IMPROVEMENT OF PLAYGROUND SURFACE RESILIENCY TESTER

ACCORDING TO THE US CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION, MORE THAN 150,000 CHILDREN ARE INJURED EACH YEAR ON AMERICA'S PLAYGROUNDS, 72% OF WHICH WERE RESULT OF FALLS. AT PRESENT, MAXG/SI, A RECENTLY DEVELOPED SURFACE RESILIENCY TESTER INVENTED BY THE PRINCIPAL, HAS THE CAPABILITY OF RECORDING, STORING AND DOWNLOADING 32 DROPS. IT RECORDS GS, SI (SEVERITY INDEX) AND HIC (HEAD INJURY CRITERIA) INFORMATION WHICH CAN BE STORED AND GRAPHED. MAXG/SI IS FITTED WITH A SINGLE PIZEO ELECTRIC ACCELEROMETER. DROPS OVER 6 FEET MAY BE IN ERROR DUE TO THE DEVIATION FROM A PERFECTLY VERTICAL IMPACT. A TRI-AXIAL ACCELEROMETER IS NEEDED TO COMPENSATE FOR ANY DEVIATION IN THE DROP PROCEDURE. COMMERCIAL MANUFACTURERS OF PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT AND SURFACE MATERIALS AS WELL AS PUBLIC ENTITY CONSUMERS WILL NEED SUCH A MODIFIED SRT IF THEY HOPE TO COMPLY WITH THE NEW RECOMMENDATIONS BY THE CPSC.