Personalized 3D Helmet
Helmets are an important safety protocol for any dangerous activity. They can prevent injuries in an uncontrollable environment. The most important goal for a good helmet design should be the protection of the brain. But helmets are not omnipotent. Depending on the specific risk of an activity, a specialized helmet can be designed to lessen the potential physical damage from an uncontrolled event. Helmets look simplistic, but in actuality utilizes a broad scope of scientific and engineering concepts. In this project we will successfully engineer a helmet in Autodesk Fusion 360 Software (2017) to meet safety, aesthetic, and practical expectations using a variety of physical concepts to support our application of science in the project.
Hard Hats are simplistic designs and have been modified greatly over time leaving little room for pragmatic improvements. As such we used much of our ingenuity and creativity to find a good solution to meet safety, aesthetic, and advantageous requirements. Aside from the various safety improvements we made, we decided to incorporate a work light and radio to improve functionality. The work light was included because workers who need hardhats often work in dimly lit areas. When a light is included on the hat, the worker does not need to search all over for a light just to do some work in a duct or under a car or in an attic. It makes their job easier and safer. The radio was included because this is the medium that most construction workers communicate by. By including it as part of the helmet, workers can quickly and easily communicate with fellow workers hands free and without needing to remember to carry their radio with them. This speeds up the workflow and increases worker safety, because they always have a communication device with them, and they can talk hands free.
Hard Hats are simplistic designs and have been modified greatly over time leaving little room for pragmatic improvements. As such we used much of our ingenuity and creativity to find a good solution to meet safety, aesthetic, and advantageous requirements. Aside from the various safety improvements we made, we decided to incorporate a work light and radio to improve functionality. The work light was included because workers who need hardhats often work in dimly lit areas. When a light is included on the hat, the worker does not need to search all over for a light just to do some work in a duct or under a car or in an attic. It makes their job easier and safer. The radio was included because this is the medium that most construction workers communicate by. By including it as part of the helmet, workers can quickly and easily communicate with fellow workers hands free and without needing to remember to carry their radio with them. This speeds up the workflow and increases worker safety, because they always have a communication device with them, and they can talk hands free.
Key Concepts
ACCELERATION: a =V/t. Change in velocity over time due to an external or apparent force. (Gravity, Normal)
COEFFICIENT OF FRICTION The ratio of the frictional force to the Normal Force. μ = f/N, where μ is a ratio.
CRUMPLE ZONES: Areas of an object engineered to deform and crumple on impact to absorb the energy of a collision.
DRAG: Used in fluid dynamics as fluid resistance. Used in aeronautics as air resistance.
INERTIA: A physical state of motion that tends to stay unchanged when no forces are acting on the system
G FORCE: Force acting on a body as a result of acceleration or gravity. g = 9.8 m/s squared
FRICTION: A force contrary to the normal force when two objects or surfaces come in contact.
FORCE: Causes masses to accelerate; they are influences that cause a change of movement, direction, or shape. F=ma
KINETIC FRICTION: Occurs when two objects are moving relative to each other and rub together.
COEFFICIENT OF FRICTION The ratio of the frictional force to the Normal Force. μ = f/N, where μ is a ratio.
CRUMPLE ZONES: Areas of an object engineered to deform and crumple on impact to absorb the energy of a collision.
DRAG: Used in fluid dynamics as fluid resistance. Used in aeronautics as air resistance.
INERTIA: A physical state of motion that tends to stay unchanged when no forces are acting on the system
G FORCE: Force acting on a body as a result of acceleration or gravity. g = 9.8 m/s squared
FRICTION: A force contrary to the normal force when two objects or surfaces come in contact.
FORCE: Causes masses to accelerate; they are influences that cause a change of movement, direction, or shape. F=ma
KINETIC FRICTION: Occurs when two objects are moving relative to each other and rub together.
engineering applications of collision physics
I decided to focus on the current structural weaknesses of Hardhat type helmets. Hard hats are designed on a broader scope than other products and as a result, are used universally. Hard hats are often seen as common safety protocols in Mining and Construction firms. As such, it is imperative that we design the best possible Hard Hats to meet our client’s expectations as well as public approval.
The Helmet also passes public safety concerns and laws listed (https://www.helmets.org/mandator.htm) due to an engineering option making our design universal. Our Hard Hat is outfitted with an adjustable strap that covers the human occipital bone, providing extra protection directly to that sensitive part of the cerebrum. Also this adjustable strap allows for a broader consumer base. This means that small children and large adults alike can utilize our product. This fulfills many government issued age laws regarding the use of safety gear in potentially dangerous situations.
