DTS Awarded Contract by U.S. Army to Develop First Military Blast Test Dummy

Seal Beach, CA (March 2015) – Diversified Technical Systems (DTS) has been awarded a contract from the U.S. Army to develop the first instrumented test dummy designed specifically for military vehicle blast testing. The new test device will be used to assess potential skeletal injuries of soldiers exposed to underbody blast (UBB) events like those from improvised explosive devices (IED) commonly found in combat zones. This multi-phased project, called the Warrior Injury Assessment Manikin (WIAMan), includes defining injury-assessment criteria, blast research, and DTS’s key role, which includes developing a new state-of-the-art test dummy with internal miniature data recorders and sensors to capture the test results.

Because the current test dummies have been adopted from the automotive safety industry, they are designed to measure frontal or side impacts, but not those coming from under the vehicle or occupant in a blast event. The WIAMan will be used in Department of Defense live fire test and evaluation for ground vehicles, including seats and interiors, as well as soldier body armor and tactical gear.

DTS has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Army to develop the first military blast test dummy, plus a new high-tech data recorder that fits inside to help assess potential skeletal injuries of soldiers exposed to under-body blast events like those from improvised explosive devices.

WIAMan will be the most sophisticated test dummy built to date and is designed specifically to measure impacts from under the vehicle, which is very different than the automotive crash test dummies used now, which are designed to measure frontal or side impacts.

Known for its turn-key solutions and unmatched technical support, California-based DTS is the leading manufacturer of data recorders and sensors used for crash, blast and safety testing worldwide. DTS designed the first in-dummy data acquisition system (DAS) for the WorldSID, a side impact dummy developed and used in automotive regulatory testing. The breakthrough of moving the data recorders inside the test dummies has significantly changed the face of safety testing by improving the fidelity of the data and the efficiency of the test set-up.

“We are honored by the fact that the U.S. Army trusts DTS as lead on a project of this magnitude,” said DTS co-founder and company President Steve Pruitt. “WIAMan is an exciting project because it involves not only designing a brand new test dummy, but delivering a complete test instrument with sensors and the next generation data acquisition system.”

DTS has a long history working with the military on projects including vehicle black boxes for capturing blast events, hundreds of which are currently fielded in war zones. In addition, DTS has shipped over 58,000 internally mounted helmet sensors, fielded by the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps, that capture soldier impact data for the medical community to aid in the assessment of soldier injuries such as MTBI (Mild Traumatic Brain Injury).

About DTS

Founded in 1990 by three crash test engineers, DTS data recorders and sensors are used worldwide in crash, blast and biomechanics testing by top automakers, aerospace and leading research facilities. The U.S. Army named a DTS helmet sensor that records head forces in an effort to improve soldier safety and reduce traumatic brain injuries as one of “The Greatest Inventions.” Inc. Magazine has named DTS three times as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. Based in Seal Beach, California, DTS has technical centers in Michigan, Australia, China, U.K. and Japan.