The proposed STTR will develop a shock-hardened, autonomous, miniature, wireless multi-channel data acquisition system that is installed in payloads launched from various platforms. The system will be designed to survive impact loads at least ten times higher than those specified in the program solicitation and will also exceed the size and weight constraints for the final design. eTracia has defined a design approach for a Phase I program that will develop and refine the technical concepts based upon our existing hardware and firmware. In particular, the proposed system architecture will incorporate reconfigurable methodologies for the dynamic recognition, characterization, and accommodation of a plethora of sensors. Moreover, our architecture establishes a new design foundation that will allow for self biasing without human intervention. The package design will be based on our proprietary 3-D package (Cube), and will be used in Phase II to manufacture and test a prototype device. The 3-D structure of Cube substantially minimizes the damaging effects of shock loads thus providing an ideal packaging solution for extremely shock-hardened, self-contained microelectronic modules for military and commercial applications. The package design will be supported and the survivability validated by an extensive research effort utilizing the latest developments of the FEA.
Benefit: The electronic design architecture and the package concept, Cube, minimize the system integration between the two disciplines. The electrical architecture contains inherited extensibility that accommodates future data acquisition growth. It leverages technologies based on Field Programmable Gate Arrays and Mixed Analog and Digital Arrays to achieve advancement in firmware and hardware integration, which minimizing the time between design's concepts to hardware realization. A combination of a simple yet effective bus structure with packaging disciplines will increase the shock resistance of the package by a factor of at least ten compared to the proposed design for this application. Additionally, a further miniaturization is possible if extremely small factor components and multi-layer substrates are used. All this, combined with the versatility of the reconfigurable architecture of the system, allows developing the current solution into a wide range of low-cost, ultra shock-resistant, sub-miniature electronic devices for defense industry. Examples include electronics for extremely high-g applications such as guided munitions fired from a grenade or mortar launcher or machine gun, electronics for missiles, avionics, space electronics, etc. By integrating the latest developments of the MEMS technology, the system can be further developed into a self-contained black box 0x9D type of device for a number of commercial applications, for example, it can be integrated into various type of vehicles, consumer electronics product, static structures, etc., i.e., in everything that will benefit from studying the survivability under shock loads and severe environmental conditions.
Keywords: Shock-Hardened, Shock-Hardened, 3-D package, Wireless, reconfigurable, Miniature, Data acquisition
