Duvall Design was contracted by Lockheed Martin Energy Systems on behalf of the US Marines to design, develop, and fabricate a working fabric prototype for the ASSTC mobile surgical "hospital in a box". The ultralightweight 900 sq.' tent structure has an integral collapsible aluminum framework which is attached to the top of an expandable composite fiber container developed by Lockheed Martin at the National Prototyping Center at Oak Ridge National Lab. The complete tent system collapses to 9' x 9' x 30" and weights less than 400 lbs. The system deploys in less than 17 minutes providing a 30' x 30' x 12' high sealed hospital environment for field surgery. The ASSTC is intended for a variety of applications including disaster and humanitarian relief. Duvall Design designed, engineered, and fabricated the hardware and fabric components. The hardware system includes mechanical leveling devices, cam-lock release mechanisms for instant tent deployment, and a self-locking hinge system. The fabric system includes a suspended double-layer inner membrane, enclosed with an opaque laminate flysheet which seals to the floor. A fabric duct delivers filtered air through the tent walls to a fabric plenum above the core unit from an external HVAC system.The ASSTC system is currently undergoing field testing, and has been successfully deployed more than fifty times. Look at this site for updates on the progress of the ASSTC project.
