front-surface of the fabric-material, which in this example the front-surface of the fabric-material includes the inner finger surface <NUM> and the outer surface of the palm section <NUM>.

As described earlier, the MDMS <NUM> also includes a plurality of input-nodes (not shown) approximately adjacent to the fabric-material along the back-surface of the fabric-material. The plurality of input-nodes are in signal communication with the plurality of conductive-fibers and configured to receive an AC voltage-signal from an input-signal-source and the plurality of conductive-fibers are configured to generate an electric-field on a portion of 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. In this example, the portion of the front-surface of the fabric-material can be optionally a first portion of the front-surface of the fabric-material located at the internal finger surface <NUM>, the outer surface of the palm section <NUM>, or both.

In this example, the plurality of conductive-fibers are approximately parallel along the fabric-material in the first direction <NUM>. In an example of operation, the plurality of conductive-fibers are configured to generate a traveling-wave, from the electric-field, that travels along the front-surface of the fabric-material in the second direction <NUM> along the mitt that is approximately transverse to the first direction <NUM>. In another example of operation, the plurality of conductive-fibers are configured to generate a standing-wave, from the electric-field, along the front-surface of the fabric-material in the second direction <NUM> that is also approximately transverse to the first direction <NUM>.

In <FIG>, a back-side view of example of an implementation of the MDMS <NUM> in the form of the mitt is shown in accordance with the present disclosure. In this example, the hand section <NUM> includes the opisthenar section <NUM> and the finger section <NUM> includes the external finger surface <NUM> on the back side of the mitt. Similar to the example shown in <FIG>, the external finger surface <NUM> and opisthenar section <NUM> can also have a plurality of conductive-fibers within the fabric-material. In this example, the hand section <NUM> can include a first sub-plurality of conductive fibers <NUM> (of the plurality of conductive-fibers) and the finger section <NUM> can include a second sub-plurality of conductive fibers <NUM> of the plurality of conductive-fibers.

In this example, the first sub-plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> run along the fabric-material within the opisthenar section <NUM> approximately parallel along the first direction <NUM>. The second sub-plurality of conductive-fibers run along the fabric-material, in the finger section <NUM>, in directions that are approximately along the first direction <NUM> when the mitt is a resting position. In this example, the second sub-plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> includes further sub-portions of the second sub-plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> for the first finger section <NUM> and second finger section <NUM> of the finger section <NUM>. Each of the corresponding sub-portions of the second sub-plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> within the first finger section <NUM> and second finger section <NUM> of the finger section <NUM> are approximately parallel to each other within the corresponding first finger section <NUM> and second finger section <NUM> of the finger section <NUM> and extend from the opisthenar section <NUM> to the tips of the corresponding first finger section <NUM> and second finger section <NUM> of the finger section <NUM>.

It is appreciated that based on the examples shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, the plurality of conductive-fibers within the fabric-material can be located in the palm section <NUM> and internal finger surface <NUM>, opisthenar section <NUM> and external finger surface <NUM>, or both the palm section <NUM> and internal finger surface <NUM> and opisthenar section <NUM> and external finger surface <NUM>.

<FIG> is a front-side view of still another example of an implementation of a MDMS <NUM> in the form of a glove in accordance with the present disclosure. Similar to the example shown in relation to <FIG>, the MDMS <NUM> includes a finger section <NUM> and a hand section <NUM> physically attached to the finger section <NUM>. The hand section <NUM> is also physically attached to a wrist section <NUM> that is part of a forearm section <NUM>. In this example, the hand section <NUM> includes a palm section <NUM> and an opisthenar section (not shown) and the finger section <NUM> includes an internal finger surface <NUM> and an external finger surface (not shown) on the back side of the glove. The finger section <NUM> includes five finger sub-sections configured to accept five fingers from a user. The palm section <NUM> can include a top palm section <NUM>, a middle palm section <NUM>, and a side palm section <NUM> corresponding to the palm sections of human hand, where the middle palm section <NUM> is located between the top palm section <NUM> and side palm section <NUM>. The top palm section <NUM> is located between the middle palm section <NUM> and the finger section <NUM> and the side palm section <NUM> is located between the middle palm section <NUM> and a thumb section <NUM>. Similar to a human hand, the top palm section <NUM>, middle palm section <NUM>, and side palm section <NUM> allow the glove to open and close in the same physical fashion as a human hand.

Unlike the previous examples, in this example, the first sub-plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> run along the fabric-material within the palm section <NUM> as approximately parallel spirals. The second sub-plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> run along the fabric-material, in the finger section <NUM>, in varying directions that are approximately along the first direction <NUM> when the glove is a resting position. In this example, the approximately parallel spirals are located within the fabric-material of the top palm section <NUM>, middle palm section <NUM>, and side palm section <NUM>.

In <FIG>, a back-side view of example of an implementation of the MDMS <NUM> is shown in accordance with the present disclosure. In this example, the hand section <NUM> includes the opisthenar section <NUM> and the finger section <NUM> includes the external finger surface <NUM> on the back side of the glove. Similar to the example shown in <FIG>, the external finger surface <NUM> and opisthenar section <NUM> can also have a plurality of conductive-fibers within the fabric-material. In this example, the hand section <NUM> within the opisthenar section <NUM> can include a first sub-plurality of conductive fibers <NUM> (of the plurality of conductive-fibers) and the finger section <NUM> can include a second sub-plurality of conductive fibers <NUM> of the plurality of conductive-fibers.

