Gun Hardened High-Performance Miniature Angular Acceleration Sensor

Accurate targeting of ordnance is of vital importance for current and future battlefield requirements. A particular need exists for guidance devices applicable to gun-fired munitions. Currently available angular acceleration sensors do not fulfill the accuracy, size, weight, sensitivity, or especially the shock resistance requirements for gun-fired payloads. MET Tech, Inc (www.mettechnology.com) has recently developed novel angular acceleration sensors that promise to fulfill all the requirements for guidance of such munitions: high accuracy, small size and weight, low power consumption, and high sensitivity; and, because they have no proof mass or moving parts, MET Tech sensors are able to withstand extremely high forces such as those experienced during gun firing, without any degradation of operability. In this SBIR program, MET Tech is developing novel high-performance miniature acceleration sensors having low drift, high dynamic range, and resistance to shock associated with gun firing, in a compact, economical package. In Phase I, MET Tech demonstrated the feasibility of the component-level design concept for the program angular accelerometer. In Phase II we propose to design, fabricate and test a complete system-level angular accelerometer for use in a gun-fired environment. Sensor properties will be optimized for Army requirements, with emphasis on the key parameters of settling time, shock tolerance, and sensitivity. Design documents and drawings will be developed sufficient to support the design, manufacture, test and evaluation of the first production model of the developed sensor, which will be produced and inserted in programs in Phase III.