Find us On Facebook Twitter
News
news and events Events Energy Lectures Sustainability 2011 Sustainability 2010 Sustainability 2009 White Symposium Whiting Turner Lectures Current News News Archives Search News Press Coverage Press Releases Research Newsroom RSS feed Events Calendar events events

News Story

Current Headlines

Alumna Florence Tan of NASA to Deliver Commencement Speech May 20

36 Clark School Students Accepted into NIST Summer Research Program

Eta Kappa Nu Wins 2011-2012 Outstanding Chapter Award

UMD's Gamera Team Receives Support from Maryland Space Business Roundtable

Clark School Student Wins "Code for Community Challenge"

Goldsman and Peckerar Win Inaugural University System of Maryland Entrepreneurship Award

Clark School Freshmen Compete in Hovercraft Competition

Marcus Selected as Poole and Kent Senior Faculty Teaching Award Recipient

X-51A Waverider Achieves Hypersonic Breakthrough

Pack Receives "Champion of Change" Award from White House

News Resources

Return to Newsroom

Search Clark School News

Research Newsroom

Press Releases

Archived News

Magazines and Publications

Press Coverage

Clark School RSS Feed

Events Resources

Clark School Events

Events Calendar

Bookmark and Share

Gessow Rotorcraft Center Among Jensen Honorees

Active Crash Protection System Technology Demonstrator on Display at the 66th Annual Forum of the American Helicopter Society in Phoenix, Ariz.

Members of the Smart Structures Laboratory of the Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center at the University of Maryland, along with collaborators at Boeing, the U.S. Army Aviation Applied Technology Directorate (AATD), Honeywell, General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems, have won the 2011 Harry T. Jensen Award by the American Helicopter Society for an outstanding contribution to the improvement of vertical flight aircraft reliability, maintainability, and/or safety through improved design brought to fruition during the preceding year.

The Rotorcraft Active Crash Protection System Development Team, led by Boeing, was successful in bringing a new set of technologies to military rotorcraft through a series of experiments and demonstrations. These new technologies greatly increase the effectiveness of rotorcraft crash protection systems and significantly improve rotorcraft crash survivability.

The effectiveness of crash protection systems can be significantly increased by utilizing an integrated Active Crash Protection System (ACPS) that can sense an impending crash or hard landing event and then actively control the response of the crash protection subsystems to provide the optimum level of aircrew crash protection for the anticipated impact conditions. The team developed a prototype ACPS under contract with AATD to improve crash survivability of rotorcraft aircrew. The ACPS is an integrated system that includes sensors, electronic control unit, and software algorithms that can predict an impending crash event and activate and control the appropriate crash protection subsystems including active internal and external airbags, landing gears, seats, and restraint systems.

For more information, please read the full article at the Department of Aerospace Engineering web site.

Related Articles:
NPR Features Gamera Team
Clark School Wins Helicopter Design Competition
Clark School Students Take Off
Pecht Receives Distinguished Achievement Award
Benedict Wins Lockheed Martin Innovate the Future Challenge
High-Flying Technology to Be Recognized
White Symposium to Examine Role of Helicopters in Society
Aerospace Engineering Students Win Top Awards
Sikorsky Invests in Next Generation of Helicopter Engineers
AGRC is a Vertical Lift Rotorcraft Center of Excellence

April 11, 2011


Prev   Next