In this example, the first sub-plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> run in a spiral direction along the fabric-material within the opisthenar section <NUM> approximately parallel. The second sub-plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> run along the fabric-material, in the finger section <NUM>, in varying directions that are approximately along the first direction <NUM> when the glove is a resting position. In this example, the second sub-plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> includes further sub-portions of the second sub-plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> for the finger sub-portions of the finger section <NUM>. As discussed earlier, each of the corresponding sub-portions of the second sub-plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> within the finger sub-portions of the finger section <NUM> are approximately parallel to each other within the corresponding sub-portion of the finger section <NUM> and extend from the opisthenar section <NUM> to the tips of the corresponding sub-portion of the finger section <NUM>.

Turing back to the example shown in relation to <FIG>, in <FIG>, a back-side view of another example of an implementation of the MDMS <NUM> is shown in accordance with the present disclosure. In this example, the MDMS <NUM> is alternative implementation of the back of the mitt shown as MDMS <NUM> shown in <FIG>. This example is similar to the example shown in <FIG>, except that first sub-plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> are approximately parallel spirals located within the opisthenar section <NUM>.

Turning back to the examples shown in relation to <FIG> and <FIG>, the hand section <NUM> or <NUM> and finger sections <NUM> and <NUM> can have different types orientations for the first sub-plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> and <NUM> and the second sub-plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> and <NUM> within the top palm section <NUM> and <NUM>, middle palm section <NUM> and <NUM>, side palm section <NUM> and <NUM> and sub-portions <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> of the finger section <NUM>.

In <FIG>, a front-side view of yet another example of an implementation of a MDMS <NUM> is shown in the form of a glove in accordance with the present disclosure. In this example, the glove is the same as the one shown in the example in relation to <FIG> with the exception that each of the top palm section <NUM>, middle palm section <NUM>, and side palm section <NUM> have portions of the first sub-plurality of conductive-fibers that are configured in different orientations. In this example, the first sub-plurality of conductive-fibers includes a first portion <NUM> of the sub-plurality of conductive-fibers that are located within the top palm section <NUM> and are approximately parallel along the first direction <NUM>, a second portion <NUM> of the sub-plurality of conductive-fibers that are located within the middle palm section <NUM> and are approximately parallel along the first direction <NUM>, and a third portion <NUM> of the sub-plurality of conductive-fibers that are located within the side palm section <NUM> and are approximately parallel along the first direction <NUM>. In this example, the first portion <NUM>, second portion <NUM>, and third portion <NUM> of the sub-plurality of conductive-fibers are oriented approximately along the first direction <NUM> along the glove, however, while approximately along the first direction <NUM>, they each can vary by a predetermined angle from each other.

<FIG> is a front-side view of still another example of an implementation of a MDMS <NUM> in the form of a glove in accordance with the present disclosure. The MDMS <NUM> is similar to the example of the MDMS <NUM> described and shown in relation to <FIG> except that the middle palm section <NUM> includes a first portion <NUM> of the first sub-plurality of conductive-fibers that are approximately parallel spirals instead of straight approximately parallel conductive-fibers as shown in <FIG>.

<FIG> is a front-side view of still another example of an implementation of a MDMS <NUM> in the form of a glove in accordance with the present disclosure. The MDMS <NUM> is similar to the example of the MDMS <NUM> and <NUM> described and shown in relation to <FIG> and <FIG> except that the top palm section <NUM>, middle palm section <NUM>, and side palm section <NUM> include approximately parallel spirals for the first portion <NUM>, second portion <NUM>, and third portion <NUM> of the first sub-plurality of conductive-fibers that are approximately parallel spirals instead of straight approximately parallel conductive-fibers as shown in <FIG> and <FIG>.

It is appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the same approach described in relation to <FIG>, can be utilized for the hand section <NUM> if the MDMS is a mitt instead of a glove.

It is further appreciated that while approximately parallel straight or spiral conductive-fibers orientations have be shown, other orientations for the conductive-fibers can also be utilized. For example, orientations of concentric rectangles, concentric triangles, zig-zag or other variations can also be utilized for the conductive-fibers.

Turning to <FIG>, a side-view of a system block diagram is shown of an example of an implementation of the MDMS <NUM> in accordance with the present disclosure. The MDMS <NUM> includes a fabric-material <NUM> having a front-surface <NUM> and back-surface <NUM>, a plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> within the fabric-material <NUM>, and a plurality of input-nodes <NUM> on the back-surface <NUM> of the fabric-material <NUM> in signal communication with the plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> via a first plurality of signal paths <NUM> within the fabric-material <NUM>.

The plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> are configured as a series (i.e., a plurality) of approximately parallel conductive-fibers <NUM> along the fabric-material <NUM> approximately adjacent to (i.e., either on or close to) the front-surface <NUM> and the plurality of input-nodes <NUM> are configured as a series of input-nodes that are approximately adjacent to the back-surface <NUM> of the fabric-material <NUM> 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 <NUM> via an corresponding signal path of the first plurality of signal paths <NUM>. The plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> are located within a shield area <NUM> that is a portion of the front-surface <NUM> (also referred to as the top-surface of the fabric-material <NUM>) defining the shield <NUM> of the MDMS <NUM>.

