Measuring the Forces Inside an Avalanche

Crossbow's innovative inertial systems were recently featured on the TV show “Disaster Lab: Buried Alive” presented by National Geographic.

In a recent scientific investigation conducted on the mountains of Utah, researchers used a Crossbow solid-state Inertial Measurement Unit to capture the rate and acceleration data required to characterize the dynamic forces inside an avalanche. They believe that this data will help in developing a model to better understand the injuries that might be sustained by a human victim, and to help ski patrols find a victim more quickly.

 

Crossbow’s Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) was installed inside “Ironman”; an anthropomorphic dummy used to represent a human caught up inside an avalanche. Iron Man was able to measure what happens to a human body trapped and buffeted about in an avalanche and provide rescue teams with data they believe will help save lives.

Avalanches are a very serious threat to off-terrain skiers, snowmobilers and climbers. Even small avalanches are a serious danger to life, between 55 and 65 percent of victims buried in the open are killed, and only 80 percent of the victims remaining on the surface survive. Although ski resort safety officers analyze the snow profile daily, and carry out controlled explosions to loosen the ice and snow when necessary, more than one hundred people die in avalanches each year. Snow flow velocities can often exceed 250 kph, creating forces that are sufficient to crush entire buildings.

To view highlights of this investigation watch the segment here.
For more information on MEMSIC's inertial systems visit the site here.

Crossbow in the Smithsonian!

The Ghostrider comic character was said to possess superhuman strength and durability with the ability to travel between realms and along any surface... the same mission of Berkeley's Blue team who was sponsored by Crossbow Technology when they entered the Pentagon's DARPA Grand Challenge and perhaps why they named their creation the Ghostrider - the only two-wheeled vehicle in that robot car race.

The original DARPA Grand Challenge was intended to accelerate the development of autonomous vehicle technologies by offering a cash prize of $1 Million to the team that built an autonomous robotic ground vehicle that would successfully win a race from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. This specific endeavor was targeted to find smart solutions that would be tested in a realistic scenario under challenging race conditions - something that had never been done before on this scale. Although none of the vehicles completed the course, and the cash prize was not awarded, a tremendous amount was learned about autonomous ground vehicle technology inspiring the future DARPA challenges.

Enjoying a vacation in our nation's capital a few weeks ago, Crossbow's Director of Software for our Inertial Systems, Darren Liccardo stumbled upon the Ghostrider bearing Crossbow's blue and white logo proudly - immortalized in Washington D.C where it has been inducted into the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History's Collections. Ghost Rider was part of the “Robots on the road” display in the "Looking Ahead" gallery, which was in the “Science in American Life” exhibit.

Ghostrider drove itself without a human rider or remote controls. Utilizing Crossbow's 400 series product as part of its system for balance and control, the modified motorcycle was able to navigate, balance and right itself independently.

For information on the Ghostrider robot visit the team's website here.
For details on Crossbow's inertial systems, visit the site here.

Flying Magazine Highlights Crossbow's Efforts

Excerpts from Flying Magazine 2009 Issue

Robert Goyer, Senior Editor at Flying magazine, recently flew up to Olathe, Kansas, home to Bendix/King's flight test development facility to fly the KFD840. In the current issue, Goyer relays the details of this experience:

A funny thing happened in the race to develop retrofit avionics systems for light airplanes: competition. Just a few years ago the price of a retrofit LCD primary flight display for your light single or twin was... well there was no such thing. What a difference a few years makes...With the introduction of the KFD840, Bendix/King (a division of Honeywell) has jumped into the fray, bringing to the game not only its legendary name but much of the expertise that has gone into its sister company Honeywell's Primus Epic flat-panel systems which are standard equipment in some of the most technologically advanced and expensive business jets in the world.

The KFD840 is Bendix/King's new Primary Flight Display (PFD) for piston powered aircraft and is the company's vision of what a flat-panel retrofit primary flight display should be. The display was installed in the company's Cessna 182 test bed (the same type of aircraft owned by Crossbow Technology and used for all of its development and validation flight tests) which was a great platform for the test as it represented the kind of mid-level single into which one of these new lower-priced retrofit PFDs are finding their way.

