A Wearable Underwater Blast Sensor

The goal of the proposed Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Sequential Phase II project is to further develop a wearable, three-dimensional (3-D) underwater explosion (UNDEX) blast exposure monitoring system. To date, there are no wearable blast sensors available to correlate UNDEX blast exposure data to diver injuries. The uniqueness of the proposed 3-D OmniBlast Water (OBW) sensor is the measurement of UNDEX blast pressure exposure from all directions. The data collected by OBW sensors enables the development of a blast-exposure health-assessment database for identifying UNDEX-induced injuries. The feasibility of the OBW sensors have been demonstrated in laboratory-level and operationally relevant environment blast testing. The objectives of the proposed project are: (1) validating the operational effectiveness of the prototypes in field conditions, (2) ruggedizing the sensors for environmental conditions, and (3) demonstrating data transmission between OBW sensors and military information systems. The proposed project will advance the technology by delivering pre-production products for developmental tests and evaluations (DT&E), and by performing product revisions based on DT&E feedback. In addition, operationally relevant tests and evaluations (OT&E) will be conducted. A manufacturing plan will be developed by transitioning from fabrication by hand to a production environment by developing a scaled-up prototype production process. The low-rate initial production process will be verified, and a software plug-in for automated data analysis will be developed. The delivered OBW sensor software plugin will: (a) be capable of capturing high-fidelity blast exposure, (b) display the peak pressure of the blast overpressure event on the device with colored indicator lights corresponding to a set pressure level, (c) transmit the blast data to a handheld military information system platform with a software plugin, and (d) be integrated to the military information system server.