Personalized Helmet Design

Content

FORCE: Causes masses to accelerate; they are influences that cause a change of movement, direction, or shape. When you press on an object, you are exerting a force on it. Force is measured in units such as pounds or newtons. For instance, the weight of an object is the force on the object due to gravity (accelerating the object towards the center of the earth). If an individual becomes involved in a motorcycle accident, the outer shell of the helmet is able to spread out the force and minimize injury. 

CRUMPLE ZONES: They are areas of an object designed to deform and crumple in an impact, as a means to absorb the energy of a collision. The fronts of most automobiles are designed as crumple zones to protect the passengers from frontal collisions. The foam in helmets are crumple zones because they can easily compress or distort energy. 

ACCELERATION: Is a change in speed over a period of time; the higher the acceleration, the faster the change in speed. For example, if a car goes from 0 miles per hour (mph) to 50 mph in 2 seconds, it is a higher acceleration than if the car goes from 0 mph to 30 mph in 2 seconds. Acceleration is a rate of change of speed; NO change means NO acceleration. 

COEFFICIENT OF FRICTION: Is the measurement of the level of friction embodied in a particular material. The formula is μ = f/N, where μ is the coefficient of friction, f, is the amount of force that resists motion, and N is the normal force. Normal force is the force at which one surface is being pushed into another.

DRAG: is a term used in fluid dynamics that is sometimes referred to as air resistance or fluid resistance. Friction is one of multiple factors that influence the amount of drag encountered by a body moving through a fluid such as air or water.

INERTIA: When an object remains still or moves in a constant direction at a constant speed.

G FORCE: A force acting on a body as a result of acceleration or gravity, informally described in units of acceleration equal to one g. The average helmet can withstand 140 pounds of force without breaking. 

FRICTION: Is a force that resists motion when two objects or surfaces come in contact. 

KINETIC FRICTION (or dynamic friction): Occurs when two objects are moving relative to each other and rub together (like a sled on the ground).

Reflection

I did a thorough job at researching. Beofre desigining the helmet I made sure to understand the main components of a helmet. I helped discover the different types of materials used and the common shapes of a helmet. I was a great investigator and with the information I discovered, I inserted it into the helmet design. 

Being able to critical think throughout the process of designing the helmet on onshape was a good trait to have. Whenever we ran into a problem I tried my best to look up tutorials on how to fix the problem. Running into a problem didn't discourage me or my team mates and we found a way to fix it. 

I could have been a more supportive and understanding team member during the creation of the personalized helmet. I like to work diligently, so sometimes I can become easily annoyed when people aren't work quick enough. As the end of the week was quickly approaching my emotions became worse because we still had a lot left to do. We always turn things in on time so I shouldn't of worried as much as I did. I need to realize that everyone works at different speeds and its okay if we are sometimes a step behind. It's better to have quality work over rushed work. 

I decided to do a lot of the research for the helmet. I learned about the structure, materials and functionalities of a helmet. Instead of physically sharing my research to the team I wrote it down on our google doc. Our doc was shared so they could read it on their own, but I should of had an in person conversation on what I was doing.