In this example, the plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> are shown as approximately parallel and oriented in first direction <NUM> along the shield <NUM> of the fabric-material <NUM> (within the shield area <NUM>) that is either into or out of the page in the side-view of <FIG>. For the purposes of illustration, the first direction <NUM> is shown as being into the page, however, it is appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the first direction <NUM> can alternatively be in the opposite direction out of the page without limiting the present disclosure. If the plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> are not parallel, the plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> can be slightly divergent such as, for example, the plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> can be divergent with approximately <NUM> to <NUM> degrees of deviation from parallel.

In this example, the plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> are woven, or braided, into the front-surface <NUM> of the fabric-material <NUM> (where the fabric-material <NUM> can be, for example, a woven (or braided) fabric-material, flexible-material, or both) at the shield <NUM>. Additionally, each conductive-fiber of the plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> can be a CNT-fiber. Moreover, each input-node of the plurality of input-nodes <NUM> can be an electrode. Furthermore, each conductive-fiber of the plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> can also be an electrode.

In this example, the plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> are configured to receive an AC voltage-signal <NUM> from an input-signal-source <NUM> (via a second plurality of signal paths <NUM>, the plurality of input-nodes <NUM>, and the first plurality of signal paths <NUM>), where the input-signal-source <NUM> is in signal communication with the plurality of input-nodes <NUM> via the second plurality of signal paths <NUM>. In an example of operation, once the plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> receive the AC voltage-signal <NUM>, each conductive-fiber of the plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> is electrically energized and acts as an electrical radiating-element along (or approximately adjacent to) the front-surface <NUM> of the fabric-material <NUM> resulting in an electric-field <NUM> along the front-surface <NUM> of the fabric-material <NUM>. The electric-field <NUM> generates a traveling-wave along the front-surface <NUM> of the fabric-material <NUM> in a second direction <NUM> that is transverse to the first direction <NUM>. It is appreciated that the second direction <NUM> can optionally be from left-to-right or from right-to-left based on the characteristics of the electric-field <NUM> or at a preset angle to the traverse.

In this example, the input-signal-source <NUM> can be a three-phase power supply signal-source that produces the AC voltage-signal <NUM> as a three-phase AC voltage-signal <NUM> having a plurality of AC phased-signals that include a first-phase signal <NUM>, second-phase signal <NUM>, and third-phase signal <NUM>. It is appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that instead of the input-signal-source <NUM> being a three-phase input-signal-source <NUM> producing a three-phase AC voltage-signal <NUM>, other multi-phase input-signal-sources can 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 can also be utilized. Once the AC voltage three-phase signals <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> are applied to the MDMS <NUM>, any dust particles <NUM> on the front-surface <NUM> of the fabric-material <NUM> are repelled and moved off the front-surface <NUM> for the fabric-material <NUM> in a repulsion direction <NUM> that is parallel to the first direction <NUM>. Turning to <FIG>, a top-view of a system block diagram is shown of the implementation of the MDMS <NUM> (shown in <FIG>) in accordance with the present disclosure.

It is noted that while the plurality of input-nodes <NUM> are shown approximately adjacent to the back-surface <NUM>, this is for the purpose of illustration because the plurality of input-nodes <NUM> can be located in varying positions adjacent to the fabric-material <NUM>. As an example, the plurality of input-nodes <NUM> can be located on the back-surface, within the fabric-material <NUM> adjacent but just below the back-surface <NUM>, on the front-surface <NUM>, within the fabric-material <NUM> adjacent but just below the below the front-surface <NUM>, at a side (not shown) of the fabric-material, within the fabric-material with an access via to either the front-surface <NUM> or back-surface <NUM>, or any place adjacent the fabric-material that does not result in unacceptable interference with the generated electric-field <NUM> when the plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> are feed with the AC voltage-signal <NUM>, since the AC voltage-signal <NUM> will induce an electromagnetic fields from the plurality of input nodes <NUM> and the first plurality of signal paths <NUM> that if too close to the plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> can interact and/or interfere with the induced currents produced by the AC voltage-signal <NUM> on the plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> and/or the resulting electric-field <NUM>. It is also noted that input-signal-source <NUM> can also be a multi-phase AC source (as noted earlier) or a, non-claimed, DC source.

In this example, the MDMS controller can also be configured to cause the input-signal-source <NUM> to produce a single phase AC signal to produce a standing-wave, variable phase shift signal, or variable voltage waveform.

The circuits, components, modules, and/or devices of, or associated with, the MDMS <NUM> 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 can 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 can 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 <NUM> are a plurality of CNT-fibers that are utilized as electrodes within the fabric-material <NUM> 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 <NUM>/cm<NUM> for a CNT-fiber compared to about <NUM>/cm<NUM> 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 <NUM>-<NUM>), a length-to-diameter ratio up to about <NUM>,<NUM>,<NUM> to <NUM>, high thermal conductivity (with a range of approximately 100mWm<NUM>/kgK to 1000mWm<NUM>/kgK), normalized electrical conductivity (with a range of approximately 1kS m<NUM>/kg to 6kS m<NUM>/kg, normalized by density), and high mechanical strength and stiffness (with a tensile strength in the approximate range of 1GPa to <NUM>.

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 carbonfibers, 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 <NUM>/m for a CNT-fiber) when compared to high-conductivity metals (e.g., about <NUM>/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 <NUM> of the MDMS <NUM> because the CNT-fibers overcome the challenges of integrating the MDMS <NUM> with metal wires or strips as electrodes instead of the conductive-fibers <NUM>. 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 metalelectrodes.

