Daniel Simon, Shawn Fisher, Nolan Faber, Brandon Bryant and Advisor Dr.

Brian DeJong
School of Engineering and Technology, Central Michigan University

The Problem: Football injuries are on the rise A study done in 2000 found that more than 60% of NFL players suffered at least one 1 concussion, 26% suffered three or more . A study done in 2007 found that 20.2% of 595 retired NFL players who suffered more than 1 three concussions now have depression .

Expected Results Graph of Applied Acceleration VS Transferred Acceleration for football players to select the best possible helmet for their position. Use of this project to design a better helmet in a future senior design project.

Objective The objective of the project is to build a helmet testing apparatus to better understand how well existing helmets dampen acceleration. A pendulum device will impart force on a helmet fitted on a model head attached to a sled. An accelerometer will be fixed inside the head to measure acceleration at impact.

Completed and Moving Forward To date, the apparatus frame, bearings, and pendulum are done. A head will be mounted onto the apparatus sled soon and testing will begin.
Bibliography 1. Head injuries in football. (2010, October). In New York Times. Retrieved from http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/f/football/head_ injuries/index.html

American Society of Engineering Education Mid Central Section Conference, April

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