| Project Summary | Project Information |
|---|---|
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The main goal of this project is to develop customizable protective equipment for headgear that has the ability to be manufactured in Dr. Cormier's 3D printing laboratory. This protective equipment will have many applications, particularly in sports for athletes, to help protect against the growing problem of concussions. The project will be broken down in to different objectives in order to optimize the quality solution to this problem. The first objective is to develop a work flow that scans an athlete's head. This scan will provide some CAD model parameters, with which we will use as the geometry to design the protective device. The second objective is to design, prototype and test different energy absorbing cushion material ideas to optimize the protective headwear and determine which structures are most effective. The third objective is to develop test rigs to test the prototyped headgear through simple drop tests in order to determine the effectiveness of the technology. We are experimenting with two different materials, ninjaflex and filaflex, and have printed 4 samples of each with different densities. We have met with a bunch of SME's to get input on the testing plan, CAD modeling, compression tests, and information on building the test rig. We have the sense scanner working so we can capture scans of the football helmet and different test subjects heads to determine the size of the padding to be printed. We are working on solidworks manipulations of these scanned data files. We have started performing virtual testing in Ansys to determine which sample densities will be able to withstand the most amount of impact force. We are challenging our initial test rig design with some new ideas involving a simpler design and build. We have run some initial tests of the ability of our printed samples to see what kind of compression forces they can withstand compared to the baseline sample. All deliverables and assignments for MSD 1 have been completed. Prior to beginning MSD 2; we will have finalized the test rig design, the padding design layout in the helmet and the design of attachments for the padding to the helmet will be completed. We plan to have the official test plan completed within the first two weeks of MSD 2. Additionally, any virtual drop test analysis that still remains will be completed within the first couple weeks of MSD 2. For the remainder of the semester, we will finalize the process from 3D scanning a person's head to sending the parameters to the printer. We will complete all of our testing to have a design finalized on the shape, density, and infill pattern of the foam. We will have all the foam printed for one helmet and will test it against the baseline helmet and foam using our drop test rig that will also be built during this time. The assembly of the test rig has been completed. The carriage and the cables have been attached to the structure. We have completed the 3D model of our entire padding insert for the helmet. It is composed of several sections that will get printed on the MakerBot Replicator 2X printer. The helmet to hand scan merging is also complete. After the completion of testing, we have concluded that our 3D printed padding produces very similar energy absorption to the manufacturer’s padding. Our average impact severity was 0.6 units, or 0.7%, higher than the competitor’s. However, considering our limited budget and timeframe, it has been a successful project. The Project Readiness Package (PRP) can be found here: Project Readiness Package. Our one page project summary is provided here: Project Summary. Our project poster can be seen here: MSD Poster. |
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Team Members
public/group photo
| Member | Role | Contact |
|---|---|---|
| Chris Casella | Biomedical Engineer (Project Leader) | cmc8019@rit.edu |
| Scott Quenville | Mechanical Engineer | smq5115@rit.edu |
| Tiffany Gundler | Biomedical Engineer | trg7720@rit.edu |
| Nathan Marshall | Mechanical Engineer | nmm2796@rit.edu |
| Kayla Wheeler | Biomedical Engineer | kmw7556@rit.edu |
| Christian Blank | Mechanical Engineer | cab8639@rit.edu |
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the following people for their help throughout our Senior Project:| Acknowledgements |
|---|
| Dr. Cormier for his time, support, and investment in the project |
| John Kaemmerlen for his guidance and mentorship throughout the process |
| John Bonzo for use of the Brinkman Lab facilities |
| Joe Abraham for a tour of the Materials Testing Lab and use of their facilities |
| Rachel Silvestrini for her industrial experimental design expertise and help with our test plans |
| Chris Pietrzak and brg sports for his help with test rig design concepts and ideas |
| Mike Buffalin for help with the 3d printers |
| Dr. Borkholder for allowing us to use his accelerometer technology for our drop test rig |
Table of Contents MSD I
| Problem Definition | Project Planning | Systems Design | Detailed Design | Gate Review |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Table of Contents MSD II
| Subsystem Level Build, Test & Documentation | System Level Build, Test & Documentation | Verification & Validation | Publications & Presentation | Photo Gallery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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- Node updated 2015-05-17 17:07 by trg7720