April 7, 2023
By Chloe Arrington

Get to know mechanical engineering team The Magic Men who are developing a new, low-cost rapid deployment camouflage mechanism for military tanks and mobile artillery for the Spring 2023 Georgia Tech Capstone Design Expo. The team’s advisor is Professor of the Practice Mike Tinskey. 
 

1. Can you tell us about your team and project?

Our team, The Magic Men, is made up of six mechanical engineering students and has partnered with the U.S. Army to develop a rapidly deployable camouflage system for the Army's tanks and heavy vehicles. The Army's mechanized units deploy a thermal/visual camo net over their vehicles when they stop to rest but the setup process is so time-consuming and cumbersome, the soldiers often don't deploy the nets at all. This exposes them to enemy detection and fire in a contested battlespace. Our team sought to develop a faster, more convenient deployment system to encourage soldiers to deploy the camo and protect their units.  

Our team members are: 

• David Cheek  
• Gavin Goodier  
• Jacob Smith  
• Oliver Whitehead  
• Wasiq Kabir  
• William Davidson 

2. What was your team’s design process, how do you go about separating different tasks, and what are some of the biggest challenges you have faced?

For our team, we started with an extensive research process, working closely with our sponsor, and looking at similar mechanisms like RV awnings and boat covers in other industries. From there, we developed a few different design concepts before narrowing it down based on what fit our requirements best and what the sponsor saw as viable. Some of the biggest challenges faced are the size and complexity of vehicles we need to design this net-deployment mechanism around—vehicles like an M1 Abrams tank, a Bradley Fighting Vehicle, and an M109 Paladin. They were large, and produced a lot of heat, with a myriad of weapons, antennas, and sensors on top of turrets that needed full mobility under the camo.  

3. Have there been any highlights while working on your project?

One of our highlights has been being able to work closely with the U.S. Army and take a trip to Fort Stewart, home to the Army organization sponsoring the project as well as home to some of the Army's mechanized units. The trip provided a great opportunity for us to really learn and perform the deployment of the camo nets, "the traditional way," and to see the pitfalls ourselves that we aim to improve on. 

4. Can you tell us about your experience working with a sponsor?

Our sponsor within the U.S. Army has been the Marne Innovation Center at the 3rd Infantry Division, and they've been fantastic to work with. They have provided us with a ton of valuable feedback and information, even going out to their armored vehicles to take pictures and dimensions for us. They have been with us every step of the way and helped validate our design choices and it's been great to work with them on a project that could have a real impact on the warfighter.  

5. What team attributes have contributed the most to your success? 

Our team has a very strong mechanical background through various internships as well as through Georgia Tech's Student Competition Center. Four of us come from technical leadership roles within student engineering teams at Georgia Tech and we all have had experience with manufacturing and design internships. With all that experience combined, we were very familiar with the design process and how to carry that over into a functional prototype.  

The Spring 2023 Georgia Tech Capstone Design Expo will be held on Tuesday, April 25, 2023, at McCamish Pavilion on the Georgia Tech campus. At the Expo, over 1200 seniors from various disciplines of engineering, sciences, public policy, and industrial design will showcase their innovative projects designed and built during their Senior/Capstone Design course. Register to attend here!