StrainSpeed: Strain Gauge Muzzle Velocity Calculator

Sniper teams use new portable ballistic computers to provide feedback to improve their shooting accuracy. The bullet’s muzzle velocity speed is a critical input to the ballistic computer, currently taken as a constant, but is affected by barrel wear, temperatures, muzzle attachment, and other factors. Technologies already on the market to sense muzzle velocity are not appropriate to be taken on operations, limiting the accuracy of muzzle velocity information and ballistic calculations. To meet this need, Luna proposes the development of a strain gauge-based, low-profile muzzle velocity sensor based on a barrel-mounted array of strain gauges. Timing and pressure data from each strain gauge will be synthesized by rail-mounted microcontroller package to determine the muzzle velocity, which will then be transmitted wirelessly in real time to the ballistic computer for feedback to improve the next shot.