The shock absorber springs located in between the underlay and the exoshell put our design ahead of commercial plans in safety. In collision physics, the most important thing is to reduce the external Forces on a body. Let's take a look at F=ma. In our crash simulation, m is always a constant. Logically it would be improbable to instantaneously change a mass of an object subject to a force. So the only option is to reduce Acceleration. a = v/t, so increasing the impact time decreases acceleration. Thus the shock absorber spring technology would decelerate a body headed to collision, exponentially reducing overall brain damage dealt.
In our design, the shock absorber springs themselves are important. We have incorporated an external latch so clients can change out damaged springs to maintain constant safety. These springs would also be sold separately with varying properties. By manipulating the spring constant, we can either increase or decrease the Friction of the spring. This is important because laws of Kinetic Friction states that Kinetic Energy in the face of an opposing force will convert to Thermal Energy (Entropy). F=kx implies that the higher the value of the spring constant, more thermal energy is created while kinetic energy is converted. Consumers can analyze their degree of potential danger and customize the safety feature of the helmet to suit their physical situations.
In addition, my personalized helmet plans come equipped with a light and radio. These are recommended aesthetic customizations that I decided to add on to the design. A light would allow for hands-free illumination (necessary in mining) while the short wave radio could allow communication in case of emergency. These technological components would be added to the versatile Underlay. The Underlay incorporates all equipment not adhered to the exoshell. This separation between the major components that make up our Hard Hat provides a Compression Zone. Using elasticity to our advantage the Underlay acts similarly to a Crumple Zone in a car. As specified officially, our design draws many parallels with safe crumple zone engineering concepts. (http://www.honeywellsafety.com/fibre-metal/Head_Protection/?LangType=1033)
The Helmet also passes public safety concerns and laws listed (https://www.helmets.org/mandator.htm) due to an engineering option making our design universal. Our Hard Hat is outfitted with an adjustable strap that covers the human occipital bone, providing extra protection directly to that sensitive part of the cerebrum. Also this adjustable strap allows for a broader consumer base. This means that small children and large adults alike can utilize our product. This fulfills many government issued age laws regarding the use of safety gear in potentially dangerous situations.
The shock absorber springs located in between the underlay and the exoshell put our design ahead of commercial plans in safety. In collision physics, the most important thing is to reduce the external Forces on a body. Let's take a look at F=ma. In our crash simulation, m is always a constant. Logically it would be improbable to instantaneously change a mass of an object subject to a force. So the only option is to reduce Acceleration. a = v/t, so increasing the impact time decreases acceleration. Thus the shock absorber spring technology would decelerate a body headed to collision, exponentially reducing overall brain damage dealt.
In our design, the shock absorber springs themselves are important. We have incorporated an external latch so clients can change out damaged springs to maintain constant safety. These springs would also be sold separately with varying properties. By manipulating the spring constant, we can either increase or decrease the Friction of the spring. This is important because laws of Kinetic Friction states that Kinetic Energy in the face of an opposing force will convert to Thermal Energy (Entropy). F=kx implies that the higher the value of the spring constant, more thermal energy is created while kinetic energy is converted. Consumers can analyze their degree of potential danger and customize the safety feature of the helmet to suit their physical situations.
In addition, my personalized helmet plans come equipped with a light and radio. These are recommended aesthetic customizations that I decided to add on to the design. A light would allow for hands-free illumination (necessary in mining) while the short wave radio could allow communication in case of emergency. These technological components would be added to the versatile Underlay. The Underlay incorporates all equipment not adhered to the exoshell. This separation between the major components that make up our Hard Hat provides a Compression Zone. Using elasticity to our advantage the Underlay acts similarly to a Crumple Zone in a car. As specified officially, our design draws many parallels with safe crumple zone engineering concepts. (http://www.honeywellsafety.com/fibre-metal/Head_Protection/?LangType=1033)
Collision Physics lab simulation
In a collisions simulation lab test, graphs of the Impact Energy (Kinetic Energy) on the Brain over Time in MS is shown with a curve extending over 6ms. The effects and data analysis are demonstrated in the pictures below. Credits: https://www.helmets.org/general.htm
Commercially Available Hard Hat Designs
Personal fusion 360 HARD HAT DESIGN
We screen-shotted the Perspective and Isometric viewpoints to give further evidence as to the finalization of our design. We also incorporated a screenshot of the decomposition of models. In the above image, I demonstrate the underlay by reducing the form and texture to Primitive Forms. The result is this Watertight Polygon Mesh. Using the Viewport Widget, I Panned and Transformed the Solid to the images on the left. Clients can scope out the adjustor strap seen in the bottom-left image.
|
Aesthetic & Pragmatic Components
Both these images are pre-existing models I found available online (www.3dcadbrowser.com). As part of our original final Hard Hat design created in Autodesk Fusion 360 2017, these templates will make simple yet innovating changes to the overall Hard Hat plans.
Fusion 360 Team Design
Credit: Nick Ruiz @ nickruiz.weebly.com