Mechanical Solutions

About Mechanical Solutions

Mechanical Solutions is a company that received a Department of Defense SBIR/STTR grant for a project entitled: Portable Missile Miss-Distance Identification System (PMMDIS). The abstract given for this project is as follows: A Portable Missile Miss-Distance Identification System (PMMDIS) is needed to efficiently and precisely quantify the miss-distance of Man-Portable Air Defense System (MANPADS) missiles fired at fixed targets. Current techniques for determining missile miss-distances such as radar-based systems are only accurate to within several feet, at best, and they are also expensive and time-consuming to setup. The proposed PMMDIS consists of a series of low cost cameras with synchronized frame capture and real-time image processing software in order to collect data. A Test Site Server and Workstation will facilitate calibration, data collection, and calculation of miss-distance. The PMMDIS can be monitored and controlled by a Remote Workstation that is offsite. Further, the PMMDIS will be operational for daytime and nighttime tests through all kinds of extreme environmental conditions and will be robust enough to provide at least 15-days of continuous unattended operation and data archival. The system will be easy and quick to setup requiring that no external measurements be made of the locations of the sensors prior to testing. Phase I will culminate in a practical design proposal of a PMMDIS for implementation in Phase II. BENEFIT: The Portable Missile Miss-Distance Identification System (PMMDIS) developed in Phase I and II will have adaptation potential to a number of other military and commercial uses. The system can be adapted to measure missile orientation out of the tube and when the rocket motor ignites. The same system could be used for air-to-ground missile launches in lethality evaluations. It could also be used to assess missile accuracy for launches at target drones. An adaptation of PMMDIS could be used in updating current missile warning systems on aircraft. The system could have non-military applications in measuring trajectories of objects in sporting events.)Mechanical Solutions is a company that received a Department of Defense SBIR/STTR grant for a project entitled: Development of Fast and Slow Cook-off Mitigation Sensor. The abstract given for this project is as follows: A self-powered cook-off sensor is a critical path item for meeting federally mandated insensitive mention (IM) requirements. The sensor must reliably help the venting system mitigate fast and slow cook off when temperatures hit the range of 275'F to 350'F. The output from the sensor must appropriately and consistently power the SRM venting system. MSI's proposed solution is to use modules that convert thermal energy from applicable cook off environments to electrical energy. Based on pre-proposal testing of candidate modules, MSI is confident that the proposed approach can meet the power, timing, volume, weight, and ruggedization requirements for this critical application. During Phase I, MSI will specify, evaluate, analyze and bench-top test the most appropriate system components, and create a preliminary sensor design including the circuitry and component arrangement. Additional testing will be performed to demonstrate performance. Structural analysis will be used to confirm weight, volume, and operating life goals are feasible. Measured performance coupled with packaging design and evaluations will be used to prove that MDA goals can be achieved if the Phase I project continues into Phase II. The Phase II effort will focus on providing MDA with a viable prototype self-powered sensor that meets MDA needs.