Title: Comparison of acceleration sensors for American football helmet impacts

Authors: Brian E. Anderson

Addresses: Geophysics Group (EES-17), MS D446, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA

Abstract: This paper presents experimental results comparing the detected acceleration values from sensors measuring American football helmet impacts. The sensors used in the study include a laser vibrometer, a research grade accelerometer, an Impakt Protective, Inc. Shockbox® Football Helmet Sensor, a Reebok CHECKLIGHT™ sensor, and a Pressure Analysis Company, Inc. prototype sensor. A human head model was placed into a Riddell helmet and this helmet was then affixed to a pendulum. The helmet was pulled back and allowed to collide with a large granite block to create a frontal, forehead area impact on the helmet. A comparison is made of the detected accelerations from these sensors with a wide range of impact velocities, along with a repeatability determination of several measurements made for two selected impact velocities.

Keywords: American football; helmet impact; acceleration sensors; concussion; head collision; impact sensors; sensor comparison; frontal impact; forehead impact; impact velocities.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIT.2015.075925

International Journal of Instrumentation Technology, 2015 Vol.1 No.4, pp.282 - 293

Received: 04 Apr 2015
Accepted: 24 Jul 2015
Published online: 16 Apr 2016 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article