A group of engineers at a helmet manufacturing company funded by a DoD grant came to Henway in need of a custom high G 3-axis accelerometer system for researching concussions. Their requirements were daisy chaining up to 20 sensors, syncing all impact data with millisecond precision, easy system wiring setup, custom PC software for starting, stopping, and recording data, thresholds that would trigger the beginning of data logging but, when triggering occurs, it needs to capture a few seconds before the impact. This level of sophistication on a small chip involves some tricky programming. It also needs to be battery-powered and durable.
They came to Henway because they heard of our high success with custom motion capture electronics. They needed a team that would get them going in the right direction from the start of the project. They wanted a team that didn’t need to learn on the job. Their expectations were high, and they let us know that.
We accepted the job. At the end of the first phase, we presented precisely how the daisy chaining would work: you could plug in sensors at any time, and the sensors would auto-identify themselves and their position along the chain. We’d place custom labels on the sensors that would match the data on the PC for human-friendly identification. We shared estimated 3D CAD models of the electronics so they could confirm the size, and we demonstrated the PC software, how it would work, and all the menus.
With confidence in the project’s direction, Henway continued with the project to the end. We delivered a turn-key product with manufacturing files, fully documented for their exact purposes. The picture shows the 3D CAD model of the PCB. The PCB has a processor, accelerometer, input/output connectors, power supply, LEDs, and more.
If you need custom electronics, contact us to start a conversation.