Maintenance and Repair Support System (MARSS)

The MARSS is the first integration of soldier and machine optimized for maintenance. It is a lightweight, open architecture, wearable personal computer with object oriented software that controls and integrates plug-in measurement instrumentation, diagnostics processes, interactive electronic technical manuals, and logistic databases for the soldier. Input and output to the system is by means of a head-mounted microphone and a flat-panel active matrix display. MARSS has wireless Local Area Network (LAN) interaction with the weapon system data bus and members of the maintenance team, allowing transmission of fault or diagnostic data. It contains multimedia repair and replace instructions on small, high-density, removable PCMCIA disks. Flexible board technology provides soldier comfort. The open architecture allows easy upgrading of the hardware and software, including new tools as they become available. New battery technology consists of very small, flat, flexible batteries producing six hours operation.