ASPIRE: A Survivable, Programmable, Integrated Recorder for Experiments

Testing of fuses for penetrating weapons requires a robust, reliable and compact data recorder. Current designs have limited feature sets including a lack of software programmability, no internal back-up power, and volatile memory which lead to limited reliability. Lost data due to delays in test article recovery and failure of the data acquisition system to record or retain data are unacceptable where one-of-a-kind test articles are fielded. State-of-the art advances in commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) semiconductors, nonvolatile memory and energy storage devices make integration of these components both practical and relatively inexpensive. There is clearly a demand for a miniaturized, high-capability, software programmable data recorders with nonvolatile memory for use in a variety of military and commercial applica¬tions. The solicitation for ASPIRE (A Survivable, Programmable, Integrated Recorder for Experi¬ments) requires a functioning prototype at the end of Phase I, including testing under shock loads. To meet this objective, this proposal features a design concept using state-of-the-art, COTS devices and best commercial practices and knowledge gained from decades of designing and building high-reliability, shock-hardened data recorders for the crash test industry. Successful completion of this SBIR will help further develop DTS’s new e-Sensing division, dedicated to embedded sensing technology for commercial applications.