The philosophy behind the 840 is clear: to create a smart-sized, low-cost, elegant, easy-to-use, reliable and expandable system that many pilots will be able to afford to put in their panels.The most remarkable thing about retrofit flat-panel avionics systems is how competitive they are in terms of price. The suggested price for the KFD840 is $16,995 largely due to Crossbow Technology's internal ADAHRS. With solid-state ADAHRS, the mean time between failures is off the charts and the redundancy of the systems, especially with the optional battery backup is a huge improvement over most conventional vacuum powered systems.

“We see significant interest in the retrofit market for “glass cockpit” technology that makes flying easier and safer such as solid state sensors and a wide horizon. For many aircraft this will allow a pilot to add a second attitude, airspeed and altitude source, improving safety.” said Dan Barks, Business Director, GA Operators and Dealers at Honeywell. “And by working with Crossbow Technology Inc. we can allow the piston aircraft pilots to be able to have a certified glass cockpit for under $20,000, a breakthrough price point for that segment.”

Aesthetically, the 840 is clean and businesslike. There are relatively few buttons and knobs. A pair of dual concentric knobs one at either end, and five semisoft keys lined up along the bottom of the bezel are it. It represents a way to upgrade the panel with solid-state attitude and air data while being dirt simple to transition to and at a price that even a few years ago seemed simply impossible.

Crossbow is anticipating TSO approval at the end of Q3 2009. For more information on Crossbow's line of inertial systems, visit the site here.

Flying is the world's leading aviation magazine and delivers reliable information on aircraft evaluation, flying safety, invaluable advice on improving flying techniques, new product development and the latest technology.

Crossbow AHRS featured on AeroTV

Advancements in AHRS technology were featured today on AeroTV. An interview with Mike Smith, Crossbow's OEM Account Manager of Inertial Systems, provided viewers with some insight and explanation regarding the solid-state technology of the popular AHRS (Attitude and Heading Reference Systems) that are dominating the General Aviation market.

Tue, 09 June 2009.

Such Innovative Technologies Have Become Commonplace In GA

You know that they're there -- but you rarely see them -- the tiny little boxes that provide the physical guidance for today's ingenious generation of glass panel cockpits. Solid-state by design and bereft of the hundreds of moving parts once associated with gyros and their support systems, the modern AHRS is a dependable, and superior replacement for the vacuum pumps and gyros of old.

Known by a variety of similar names, the modern AHRS is an all-electronic Attitude and Heading Reference System that combines the functions of a Vertical Gyro and a Directional Gyro to provide measurement of Roll, Pitch, and Heading (Azimuth) angles. Aero-TV took a little time at the recent 2009 AEA Convention to get an AHRS education from one of the leaders in the field... Crossbow Technologies.

Founded in 1995, Crossbow pioneered the use of Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) Inertial System technology in a wide variety of airborne, land and marine applications. Crossbow first introduced FAA-certified MEMS-based Attitude and Heading Reference Systems (AHRS) to General Aviation on the FAA Capstone program, and the company continues to be at the forefront of AHRS and Inertial Systems development.

With corporate headquarters in San Jose, CA, and Asian offices in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan, Crossbow has distributors in 24 countries worldwide. Crossbow is ISO 9001/2000 certified, holds several FAA TSO approvals, and operates an FAA MIDO approved facility.

Aero-TV: 21st Century Attitudes - AHRS Technology Explained

Derby Days

This past Saturday, May 2nd, the 135th running of the Kentucky Derby took place at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. In an improbable ending, Jockey Calvin Borel rode Mine That Bird - a 50-1 longshot - to a huge victory, coming from dead last to win by 6 3/4 lengths. The Kentucky Derby is often billed as "the most exciting two minutes in sports", and Borel and Mine That Bird did their best to live up to that standard. 

The power and force exerted by these animals in those 2 minutes is amazing! A robotic hoof mechanism was shown at the derby. The image below shows the device clad with an aluminum shoe. The mechanism simulates the force, angle and impact of a racehorse hoof, and makes measurements to help detect trouble spots on tracks. Professor Mick Peterson demonstrated the machine while testing the racing surface at Churchill Downs on Saturday, April 25th, the week before the race.

