Rapid Auto-Inflation Safety Equipment

The Navy is seeking a new and innovative automatic inflation device compatible with the LPU-23D/P and LPU-36A/P series life preserver unit (LPU) products used for fixed-wing ejection seat aircraft. The proposed device should reduce the volume and weight, improve logistical procurement issues of Cartridge Activated Devices (CADs), batteries, and valves, and reduce the pull force for manual inflation. To address this Navy need, Intellisense Systems, Inc. (Intellisense) proposes to develop a new Rapid Auto-Inflation Safety Equipment (RAISE) based on a new design that utilizes previously developed mature water presence circuits and commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) pressure and accelerometer sensors. Specifically, RAISE innovatively packs ultralow-power microelectromechanical system (MEMS) sensors and inflation-triggering mechanism into a small (~5.6 cu. in.) device that weighs less than 100 g. This innovation will enable RAISE to automatically inflate upon immersion in water. RAISE can also be triggered at specified depths and time in water without any need for a CAD, operate for the lifetime of the unit on a single commercially available battery, and manually inflate with a reduced omnidirectional pull force of 15 lbf. As a result, RAISE is approximately three-quarters the volume and weight of the FLU-8 and eliminates the logistical procurement issues using new and updated technologies, which directly address the NAVAIR requirements for a fully ruggedized and reliable inflator mechanism that can be retrofitted with the LPU-23D/P and LPU-36A/P product lines with reduced size, weight, power, and cost. In Phase I, Intellisense will develop, design, and demonstrate the feasibility of RAISE by rapidly building an initial prototype for retrofit and operation into an LPU-23D/P and LPU-36A/P and perform testing for auto-inflation upon immersion in water without user input. Intellisense will also measure the dry weight, bulk/profile, required pull force for manual inflation, time for full inflation of the LPU while immersed in a swimming pool, human-operated reliability, and maintainer mean time to rig, inspect, and certify ōsafe-for-flightö. In Phase II, Intellisense plans to further develop, demonstrate, and validate the RAISE device by producing a new prototype fully integrated into the LPU-23 and LPU-36 series based on initial testing in the Phase I lab environment. Intellisense will test the Phase II prototype for automatic inflation in a laboratory before delivering to the Navy for demonstration for their human subject-controlled immersions (once approved), in compliance with the requirements provided in Phase I. By building an early prototype in Phase I, approval for human factors validation can be achieved earlier in Phase II development to enable a design ready for TRL-7 validation. Intellisense will also provide draft engineering drawings and develop life-cycle costs and supportability estimates.