ELECTRONIC SAFE AND ARM FOR HIGH VELOCITY/ACCELERATION PROJECTILES

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP AND BUILD A HARDWARE PROTOTYPE OF AN ELECTRONIC SAFE AND ARM (ESA) FOR HIGH VELOCITY/ ACCELERATION PROJECTILES. THE HARDWARE PROTOTYPE SYSTEM WILL DEMONSTRATE THE DESIGN FOR THE HIGH VOLTAGE CONVERTER, TRIGGER CIRCUIT AND INTERFACE TO A SLAPPER DETONATOR AND SENSORS. IN ADDITION, THE PROTOTYPE WILL DEMONSTRATE SYSTEM SAFETY, ENVIRONMENTAL AND PACKAGING CONCEPTS FEASIBILITY. THE SYSTEM ELECTRONICS WILL INCLUDE A CONVERTER, ENERGY STORAGE CAPACITOR, HIGH VOLTAGE SWITCH, ACCELEROMETERS, AND ENERGY PATH SWITCHES. THE VARIABLE Q, CLASS E, DC/DC HIGH VOLTAGE CONVERTER OPERATES AT A FREQUENCY OF APPROXIMATELY 1 MHZ CAPABLE OF DELIVERING 25 WATTS AT 80% EFFICIENCY. THE ESA WILL BE DESIGNED TO ULTIMATELY FIT INTO A 1.25 INCH DIAMETER BY 2 INCH HIGH TENSILE, STEEL TUBE WITH FORE AND AFT CLOSURES. A 6 CONDUCTOR, 3 LAYER COPPER KAPTON RIBBON CABLE WILL PROVIDE AN INTERFACE. KEY TECHNICAL ADVANTAGES OF THE SPECIFIC DESIGN ARE THE ESA WILL WITHSTANDING UP TO 75,000 GS AND WITHSTAND FULL ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS. THE INNOVATIVE DESIGN OF THE ESA WILL CREATE A UNIT THAT IS EMI/RFI/ESD RESISTANT AND WILL WORK OVER A WIDE TEMPERATURE RANGE.