A Dust Mitigation System (DMS) comprises a fabric material 302 having a front-surface 304 and a back-surface 306; a plurality of conductive fibres 308 within the fabric material; and a plurality of input-nodes 310 approximately adjacent to the fabric material. The plurality of conductive fibres are approximately parallel in a first direction 314 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 conductive fibres and are configured to receive an alternating-current (AC) voltage-signal 316 from an input signal source 318. The plurality of conductive fibres 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 that travels along the front-surface of the fabric material in a second direction 324 that is transverse to the first direction. Once the AC voltage is applied to the DMS, any dust particles 332 on the front surface of the fabric material may be repelled. Preferably, the conductive fibres are carbon nanotube fibres. The system can be fabricated on a device, such as a spacesuit.
Dust mitigation system utilizing conductive-fibers
2019-09-18
Patent
Electronic Resource
English