After drawing inspiration from a car-chase scene in “Fast and Furious,” a UF professor teamed up with fellow professors to create an improved helmet design for athletes and beyond.
Ghatu Subhash, a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, said rapid movement of the brain causes concussions.
His design is meant to counteract two types of forces that may endanger the brain: linear and rotational.
While most athletic helmets are equipped to handle the force of one type of injury — linear — the new design provides protection by focusing on the two leading types of head impact.
“Our design concept includes how to minimize the linear blow to the head in a direct hit as well as the rotational component,” he said. “Almost all helmets are designed for only linear force and not rotational force.”
Subhash said he hopes this design will serve a wider audience than athletes, including firefighters, skateboarders and bicyclists.
The inner chambers of the helmet contain two layers.
One is Newtonian fluid, made of water and air.
The other is non-Newtonian fluid, which is a gel-like substance.
The chambers work together to make up a padding to protect the skull, said Subhash.
Dr. Keith Peters, a UF associate professor of neuroradiology, said that this design allows for more of a gradual stop for skulls in motion.
“One layer of the design can slow down how the impact comes in,” he said. “The other layer decreases how rapidly the brain is moving through the skull by slowing downs the speed at which it hits the other side.”
Although their design has not been tested against all foams, the cushion the researchers designed absorbs more impact than other comparable cushions, Peters said.
Later this month, the helmet will be presented to a group of investors to help launch the beginning stages of building it for production.
The design is completed, but a final model has yet to be decided on, Peters said.
The helmet remains unnamed, but Peters said because the idea was conceived in The Swamp, Gators can look forward to seeing something related to UF.
Dan Apple, assistant communications director for the UF Athletic Association, said the athletic association will not be adopting these new helmets any time soon.
“It’s is still in the development stages,” Apple said. “We are always analyzing our equipment and are concerned for the highest level of safety for our athletes.”
A version of this story ran on page 5 on 1/13/2014 under the headline "UF professors introduce ‘Fast and Furious’-inspired helmet"
