ECE.21 – Smart Impact Detection System (SIDS)

• Robert Dodan
• Bryce Knight
• Boyan Savici
• Brian Swann

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) which is caused by repeated concussions is a growing concern in all contact sports, predominantly American Football which has roughly nine million players at all levels. The best way to reduce the rising case numbers of CTE is early detection of concussions on the field. To combat this we have created a smart impact detection system (SIDS) that will be able to detect the size and severity of all player impacts and alert necessary personnel to impacts deemed dangerous. This is done on the helmet which utilizes force sensors and an accelerometer connected to an Arduino MIcro to measure the force in Newtons with a maximum 200 N, and G-force up to 200 G’s. The impact data is then transmitted to a base computer that has an Arduino Uno, with a radio frequency transmitter that has a maximum range of one kilometer. The base computer employs a custom app to read and store the data, and notifies all personnel to potentially dangerous impacts.