The Need

Personal protective equipment (PPE) remains predominantly passive, relying on material strength to absorb or deflect impacts after they occur. This approach is insufficient in high-risk environments where fast-moving debris, tool fragments, or ballistic threats can cause severe injury before mitigation occurs. While active protection systems exist for vehicles and infrastructure, they are too large and energy-intensive for individual use. There is a clear need for a compact, wearable solution that can actively detect and respond to incoming hazards in real time to enhance personal safety.

The Technology

OSU engineers have developed a wearable active protection platform that integrates real-time sensing, predictive tracking, and rapid-response actuation to intercept incoming projectiles before impact. The system continuously monitors the surrounding environment, identifies fast-moving threats, and dynamically deploys a protective barrier along the anticipated trajectory. Designed using commercially available components in a modular architecture, the platform demonstrates a scalable approach to combining detection and interception in a compact, body-mounted format suitable for mobile users across multiple operational settings.

Commercial Applications

• Personal safety
• Defense and law enforcement personal protection systems
• Industrial safety (construction, manufacturing, mining environments)
• Emergency response and firefighting in hazardous environments

Benefits/Advantages

• Active protection vs. passive PPE
• Wearable and lightweight form factor
• Low-cost, modular architecture
• Broad threat applicability