Project Card 01

Low-Cost Head Injury Dummy - Proof-of-Concept Design

Project Pathway

🟩 Experimental / Test System Design (Proof-of-Concept)

1. Background & Motivation

Head injuries are among the most common and severe outcomes of traumatic events in automotive crashes, sports impacts, falls, and occupational accidents. Experimental testing using instrumented headforms or anthropomorphic test devices (ATDs) plays a critical role in understanding injury mechanisms, validating injury criteria, and evaluating protective equipment such as helmets.

However, commercial head injury dummies and headforms (e.g., Hybrid III head, EuroSID headforms) are expensive and often inaccessible in developing countries. This limits experimental research, education, and safety evaluation.

This project aims to develop a low-cost, mechanically meaningful, proof-of-concept head injury dummy, suitable for basic impact testing, education, and preliminary safety assessment under local resource constraints.

2. Core Biomechanical Question

How can the essential biomechanical mechanisms of head injury be captured using a simplified, low-cost head injury dummy suitable for experimental testing?

3. Injury Mechanisms & Relevant Injury Criteria

The project should address the following biomechanical aspects:

• Primary head injury mechanisms:
  • Translational acceleration
  • Rotational acceleration
• Conceptual skull-brain interaction
• Impact loading scenarios (e.g., drop test, guided impact, oblique impact)

Relevant injury metrics may include (but are not limited to):

• Resultant head acceleration
• Head Injury Criterion (HIC)
• Peak rotational acceleration (conceptual discussion)
• Limitations of acceleration-based criteria

Students must justify why selected injury criteria are relevant for the proposed dummy design.

4. Modeling / Design Approach

This is a proof-of-concept experimental design project, not a manufacturing task.

The student is expected to:

• Conceptually model the head as a mechanical system
• Translate injury mechanisms into design requirements
• Propose a simplified headform/dummy architecture that captures key dynamic behavior

Numerical simulations (e.g., FEM) may be used optionally to support design decisions but are not required.

5. Technical Specification (Core Section)

The project must include a detailed technical proposal covering:

a) Mechanical Structure

• Headform geometry (size, shape, mass)
• Internal structure (solid, layered, modular, etc.)
• Material selection and mechanical justification

b) Instrumentation

• Type and number of sensors (e.g., accelerometers)
• Sensor placement and orientation
• Expected signal outputs and sampling considerations

c) Mounting & Boundary Conditions

• Neck interface concept (rigid, compliant, simplified neck)
• Degrees of freedom and constraints

d) Impact Scenarios

• Proposed impact test types (drop, pendulum, guided impact)
• Impact velocities or heights
• Repeatability and safety considerations

Clear schematics, block diagrams, or CAD drafts are expected (hand-drawn or digital).

6. Validation Strategy & Limitations

The project must explicitly discuss:

• How the dummy’s response could be validated:
  • comparison with literature data,
  • comparison with simplified analytical models,
  • qualitative trend validation
• What injury claims cannot be made using this dummy
• Limitations due to:
  • reduced biofidelity,
  • material simplifications,
  • absence of internal brain deformation measurements

This section is mandatory.

7. Feasibility & Resource Awareness

The project must include a realistic feasibility analysis addressing:

• Estimated cost of components (order-of-magnitude)
• Availability of materials and sensors in Iran
• Required equipment (e.g., basic workshop tools, DAQ)
• Safety considerations during testing

Overly idealized or impractical designs will be penalized.

8. Expected Outcomes

By the end of the project, the student should deliver:

• A detailed design manual for the head injury dummy
• Technical drawings and system schematics
• Proposed test protocols
• Clearly defined use cases (education, preliminary testing, research)

The outcome should be suitable as a foundation for future laboratory development.

9. Deliverables

1. Final Report (20-25 pages, excluding appendices)
2. Figures, schematics, and design drafts
3. Cost estimation table
4. Oral presentation (15-20 minutes)

Optional appendices:

• CAD files
• Sensor datasheets
• Supporting calculations

10. Project-Specific Grading Rubric

11. Project Scope Agreement

By choosing this project, the student agrees to:

• Focus on conceptual and technical rigor, not manufacturing
• Respect local resource constraints
• Clearly state assumptions and limitations

Note:
A well-designed proof-of-concept dummy can be more scientifically valuable than a poorly validated simulation.