As such, the utilization of CNT-fibers for the plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> within the fabric-material <NUM> are preferred because the fabric-material <NUM> 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 <NUM> 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 potions 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 polytertraflouroethylene ("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 can be bonded without departing from 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 <NUM>. 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., polyparaphenylene terephthalamide, a para-aramid synthetic fiber of high tensile strength), and NOMEX® (a flame-resistant meta-aramid synthetic fiber) materials. In addition to Ortho-fabric, the fabric-material can be VECTRAN™, Teflon TEFLON® cloth, woven KAPTON®, polyimide fabric, or both, beta cloth, etc..

Turning to <FIG>, a top-view of an implementation of a weave <NUM> of the fabric-material <NUM> with the plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> (shown in <FIG> and <FIG>) is shown in accordance with the present disclosure. Similar to the examples shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, seven (<NUM>) conductive-fibers <NUM> are shown within the shield area <NUM> of the fabric-material <NUM>, however, it is appreciated by of ordinary skill in the art that any plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> may be utilized based on the desired repulsive properties of the shield <NUM>.

In this example, the conductive-fibers <NUM> are CNT-fibers that are weaved into the fabric-material <NUM>. Moreover in this example, the weave <NUM> of the fabric-material <NUM> is shown having a plurality of fabric-material <NUM> warp threads <NUM> (i.e., a plurality of fabric-material <NUM> horizontal threads herein referred to as a plurality of fabric-material warp threads <NUM>) and plurality of fabric-material <NUM> welt threads <NUM> (i.e., a plurality of fabric-material <NUM> vertical threads herein referred to as a plurality of fabric-material welt threads <NUM>) forming the front-surface <NUM> of the fabric-material <NUM> and a plurality of insulating threads <NUM> adjacent to and in-between the plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM>. In this example, the plurality of fabric-material <NUM> warp threads <NUM>, plurality of insulating threads <NUM>, and plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> run along the first direction <NUM> of the weave <NUM> while the plurality of fabric-material welt threads <NUM> run along the second direction <NUM> of the weave <NUM>. In this example, the fabric-material <NUM> can be an ortho-fabric-material and the plurality of fabric-material warp threads <NUM> and plurality of fabric-material welt threads <NUM> 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 "<NUM>-ply" thread) or multi-ply (i.e., more than <NUM>-ply) textile fibers utilized to produce the weave <NUM> of fabric-material <NUM>. It is appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the fabric material <NUM> is generally at least <NUM>-plyed to increase the strength of the fabric-material <NUM>. Additionally, the plurality of insulating threads <NUM> can also be of the same ortho-fabric-material as the plurality of fabric-material warp threads <NUM> and plurality of fabric-material welt threads <NUM> as long as the ortho-fabric-material is capable of electrically insulating each conductive-fiber of the plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> from each other. Furthermore, each conductive-fiber of the plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> may also be <NUM>-plyed or multi-plied conductive-fibers. As such, in this example, the fabric-material <NUM> is shown as a sub-weave <NUM> of the weave <NUM> of the fabric-material <NUM>. The sub-weave <NUM> includes the plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> (as a plurality of warp conductive-fibers) along the plurality of fabric-material welt threads <NUM> and in between the plurality of fabric-material <NUM> warp threads <NUM>, where the sub-weave <NUM> includes the plurality of insulating threads <NUM> spaced in-between the plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM>.

In this example the plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> and plurality of insulating threads <NUM> are shown as extending uniformly in one direction (i.e., first direction <NUM>), however, it is noted that the plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> and plurality of insulating threads <NUM> can be intermixed in both warp and weft in any ordering or pattern desired based on the design of the MDMS <NUM> as will be shown later in this disclosure. It is further noted that the plurality of insulating threads <NUM> can have a dielectric constant value or values that do not significantly diminish the traveling-wave of the electric-field <NUM> produced by the MDMS <NUM>. While the weave <NUM> of fabric-material <NUM> is shown in this example, it is noted that the fabric-material <NUM> may instead be braided.

Turning to <FIG>, and <FIG>, front and back view is shown of an example of an implementation of a weave, or braid, of the fabric-material <NUM> as an ortho-fabric-material <NUM> (e.g., the outer-layer material of the spacesuit) with a plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM> utilized as the plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> in accordance with the present disclosure. In <FIG>, the front-surface <NUM> (also referred to herein as the "top-side") of the ortho-fabric-material <NUM> is shown while in <FIG>, the back-surface <NUM> of the ortho-fabric-material <NUM> is shown. <FIG> is an amplified front-view of the front-surface <NUM> of the ortho-fabric-material <NUM> showing a single CNT-fiber <NUM> (of the plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM>) woven, or braided, into the threads (i.e., fibers) of the ortho-fabric-material <NUM>, while <FIG> shows a less amplified front-view of the front-surface <NUM> of the ortho-fabric-material <NUM> showing multiple CNT-fibers (of the plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM>) woven, or braided, into the threads of the ortho-fabric-material <NUM>. In this example, the plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM> do not penetrate the entire fabric-material <NUM> thickness of the ortho-fabric-material <NUM>. The weave, or braid, is done such that only the front-surface <NUM> has the plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM>. As such, in <FIG>, the ortho-fabric-material <NUM> is shown not to have any CNT-fibers <NUM> passing through the back-surface <NUM> of the ortho-fabric-material <NUM>.

