Safe was awarded a Phase I program from the United States Navy to address and remedy several deficiencies with manually-adjusted tethers currently used. Safe is developing designs to improve manual slack monitoring and adjustment, help eliminate hindrance of movement due to nuisance locking; decrease annoyance loads on the occupant; and, correct inconvenient or unrealistic access to the airframe-mounted control points of the systems. Safe’s program utilizes several prototype build phases for hands-on assessment of functionality of the system.

Safe was awarded a Phase I SBIR program from the United States Navy to design a surface flotation device (raft) for an aviation mishap survivor. It will be lightweight and pocket-sized to enable it to be worn or carried on the aircrew without interfering with the aviator’s flight duties. The design includes auto-inflation, a method for easy survivor entry, and provides effective protection from exposure to cold water.

Safe, Inc. has been awarded a Phase I SBIR program to develop an innovative tactical bulk fuel delivery system restraint system for the CH-53K King Stallion rotorcraft currently in development for the U.S. Marine Corp. The restraint system will solve current problems of high crew workload, excessive weight, inability to meet the required retention loads when the tanks are filled to capacity, and the inability to roll fully loaded tanks on the track roller system in the CH-53K. Safe’s design will meet the Navy’s 20/20/10 G loading requirements with full tanks that can be rolled in and out of the aircraft, minimizing crew effort and fatigue, and reducing load time, while increasing operational capability, reliability, maintainability, and affordability.

Safe, Inc., in partnership with a major research University, has been awarded a Phase I STTR program to demonstrate the feasibility of using the newly developed concept of acoustic information entropy to measure material damage and predict the remaining useful life of commercially available rotorcraft alloys. Efforts to address the response of materials to damage are typically made by deterministic or probabilistic approaches through fracture mechanics (FM) and damage mechanics (DM), where a crack tip is well defined. Random damage, has, however, been largely neglected. The program’s priority will be to establish the process framework and to develop and demonstrate the feasibility of a resultant computer model that can accurately predict remaining useful life in rotorcraft components.

This Phase I SBIR program will develop a replacement seating system coupled with a device to more safely and easily move cargo and personnel along the length of the US Navy C-2 Greyhound aircraft. This system is anticipated to reduce the turnaround time for carrier on-board delivery aircraft. The seating system will focus on reducing installation and removal time, reducing stowed volume and weight, and reducing the occurrence of injury to handling personnel. Safe’s goal is to develop concepts that can be utilized in the aircraft without requiring aircraft modification.

Safe, Inc. has been awarded a Phase I SBIR contract to develop a physical shield to protect spherical bearings from abrasive particulates, such as sand and dirt. The shield will prevent much of the contamination damage that shortens bearing life on rotorcraft. The initial effort by Safe will be to design a shield that will minimize heat build-up, reduce maintenance costs in both labor time and materiel, reduce operation costs and time lost by increasing the lifespan and dependability of critical aircraft systems. The ultimate goal of this program is to develop a shield that will minimize the impact on assembly weight, on the flexural resistance, and on the overall bulk of the assembly.

This Phase I SBIR program will develop an anthropomorphic test device (ATD) (also referred to as a “test manikin” or “test dummy”), which will be used specifically for land vehicle blast testing. The Hybrid III ATD was developed specifically for automobile crash testing and to quantify the types of injuries most commonly experienced in automobile crashes. The human response to blast insult is quite different, and consequently, the automotive ATDs lack biofidelity when exposed to a blast environment.

The initial effort will apply technology developed by Adelaide Test & Evaluation Systems for a Frangible Surrogate Leg to the upper leg, pelvis, and spine for a Combat Injury Manikin (CIMan). Safe’s ultimate goal is to develop an ATD that is biofidelic, yet affordable to use in blast testing.

Frangible surrogate legs for ATDs, Adelaide T&E Systems

NAVSEA has awarded Safe a contract modification to fabricate a full-scale prototype of the VULCAN (shock and vibration resistant stowage system) and to continue the Phase II SBIR development effort. Safe is engineering the VULCAN, a reconfigurable common cradle pallet assembly for use on the Littoral Combat Ship, to securely stow and transport the ship’s mission-specific watercraft.

Safe, Inc. has been awarded a Phase II SBIR contract to continue the development of a hypoxia monitoring and warning system for use by pilots of high altitude/high-performance aircraft.