Employing Woodpecker Cranial Adaptations in Helmet Design: Increased Impact Protection

Overview

Helmets ideally protect against severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) through impact force dissipation over a larger surface area, cranial deceleration over a lengthened period, and energy absorption through compression. Woodpeckers have specialized structures (their beak, hyoid bone, tongue, and cranial anatomy) that utilize similar methods to prevent TBI. These adaptations were used as the basis for a novel helmet that was designed, built, and tested during this study. It was hypothesized that the novel helmet would better protect an analog head from drop-test impact forces than a consumer-grade helmet would. Experimentation and subsequent data analysis supported the hypothesis; the novel helmet was able to protect the analog head for a total of ≈82 Joules of force while the consumer-grade helmet was only able to do so for ≈69 Joules. Cost analysis was performed to investigate the further applications of this design, revealing that the novel helmet is estimated to be $1.23 cheaper to produce than the consumer-grade helmet. Overall, this new design has a large variety of potential applications, including: incorporation into protective wear (helmets, body armor, shields, etc.), shock absorbing systems in vehicles and machinery (cushions, dampers, bumpers, etc.), and various other impact protection apparatuses.

Competition history

• AJAS 2025 Category not listed

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