Development of a Missile Data Acquisition and Recorder Module

Systems & Processes Engineering is developing a small, data acquisition and recorder system needed to acquire and store missile and sub-munitions acceleration data in non-volatile memory. The device is autonomous, withstands the harsh environments of a missile launch, and permits data download efficiently after ground impact. Additionally, the data acquisition and recorder system contains a flexible sensor interface to accommodate the different gain, offset, and filtering requirements of accelerometers and other sensors if desired. Such a system could be used to characterize missile and sub-munitions shock and pyrotechnic shock environments during flight tests and be stored in a database for reference in future design and redesign activities. Such data would eliminate the trial and error associated with designing to an assumed pyrotechnic shock load and thus decrease the cost associated with those activities. Additionally, such a device could be used in a variety of applications requiring embedded autonomous acquisition and storage of sensor data during high-g, short duration events. The MDARM will provide embedded instrumentation technology immediately applicable to programs requiring non-volatile data acquisitionand recording of event data.