I-Corps: Improving bicycle helmets for children

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是为儿童开发合适的自行车头盔。这项提议旨在减少头部受伤。儿童使用不合适的头盔会导致更大的受伤风险，如脑震荡和头部受伤。这一创新也有可能在需要头盔和其他形式的个人防护设备的其他应用中提高贴合性、顺应性和安全性，并且可能对建筑工人、紧急救援人员、军事人员和其他运动项目的运动员有用。这个I-Corps项目基于开发适合儿童的自行车头盔，使用3D扫描、表面生成、细观结构设计、有限元分析这项技术还可能为个人防护设备的产品开发带来新的方法。所提出的工艺和技术涉及热塑性介观结构，其可以重复和增材制造，与头盔中使用的传统泡沫相比具有相当或改进的抗冲击性。增材制造的介观结构可能会带来更个性化的贴合性，从而规避缓慢的传统头盔设计和制造工艺，并允许更安全，定制的头盔，价格实惠。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of properly fitted bicycle helmets for children. The proposed effort seeks to reduce head injuries. The use of poorly fitting helmets by children results in greater risk of injuries such as concussion and head injuries. This innovation also has the potential to improve fit, compliance, and safety in other applications that require helmets and other forms of personal protective equipment and may be useful for construction workers, emergency responders, military personnel, and athletes in other sports.This I-Corps project is based on the development of a bicycle helmet fit for children using 3D scanning, surface generation, mesostructure design, finite element analysis (FEA). This technology may also result in new methods of product development for personal protective equipment. The proposed process and technology involves thermoplastic mesostructures that can be repeated and additively manufactured, with comparable or improved impact resistance compared to the traditional foams used in helmets. Additively manufactured mesostructures may result in a more personalized fit, circumventing slow, traditional helmet design and manufacturing processes and allowing for a safer, bespoke helmet that is affordable.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.