In <FIG>, an angled side-view of an example of an implementation of a portion of two CNT-fibers <NUM> and <NUM> is shown in accordance with the present disclosure. The two CNT-fibers <NUM> and <NUM> (of the plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM>, <FIG>) can include side fibrils <NUM> and <NUM> (i.e., generally known as "hairs" of the CNT-fiber) that are formed by slightly frayed strands in the CNT-fibers <NUM> and <NUM>, which can be oriented in an organized or random fashion. In generally, the utilization of the side-fibrils <NUM> and <NUM> increases the dust repellant effect of the MDMS <NUM> by creating irregularities in the electric-field <NUM>, <FIG>.

In <FIG>, and <FIG>, front-views of an example of an implementation of the insulation of the plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM> (shown in <FIG>, and <FIG>) on the front-surface <NUM> of the ortho-fabric-material <NUM> are shown in accordance with the present disclosure. In this example, a plurality of thermoplastic-fibers <NUM> are mounted during the fabrication of the ortho-fabric-material <NUM>. In this example, the assembled ortho-fabric-material <NUM> and the plurality of thermoplastic-fibers <NUM> are annealed at elevated temperatures, melting the thermoplastic-fibers <NUM> to create a micron-sized insulating layer <NUM> that increase the safety of the combination of ortho-fabric-material <NUM> and the plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM> while only having minimal reduction in the electric-field <NUM> (for example, less than approximately <NUM>% reduction) that repeals the dust particles <NUM>. In <FIG>, a top-layer coating <NUM> is shown completely covering the front-surface <NUM> of the ortho-fabric-material <NUM> and plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM>. The top-layer coating <NUM> can be electrically insulating or polarizing for local enhancement of the electric-field <NUM>. The top-layer coating <NUM> may be applied after the assembly of the plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM> and the front-surface <NUM> of the ortho-fabric-material <NUM> is complete. As an example, the top-layer coating <NUM> can 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 <NUM> in the shield <NUM> to the typical bandgap of dust particles (as an example, the work-function developed at NASA GRC).

Turning to <FIG>, an amplified front-view of an example of another implementation of an ortho-fabric-material <NUM> with a first plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM> and second plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM> is shown in accordance with the present disclosure. In this example, the first plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM> and second plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM> are shown to have multidirectional patterning. As an example, two areas <NUM> and <NUM> of the ortho-fabric-material <NUM> are shown with the first area <NUM> having the first plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM> oriented in a "vertical" direction (i.e., a vertical weave) while the second area <NUM> having the second plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM> oriented in a "horizontal" direction (i.e., horizontal weave).

Similarly, in <FIG>, a front-view of an example of yet another implementation of an ortho-fabric-material <NUM> with a first plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM> and second plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM> is shown in accordance with the present disclosure. In this example, the first plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM> and second plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM> are superimposed in a "vertical" weave and "horizontal" weave, insulated by a thin film of insulating-material or fabric-material. The superimposed weaves can be variable and/or different to enhance the electric-field <NUM>. The individual CNT-fibers of the first plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM> and second plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM> can be insulated on either side of the individual CNT-fibers.

In <FIG>, a front-view of an example of still another implementation of an ortho-fabric-material <NUM> with a first plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM> and second plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM> is shown in accordance with the present disclosure. In this example, the first plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM> and second plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM> can have varying spacing and dimensions. The width (e.g., diameter) of the individual CNT-fibers of the first and second plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM> and <NUM> are not restricted to <NUM> degrees. The distance between the individual adjacent CNT-fibers of the first and second plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM> and <NUM> may vary. Additionally, the clustering of the first and second plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM> and <NUM> may vary with interfiber distances having a wider spacing <NUM> and a narrow spacing <NUM>.

In <FIG>, a front-view of an example of an implementation of an ortho-fabric-material <NUM> with a plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM> driven with multiple electrical waveforms is shown in accordance with the present disclosure. In this example, the plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM> are driven by a low-frequency (for example <NUM>) AC, multi-phase sinusoidal signal <NUM> with threephases among six CNT-fibers (phase-one <NUM>, phase-two <NUM>, and phase-three <NUM>). Similarly, in <FIG>, a front-view is shown of an example of an implementation of the ortho-fabric-material <NUM> with the plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM> driven with another type of multiple electrical waveforms in accordance with the present disclosure. In this example, the plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM> are driven by a low-frequency (for example <NUM>) AC, multi-phase sinusoidal signal <NUM> with two-phases among four CNT-fibers (phase-one <NUM> and phase-two <NUM>). These examples allow for wider-spectrum waveforms with random spectral components (in the range of <NUM> to <NUM>) distributed among clusters of CNT-fibers <NUM>.

In <FIG>, a front-view of an example of an implementation of a non-ortho-fabric-material <NUM> with a plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM> is shown in accordance with the present disclosure.

