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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 opens the main or reserve parachute container at a preset altitude or after a preset time. 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 pilot chute to deploy. Examples Examples of specific AADs are: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cypres 2
:''This page is about the Automatic Activation Device for parachutes. For the tree family, see Cupressaceae. For the Mediterranean island, see Cyprus. For the law doctrine, see Cy-près doctrine.'' CYPRES is an acronym for Cybernetic Parachute Release System. It refers to a specific make and model of an automatic activation device (AAD), a device that automatically activates a parachute (typically as a reserve system for a skydiver) under certain circumstances. A CYPRES is designed to activate the reserve parachute at a preset altitude if the rate of descent is over a certain threshold. The manufacturer of the CYPRES is Airtec. The CYPRES works by using a cutter to cut the reserve container closing loop. A spring-loaded pilot chute then leaves the container and breaks through the skydiver's slipstream to begin reserve deployment. The CYPRES comes in five different models: Expert, Student, Tandem, Speed and Wingsuit. The basic operation of the units is the same; only the activatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skydiving
Parachuting, including also skydiving, is a method of transiting from a high point in the atmosphere to the surface of Earth with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or parachutes. For human skydiving, it may involve a phase of more or less free-falling (the skydiving segment) which is a period when the parachute has not yet been deployed and the body gradually accelerates to terminal velocity. For cargo parachuting, the parachute descent may begin immediately, such as a parachute-airdrop in the lower atmosphere of Earth, or be significantly delayed, such as in a planetary atmosphere where an object is descending "under parachute" following atmospheric entry from space, and may begin only after the hypersonic entry phase and initial deceleration that occurs due to friction with the thin upper atmosphere. History Common uses Parachuting is performed as a recreational activity and a competitive sport, and is widel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dead Man's Switch
A dead man's switch (see alternative names) 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 in locomotives, aircraft refuelling, freight elevators, lawn mowers, tractors, personal watercraft, outboard motors, chainsaws, snowblowers, tread machines, 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 leav ... [...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 t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who can exit from an aircraft at height and descend safely to earth. A parachute is usually made of a light, strong fabric. Early parachutes were made of silk. The most common fabric today is nylon. A parachute's canopy is typically dome-shaped, but some are rectangles, inverted domes, and other shapes. A variety of loads are attached to parachutes, including people, food, equipment, space capsules, and bombs. History Middle Ages In 852, in Córdoba, Spain, the Moorish man Armen Firman attempted unsuccessfully to fly by jumping from a tower while wearing a large cloak. It was recorded that "there was enough air in the folds of his cloak to prevent great injury when he reached the ground." Early Renaissance The earliest evidence f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
CYPRES
:''This page is about the Automatic Activation Device for parachutes. For the tree family, see Cupressaceae. For the Mediterranean island, see Cyprus. For the law doctrine, see Cy-près doctrine.'' CYPRES is an acronym for Cybernetic Parachute Release System. It refers to a specific make and model of an automatic activation device (AAD), a device that automatically activates a parachute (typically as a reserve system for a skydiver) under certain circumstances. A CYPRES is designed to activate the reserve parachute at a preset altitude if the rate of descent is over a certain threshold. The manufacturer of the CYPRES is Airtec. The CYPRES works by using a cutter to cut the reserve container closing loop. A spring-loaded pilot chute A pilot chute is a small auxiliary parachute used to deploy the main or reserve parachute. The pilot chute is connected by a bridle to the deployment bag containing the parachute. Pilot chutes are a critical component of all modern skydiving and B ... ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harry Diamond Laboratories
The Harry Diamond Laboratories (HDL) was a research facility of the Ordnance Development Division of the National Bureau of Standards and later the US Army, most notable for its work on proximity fuzes in World War II. The organization was founded in 1940, but was not named after its first director Harry Diamond until 1962. HDL was one of seven Army laboratories merged to form the new Army Research Laboratory in 1992. History In 1940, concerned about increasing warfare abroad, the National Defense Research Committee organized a group of scientists and engineers into the Ordnance Development Division of the National Bureau of Standards (NBS), to develop fuzes for non-rotating (fin-stabilized) munitions such as bombs, rockets and mortar shells. Harry Diamond, a pioneer radio engineer, was given technical direction of the program, a position he held until his death in 1948. Proximity fuzes were first used in combat in January 1943, and the U.S. War Department later described the ... [...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 U.S. Army's foundational research laboratory. ARL is headquartered at the Adelphi Laboratory Center (ALC) in Adelphi, Maryland. Its largest single site is at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. Other major ARL locations include Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, Graces Quarters, Maryland, and NASA's Glenn Research Center, Ohio and Langley Research Center, Virginia. ARL also has regional sites in Playa Vista, California (ARL West), Chicago (ARL Central), Austin, TX (ARL South), and Boston (ARL Northeast). DEVCOM ARL has three directorates: *Army Research Office, located in Research Triangle Park *Army Research Directorate *Research Business Directorate History Before the forming of the ARL, the United States Army had research facilities dating back to 1820 when the laboratory at Watertown Arsenal, Massachusetts, studied pyrotechnic ... [...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 people, 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 fired at approximately above the ground and deployed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
