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Automatic Activation Device
In skydiving, an automatic activation device (AAD) is a dead man's switch consisting of an electronic-pyrotechnic or mechanical device that automatically activates the opening sequence of the main or reserve parachute container when the AAD is falling below a preset altitude and above a preset descent speed. AADs are typically used to open the reserve parachute container at a preset altitude if the descent rate exceeds a preset activation speed. This indicates that the user has not opened their parachute, or that the parachute is malfunctioning and is not slowing the descent rate sufficiently. The older style mechanical AADs are falling out of fashion in favour of newer style electronic-pyrotechnic models. These newer models have been proven more reliable as their built-in computers allow for better estimation of altitude and vertical speed. Electronic AADs typically employ a small pyrotechnic charge to sever the reserve container closing loop, allowing the spring-loaded reserve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skydiving
Parachuting and skydiving are methods of descending from a high point in an atmosphere to the ground or ocean surface with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or multiple parachutes. For human skydiving, there is often a phase of free fall (the skydiving segment), where the parachute has not yet been deployed and the body gradually accelerates to terminal velocity. In cargo parachuting, the parachute descent may begin immediately, such as a parachute-airdrop in the Troposphere, lower atmosphere of Earth, or it may be significantly delayed. For example, in a planetary atmosphere, where an object is descending "under parachute" following atmospheric entry from outer space, space, may occur only after the hypersonic entry phase and initial deceleration that occurs due to aerodynamic drag, friction with the thin upper atmosphere. History The first parachute jump in history was made on 22 October 1797 by Frenchman André-Jacq ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dead Man's Switch
A dead man's switch is a switch that is designed to be activated or deactivated if the human operator becomes incapacitated, such as through death, loss of consciousness, or being bodily removed from control. Originally applied to switches on a vehicle or machine, it has since come to be used to describe other intangible uses, as in computer software. These switches are usually used as a form of fail-safe where they stop a machine with no operator from a potentially dangerous action or incapacitate a device as a result of accident, malfunction, or misuse. They are common in such applications as locomotives, aircraft refuelling, freight elevators, lawn mowers, tractors, personal watercraft, outboard motors, chainsaws, snowblowers, treadmills, snowmobiles, amusement rides, and many medical imaging devices. On some machines, these switches merely bring the machines back to a safe state, such as reducing the throttle to idle or applying brakes while leaving the machines still ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pyrotechnic Fastener
A pyrotechnic fastener (also called an explosive bolt, or pyro, within context) is a fastener, usually a nut or bolt, that incorporates a pyrotechnic charge that can be initiated remotely. One or more explosive charges embedded within the bolt are typically activated by an electric current, and the charge breaks the bolt into two or more pieces. The bolt is typically scored around its circumference at the point(s) where the severance should occur. Such bolts are often used in space applications to ensure separation between rocket stages, because they are lighter and much more reliable than mechanical latches. In applications that require safety, precision and reliability, such as the aerospace industry, pyrotechnic fasteners are triggered using exploding bridgewire detonators, which were themselves later succeeded by slapper detonators. Classical blasting caps are generally avoided for such usage. More recent developments have used pulsed laser diodes to detonate initiators ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parachute
A parachute is a device designed to slow an object's descent through an atmosphere by creating Drag (physics), drag or aerodynamic Lift (force), lift. It is primarily used to safely support people exiting aircraft at height, but also serves various purposes like slowing cargo, aiding in space capsule recovery, and stabilizing vehicles or objects. Modern parachutes are typically made from durable fabrics like nylon and come in various shapes, such as dome-shaped, rectangular, and inverted domes, depending on their specific function. The concept of the parachute dates back to ancient attempts at flight. In 852 AD, Armen Firman, in Córdoba, Spain, made the first recorded jump with a large cloak to slow his fall. Renaissance figures like Francesco di Giorgio Martini and Leonardo da Vinci later sketched designs resembling modern parachutes, but it wasn’t until the 18th century that the first successful jumps occurred. French Louis-Sébastien Lenormand made the first public jump i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harry Diamond Laboratories
The Harry Diamond Laboratories (HDL) was a research facility under the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) and later the U.S. Army. It conducted research and development in electronic components and devices and was at one point the largest electronics research and development laboratory in the U.S. Army. HDL also acted as the Army's lead laboratory in nuclear survivability studies and operated the Aurora Pulsed Radiation Simulator, the world's largest full-threat gamma radiation simulator. In 1992, HDL was disestablished, and its mission, personnel, and facilities were incorporated into the newly created U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL). As part of this transition, the Army designated the HDL building as the site of ARL's new headquarters. The installation was named in honor of pioneer radio engineer and inventor Harry Diamond, who led the Ordnance Development Division during World War II. Diamond contributed greatly to the fundamental concept and design of proximity fuzes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Army Research Laboratory
The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory (DEVCOM ARL) is the foundational research laboratory for the United States Army under the United States Army Futures Command (AFC). DEVCOM ARL conducts intramural and extramural research guided by 11 Army competencies: Biological and Biotechnology Sciences; Humans in Complex Systems; Photonics, Electronics, and Quantum Sciences; Electromagnetic Spectrum Sciences; Mechanical Sciences; Sciences of Extreme Materials; Energy Sciences; Military Information Sciences; Terminal Effects; Network, Cyber, and Computational Sciences; and Weapons Sciences. The laboratory was established in 1992 to unify the activities of the seven corporate laboratories of the U.S. Army Laboratory Command (LABCOM) as well as consolidate other Army research elements to form a centralized laboratory. The seven corporate laboratories that merged were the Atmospheric Sciences Laboratory (ASL), the Ballistic Research Laboratory (BRL), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adrian Nicholas
Adrian Nicholas (4 March 1962 – 17 September 2005) was a British skydiver who completed more than 8,000 jumps in 30 countries. He is best known for his successful test in July 2000 of Leonardo da Vinci's (1452–1519) parachute design, proving it to be in retrospect the world's first working parachute. A modified pyramidal design was later also successfully tested by his Swiss colleague Olivier Vietti-Teppa. World records On 12 March 1999, Nicholas stepped out of an aeroplane at . He flew for 4 minutes, 55 seconds and covered a distance of , establishing new world records for the longest sky dive and the furthest human flight. During the attempt the exhaust valve of his oxygen mask froze preventing him from breathing properly for about four minutes. Death On 17 September 2005 Nicholas was jumping in Texel, the Netherlands. While performing a high speed landing manoeuvre, his automatic activation device In skydiving, an automatic activation device (AAD) is a dead ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