In <FIG>, a front-view of an example of an implementation of a non-ortho-fabric-material <NUM> with a plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM> and <NUM> is shown in accordance with the present disclosure. The non-ortho-fabric-materials <NUM> and <NUM> can be substrates with ribbons having flexible fibers, oriented fibers of non-conductive material (as example non-conductive polymer), which has the CNT-fibers <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> embedded at predetermined intervals in a matrix. The ribbons can be stabilized with a backing made of matrix curing material. The non-ortho-fabric-materials <NUM> and <NUM> can alternatively be charged fabric fibers utilizing charged polymers that allow local enhancement of the electric-field <NUM> for complex geometric contours of the assembly. The non-ortho-fabric-materials <NUM> and <NUM> can 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 <NUM>-ply that is conductive and one strand that is insulative. In general, materials used in the <NUM>-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 <NUM> 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 <NUM> 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 <NUM> to <NUM> in lunar conditions, the ranges for conductive-fiber width are anticipated to be between approximately <NUM> to <NUM>, conductive-fiber spacing between approximately <NUM> to <NUM>, voltages between approximately <NUM> to <NUM>,000V, frequency between approximately <NUM> to <NUM>, and single to multiphase input signals. These parametric values can increase by a factor of approximately <NUM> to <NUM> for Earth applications to account for the effects of gravity, humidity and atmospheric conditions.

Turning to <FIG>, in <FIG> an amplified front-view of an example of an implementation of an ortho-fabric-material <NUM> with a plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM> and plurality of sensors <NUM> is shown in accordance with the present disclosure. The sensors <NUM> can be micro-sensors that are attached to the ortho-fabric-material <NUM> or embedded within the plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM>. The sensors <NUM> are configured to identify the amount of dust coverage that can then activate the MDMS <NUM> with the AC voltage-signal <NUM> based on the pre-specified minimum dust coverage value. The sensors <NUM> may sense the optical reflectively on the front-surface <NUM> of the ortho-fabric-material <NUM>, change in mass, etc..

In <FIG>, a top-view of a system block diagram is shown of an example of an implementation of a plurality of micro-vibratory sensors <NUM> and a plurality of actuators <NUM> embedded within the fabric-material <NUM> or within the CNT-fibers <NUM> (that are woven into the fabric-material <NUM>) that combine mechanical action with the electric-field <NUM> to enhance dust repelling action of the shield <NUM> of the MDMS <NUM>.

In <FIG>, a front-view (along cutting plane A-A' <NUM>) is shown of the system block diagram shown in <FIG> of the plurality of micro-vibratory sensors <NUM> and the plurality of actuators 2601embedded within the fabric-material <NUM> or within the plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM> in accordance with the present disclosure. The plurality of CNT-fibers <NUM> (i.e., a series of approximately parallel CNT-fibers) are woven into the fabric-material <NUM> which, in this example, may be the ortho-fabric-materials of a spacesuit. The fabric-material <NUM> has an outermost layer <NUM> and on top of the outermost-layer <NUM> is a work-function coating <NUM>. The fabric-material <NUM> also includes an underneath-layer <NUM> of the fabric-material <NUM> underneath the outermost-layer <NUM>. The plurality of micro-vibratory sensors <NUM> and the plurality of actuators 2601are located between the outermost-layer <NUM> and underneath-layer <NUM>. In this example, the MDMS <NUM> combines a passive, electrostatic, and vibratory mechanical action to repel dust off of the shield <NUM>.

Turning to <FIG>, a side-view is shown of a system block diagram of an example of an implementation of the MDMS <NUM> with a MDMS controller <NUM> and the micro-vibratory sensors and actuators <NUM> (shown in <FIG>) in accordance with the present disclosure. This example is similar to the example shown in <FIG> with the added elements of a first sensor <NUM>, a second sensor <NUM>, and an actuator <NUM> within the micro-vibratory sensors and actuators <NUM>, and the MDMS controller <NUM>. In this example, as described earlier, the MDMS controller <NUM> can be any general electronic controller that can include a microcontroller, a CPU based processor, DSP, an ASIC, FPGA, or other similar device or system. The first sensor <NUM> and second sensor <NUM> are devices capable of identifying the amount of dust particle <NUM> coverage on the shield <NUM> and then provide that information to the MDMS controller <NUM>, which is in signal communication with the first and second sensors <NUM> and <NUM> via signal paths <NUM> and <NUM>, respectively. The first and second sensors <NUM> and <NUM> can be micro-sensors that are powered by a MDMS power supply (not shown) or by harvesting the mechanical energy from the motion of the wearer of the MDMS <NUM>. The first and second sensors <NUM> and <NUM> determine the amount of dust particle <NUM> coverage on the shield <NUM> and provide that information to the MDMS controller <NUM> via sensor data signals <NUM> and <NUM> that are transmitted to the MDMS controller <NUM> via the signal paths <NUM> and <NUM>, respectively. Once received by the MDMS controller <NUM>, the MDMS controller <NUM> then determines if the AC voltage-signal <NUM> needs to be adjusted to change the characteristics of the electric-field <NUM> on the shield <NUM> to remove the dust particle <NUM> on the shield <NUM>. If the AC voltage-signal <NUM> needs to be adjusted, the MDMS controller <NUM> sends an adjustment signal <NUM> to the input-signal-source <NUM> via signal path <NUM>. Once received, the input-signal-source <NUM> modifies the waveform and/or frequency of the AC voltage-signal <NUM> (in response to the adjustment signal <NUM>) provided to the plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> to optimize the dust mitigation properties of the MDMS <NUM>. In addition, the MDMS controller <NUM> can provide an actuation signal <NUM> to the actuator <NUM> via signal path <NUM>. Once received, the actuator <NUM> will begin to provide mechanical work (e.g., vibrational energy) to the outermost-layer <NUM> of the fabric-material <NUM> to assist in dislodging and/or removing the dust particles <NUM> from the shield <NUM>. In this example, the actuator <NUM> may be a piezoelectric device (such as, for example, a micro-vibratory device) or some strands (not shown) within some of the conductive-fibers <NUM>. The actuator <NUM> may operate under the control of the MDMS controller <NUM>, from inputs from the first and second sensors <NUM> and <NUM>, or other control devices external to the MDMS <NUM>. Similar to the first and second sensors <NUM> and <NUM>, the actuator <NUM> can be powered by the MDMS power supply (not shown) or by harvesting the mechanical energy from the motion of the wearer of the MDMS <NUM>.

