A portable data acquisition system for the measurement of impact attenuation material properties

Abstract

A variety impact attenuating materials are used for injury prevention and risk minimization in a variety of applications, including children's playground surface, padding for trampoline frames, padding at the entrance and exit of inflatables, at the base of artificial climbing structures, and many other fall-zone applications. This paper details the development and description of a cordless impact measurement system. The electronics include a microprocessor based system located within the missile that controls the sampling, collates and processes the data prior to transmission. The data is then transmitted via a wireless connection to the laptop where it is imported via a custom driver into LabVIEW to undergo further post-processing and display in a user friendly GUI. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.