The device used one of Crossbow's accelerometers to collect the data necessary to make these measurements. These accelerometers provide superior performance in small packages. With expertise in MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) and DSP (Digital Signal Processing) technology, Crossbow accelerometers deliver reliable, cost-effective solutions across a wide range of applications. Several different accelerometers are offered, each optimized to meet customer needs in targeted fields.

Prof. Mick Peterson's research at University of Maine on Animal Biomechanics takes engineering technology and applies it to real life situations. Creating the robotic hoof allows owners the comfort of knowing that the track is safe for the horses to race on, offers them a playing field to encourage optimal performance and provides a fair and consistent racing surface to all riders. The device allows owners to understand the exercise impact of various tracks on the bone density of the horses, and the modeling done by the machine suggests that the device measures soil properties more than 1 foot beneath the track's surface. For more information on this research visit Professor Peterson's site here and for details on Crossbow's accelerometers, click here.

Congratulations to Kentucky Derby Winner Mine Than Bird and Borel for an amazing win!

CXL Series Accel featured on Japanese TV!

This short clip is taken from a Japanese National TV broadcast discussing the vibrations experienced during off road activities. This clip highlights how using Crossbow's CXL accelerometer mounted on the handlebars of a mountain bike, users were able to monitor the acceleration and shock the rider experienced while running the course. 



For more information on Crossbow's accelerometer products, click here.

Airborne High Resolution Imagery to Aid San Diego Fire Control

This blog is focused on the wide range of solutions to real-life problems that can be addressed with Crossbow's wireless sensor network products. This particular posting will focus on the other side of our business - our inertial systems.

This past weekend I headed down to Southern California to visit some family and friends and was sad to see the cloudy cover of smoke and haze still left from the horrible fires that destroyed hundreds of Southern California homes and forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee. Final figures being reported say that 1500 homes were destroyed and over 500,000 acres of land burned from Santa Barbara County to the US-Mexico border. Governor Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency as over 6000 firemen worked to fight the blazes. The major contributing factors to the extreme fire conditions were the drought in Southern California, hot weather, and unusually strong Santa Ana winds with gusts reaching 85 mph (140 km/h). Besides the reduced air quality visible this past weekend, we were relieved to find our family and friends out of harms way. However, I was interested to hear how one of Crossbow's customers, NEOS, Ltd. did their part to contribute to the containment and recovery of the areas consumed by the fires.

San Diego County was the location of the two biggest fires by area burned. The fires forced the largest evacuation in the region's history. NEOS, Ltd. had been contracted by Homeland Security, Google Earth and Border Patrol to begin high resolution aerial surveillance of the fire impact zones in San Diego County. Specifically NEOS, Ltd provided 6' to 1' resolution RGB imagery with DGPS and IMU data that was posted daily on Google Earth. The NEOS aircraft was chosen because of its low altitude forensic capability, short data turn-around and high data quality. It filled in details for the daily Predator and MODIS satellite coverage received at the command center located at San Diego State University.

NEOS - Near Earth Observation Systems used Crossbow's NAV440 GPS-Aided MEMS inertial system on their GT-500 to overfly the San Diego fire zones and provide airborne imagery. The NAV440 was used to improve the accuracy and quality of the images that were used to help in the effort to identify and contain the fires and set up fire defense lines. The NAV440 was able to report the exact position of the aircraft and aiming orientation of the camera. The NEOS system is designed to provide dynamic situational intelligence. The image shows the flight track of the system aircraft flown by NEOS as logged on Google Earth. The second photo shows a damage example and the level of detail obtained from a 10 mega pixel imaging system that can collect over 3,000 images per hour under high clouds, smoke and haze.

Crossbow's NAV440 is a combined GPS Navigation and GPS-Aided Attitude and Heading Reference system (AHRS) that utilizes both MEMS-based inertial sensors and GPS technology. In conjunction with the survey and terrain mapping services and remote sensing that NEOS, Ltd. provides with their GT500 aircraft, the geographic information extraction this solution provides can aid in efforts ranging from disaster recovery, intrusion identification, national security, etc. by providing timely and accurate information for tactical and strategic response to these scenarios. As a California resident, I was proud to see the ways Crossbow technology can be used to aid in recovery. Our prayers for peace, consolation and safety go out to our neighbors affected by these fires.