In this example it is noted that only two sensors <NUM> and <NUM> and one actuator <NUM> are shown for convenience in the illustration of <FIG>. It is appreciated, that this is not a limitation and the MDMS <NUM> can include a plurality of sensors and a plurality of actuators below the outermost-layer <NUM> of the fabric-material <NUM> without limitation.

Another application for the MDMS <NUM> 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 <NUM>.

In addition to sensors and actuators, the MDMS <NUM> can 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 <NUM> or to provide heat to wearer of the MDMS <NUM> via heating the plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM>. In the example of CNT-fibers for the plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM>, the micro-heaters may be implemented as part of the plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> that can be implemented either on the outermost-layer <NUM> of the fabric-material <NUM> or as a secondary plurality of conductive-fibers (not shown) in the underneath-layer <NUM> of the fabric-material <NUM>. The micro-heaters are configured to produce a temperature on, or in, the fabric-material <NUM> that can be controlled by the MDMS controller <NUM> or by direct inputs from the sensors within the fabric-material <NUM>. The micro-heaters can be powered by the MDMS power supply.

It is further noted that the plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> can also be utilized for radiation protection of the MDMS <NUM>. In this example, the weave patterns of the plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> is optimized and the input-signal-source <NUM> produces AC voltage-signals <NUM> that generate an electric-field that repels electrons, protons, or both. This application will utilize higher frequencies than the dust repellent application of the MDMS <NUM> and can be superimposed on the plurality of conductive-fibers <NUM> 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 <NUM> can also be utilized for energy harvesting where the MDMS <NUM> can 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 <NUM> can 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 can 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 can 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 <NUM> 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 can 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 MDMS <NUM> can also include embedded electric-field sensors capable of detecting the jamming signal. Once a jamming signal is detected, the MDMS <NUM> 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 MDMS <NUM> to mitigate the dust from the shield. In order to produce these anti-jamming AC voltage-signals, the MDMS controller <NUM> may be in signal communication with an external communication system.

Turning to <FIG>, front-views of examples of different implementations of printed flexible conductor and/or conductive-fiber patterns are shown for use with the MDMS <NUM> 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 MDMS controller) to better control dust repelling action. The various shapes provide varying optimizing dust repelling and particle collection actions. The printed patterns may be then attached to a flexible-material, fabric-material, and/or surface of the appropriate dielectric properties. In these examples, <FIG> shows approximately parallel spirals, <FIG> shows approximately parallel concentric rectangles, <FIG> shows approximately parallel concentric triangles, and <FIG> shows approximately parallel zig-zags. In this example, the approximately parallel concentric triangles shown in <FIG> can be implemented on tips of the fingers (of the finger section <NUM>) to intensify the electric-field at the pointed corners of the fingers (i.e., sections <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>). Moreover, the parallel zig-zags orientation (shown in <FIG>) of the conductive-fibers may also be utilized on the inner finger surface <NUM>.

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, gloves, and mitts, 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 piezoelectricmechanical 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 MDMS <NUM> 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> is a circuit diagram of an example of an implementation of the electrodes of the MDMS <NUM> in accordance with the present disclosure. In this example, three electrodes are shown as electrode A <NUM>, electrode B <NUM>, and electrode C <NUM>. Each of the electrodes can be in signal communication with a sub-pluralities of the conductive-fibers on the fabric-material <NUM>. As an example and for purpose of simplicity of illustration, electrode A <NUM> is shown in signal communication a first plurality of conductive-fibers that are shown a three conductive-fibers <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>. Similarly, electrode B <NUM> is shown in signal communication with a second plurality of conductive-fibers that are shown a three conductive-fibers <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> and electrode C <NUM> is shown in signal communication with a third plurality of conductive-fibers that are shown a three conductive-fibers <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>. In this example, the location of the individual conductive-fibers may be utilized, in combination with the input-signal-source, to either remove dust particles of a given size or to collect those particles. The location of the individual conductive-fibers resulting in spacing between the individual conductive-fibers that may be utilized to discriminate between particle sizes. In this example, the spacing between the conductive-fibers of the electrode A <NUM> and electrode B <NUM> is distance x <NUM>. Moreover, the spacing between the conductive-fibers of the electrode B <NUM> and electrode C <NUM> is also distance x <NUM>. The spacing between the conductive-fibers of the electrode A <NUM> and electrode C <NUM> is a larger distance y <NUM>. In this example, the distances x <NUM> and y <NUM> can be utilized to discriminate between particle sizes. As an example, when particles having a size about the distance x <NUM> are desired, the MDMS controller can energize the three electrodes (i.e., electrode A <NUM>, electrode B <NUM>, and electrode C <NUM>) by directing the input-signal-source <NUM> to drive the three electrodes with a three-phase (i.e., <NUM> degree phase shifted) signal. If, instead, particles having a size about the distance y <NUM> are desired, the MDMS controller may only energize the electrode A <NUM> and electrode C <NUM> by directing the input-signal-source <NUM> to drive the electrode A <NUM> and electrode C <NUM> with a two-phase (i.e., <NUM> degree phase shifted) signal. Alternatively, if a standing-wave electric-field is desired, the MDMS controller may only energize the electrode A <NUM> and electrode C <NUM> by directing the input-signal-source <NUM> to drive the electrode A <NUM> is a sinusoidal signal by directing the input-signal-source <NUM> to drive the electrode A <NUM> with, for example, a signal equal to Vpsin(ωt), where Vp is the amplitude of the voltage applied (as described earlier), ω is the angular frequency of the signal in radians and t is time. In this example, electrode B <NUM> and electrode C <NUM> are set to zero.

