The Challenge
Body armour can be damaged during training or operations resulting in considerable reduction in its ability to provide impact protection. Damage to the ceramic plate often takes the form of hairline fractures which are only visible during x-ray analysis.
Answering a Defence Science and Technology Laboratory research call to reduce the 100% need to return body armour for x-ray analysis, we developed an infield integrity monitoring and testing sensor.
We have further developed the sensor technology for potential application within the Defence and Security market.
The Approach
To be retrofitted onto existing body armour stocks, the candidate solution would have to be low size, weight, power and cost as well as have a low training burden for users.
We developed a micro-electromechanical system with fine-tuned accelerometer sensors to detect shock waves associated with the formation of cracks caused by an impact.
Extensive non-destructive testing of our sensor validated our approach. With form factor and power consumption in mind, the sensor has a 5 year operating life from a slim coin cell battery.
The Approach
To be retrofitted onto existing body armour stocks, the candidate solution would have to be low size, weight, power and cost as well as have a low training burden for users.
We developed a micro-electromechanical system with fine-tuned accelerometer sensors to detect shock waves associated with the formation of cracks caused by an impact.
Extensive non-destructive testing of our sensor validated our approach. With form factor and power consumption in mind, the sensor has a 5 year operating life from a slim coin cell battery.
The Outcome
AIMS is a low size, weight and power sensor solution that delivers immediate status of the body armour to the user, removing the need for costly routine x-ray analysis.
The user can rapidly assess the integrity of their body armour through status information presented as a simple, single screen graphic on a Smartphone App or by a press-to-test button showing a simple pass/fail via an LED indicator.