In this example, the electrode A <NUM>, electrode B <NUM>, and electrode C <NUM> can receive phase-shifted signals from the input-signal-source that may vary based on the different input signals and configuration of the conductive-fibers. For example, the input-signal-source can produce a <NUM> degree phase shift for a three phase signal, <NUM> degrees phase shift for a four phase signal, <NUM> degree phase shift for a two phase signal, etc..

In <FIG>, a flowchart is shown illustrating an example of an implementation of a method <NUM> of dust mitigation performed by the MDMS <NUM> in operation in accordance with the present disclosure. In this example, the MDMS <NUM> will be assumed to be the MDMS <NUM> shown in <FIG>.

The method <NUM> begins <NUM> by receiving <NUM> an AC voltage-signal from an input-signal-source at the plurality of input-nodes and generating <NUM> an electric-field on the front-surface of the fabric-material with the plurality of conductive-fibers. The method <NUM> further includes generating <NUM> 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 (i.e., the traveling-wave travels perpendicular to the direction of the length of the conductive-fibers) and then the method <NUM> ends <NUM>.

In this example, receiving <NUM> the AC voltage-signal can include receiving at least one sensor data signal from at least one sensor within the fabric-material, where the sensor data signal indicates if any dust particles are on a shield of the MDMS and producing the AC voltage-signal based in response to receiving the at least one sensor data signal. Moreover, the method <NUM> can further include producing a vibration on the fabric-material based on the at least one sensor data signal.

Turning to <FIG>, a flowchart is shown illustrating an example of an implementation of a method <NUM> of particle collection performed by the MDMS in operation in accordance with the present disclosure. Again, in this example, the MDMS <NUM> will be assumed to be the MDMS <NUM> shown in <FIG>.

The method <NUM> begins <NUM> receiving <NUM> an AC voltage-signal from an input-signal-source at the plurality of input-nodes and generating <NUM> an electric-field on the front-surface of the fabric-material with the plurality of conductive-fibers. The method <NUM> further includes generating <NUM> a standing-wave, from the electric-field, along the front-surface of the fabric-material to capture a plurality of particles and then the method <NUM> ends <NUM>. In this example, the plurality of conductive-fibers can include a first sub-plurality of conductive-fibers, a second sub-plurality of conductive-fibers, and a third sub-plurality of conductive-fibers. Moreover, generating <NUM> the electric-field on the front-surface of the fabric-material with the plurality of conductive-fibers may include having the MDMS controller selectively cause the input-signal-source to produce a phase shift of approximately <NUM> degrees between the first sub-plurality of conductive-fibers, second sub-plurality of conductive-fibers, and third sub-plurality of conductive-fibers if the AC voltage-signal is a two-phase signal. The MDMS controller may also selectively cause the input-signal-source to produce a phase shift of approximately <NUM> degrees between the first sub-plurality of conductive-fibers and the third sub-plurality of conductive-fibers. If the AC voltage-signal is a four-phase signal, generating <NUM> the electric-field on the front-surface of the fabric-material with the plurality of conductive-fibers can include producing a phase shift of approximately <NUM> degrees between the first sub-plurality of conductive-fibers, second sub-plurality of conductive-fibers, and third sub-plurality of conductive-fibers.

Claim 1:
A Multi-use Dust Mitigation System, MDMS, for mitigating dust and collecting particles, comprising:
a fabric material, wherein the fabric-material includes
a front-surface (<NUM>) and
a back-surface (<NUM>);
a plurality of conductive-fibers (<NUM>) within the fabric-material, wherein the plurality of conductive-fibers are approximately parallel along the fabric-material in a first direction and are approximately
adjacent to the front-surface of the fabric-material; a plurality of input-nodes (<NUM>) approximately adjacent to the fabric-material;
an input-signal-source (<NUM>) configured to produce an alternating-current, AC, voltage signal;
wherein the plurality of input-nodes are in signal communication with the plurality of conductive-fibers (<NUM>) and configured to receive the alternating-current, AC, voltage-signal (<NUM>) from the input-signal-source, and
wherein the plurality of conductive-fibers (<NUM>) 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;
further including a MDMS controller (<NUM>) in signal communication with the input-signal-source (<NUM>), characterised in that the MDMS comprises:
a finger section (<NUM>, <NUM>);
a hand section (<NUM>, <NUM>) physically attached to the finger section; in that
the fabric-material is within both the finger section and hand section; and in that the MDMS controller (<NUM>) is configured to, selectively, cause the input-signal-source (<NUM>) to produce a single phase AC signal that is transmitted to the plurality of conductive-fibers to generate a standing-wave or cause the input-signal-source (<NUM>) to produce a multi-phase signal that is transmitted to the plurality of conductive-fibers to generate a traveling-wave.