MESSRING Further Expands its Expertise in Sensors and Data Acquisition

Developing crash-test dummies is a core focus of the automotive industry dedicated to improving the protection of passengers and pedestrians. Based in Munich, the company MESSRING is a specialist in this field and has been manufacturing installation and data acquisition systems for the crash-test segment since 1968. The company also focuses on further developing and adapting the award-winning M=BUS data acquisition system for crash-test dummies and other components. The latest innovation is the complete sensor and data acquisition system for the most modern side-impact dummy on the market. This expertise in particular is highly valued all over the globe, as demonstrated by the new project for supplier GSK Protech in China. Here in Nanjing, MESSRING has already built a crash-test facility and now a cutting-edge calibration lab is being constructed to maintain dummy models equipped with the most modern data acquisition system.

Since MESSRING launched the M=BUS data acquisition systems onto the market in 2006, it has been upgraded continuously to accommodate the latest developments in the industry. The engineers have had to overcome new challenges time and again, especially covering the in-dummy data acquisition systems. This ongoing development is currently being impressively demonstrated by the new WorldSID (Worldwide Harmonized Side Impact Dummy – 5th Small Female Dummy) data acquisition systems. The dummies, which were designed to represent the female body, have been further developed to simulate both a smaller female adult and a young vehicle passenger during side-impact crash-test scenarios. This brand-new dummy model now comes entirely equipped with MESSRING data acquisition technology, which features up to 26 data loggers and 156 channels throughout the whole dummy. “We offer our customers cutting-edge data acquisition technology and sensors in each dummy model. We’re always further developing our own M=BUS technology, making the components more powerful and smaller, which is easy to see with this new dummy model,” explained Matthias Winkler, Manager of Software and Hardware at MESSRING.

The primary benefit of the progressive BUS solution is that you can connect up to 32 data acquisition units with just one coaxial cable. This significantly accelerates the work of the test engineers and ensures a maximum bandwidth of test scenarios as well as clean, precise data acquisition results during the crash test. Regardless of whether three or six channels are used to record data, the small data acquisition modules always ensure full signal strength for all in-dummy components, which are controlled via a gateway. The M=BUS technology also offers additional significant benefits: it improves heat distribution thanks to the decentralized design, and the data acquisition system has practical ID modules that ensure the mass properties of the dummies remain unchanged.

Cutting-edge dummies such as the 5th Small Female are equipped with extremely sensitive data acquisition technology and therefore have to be recalibrated after just a few tests, which is why it’s so important to have a good calibration lab like the one being built in Nanjing. In addition to hardware, MESSRING also offers its own dummy calibration software, CalSoft, which plays a key role in each crash test. The software controls test rigs, assesses data, and is essential for ensuring test reproducibility. With so many different test runs and dummy models, it’s also necessary to use a software that’s powerful enough to fulfill all the test requirements and guidelines.

MESSRING’s expertise in data acquisition and the corresponding technology convinced the Chinese car component supplier GSK Protech to build a cutting-edge calibration lab in Nanjing equipped with MESSRING technology, having already constructed a crash-test facility. The laboratory is scheduled for completion at the end of 2014. “We look forward to equipping a state-of-the-art lab and offering our customers optimum support and cutting-edge technology with our very own calibration software in Nanjing. Particularly in terms of technological equipment and dummy calibration, this lab will be like no other in Asia,” explained Dierk Arp, CEO of MESSRING.

The Munich-based company tapped into the Asian market very early on and built its first complete crash-test facility there ten years ago. The high quality of the products, the resulting reproducibility of the data acquisition results, and the phrase “Made in Germany” reinforce the exceptional reputation of the MESSRING company. “Based on the positive experiences we’ve had working with MESSRING, we’ve decided to have a cutting-edge calibration lab built, in addition to the testing facility. We want to assume a leading role in this industry in Asia and, as a high-quality supplier in the automotive industry, secure further market shares,” explained Joshua Wu, Company Spokesman at GSK Protech.

You can find more information about the WorldSID 5th Percentile Female Dummy here:
http://www.messring.de/data-acquisition/mbus-indummy/world-sid/

About MESSRING

MESSRING Systembau GmbH of Munich is the world’s leading manufacturer of crash test systems and components. The mid-size company designs and builds turnkey test systems for customers in all relevant markets and on nearly all continents. To date, MESSRING has implemented more than 100 large crash test systems for automotive OEMs, automotive suppliers, governmental authorities and insurance companies – more than any other company. In the process, the global market leader continues to astonish the industry time and again with innovative advances and revolutionary new solutions, whether in system design, the actual measurement equipment, or in documentation and recording of individual tests.

For more information, go to www.messring.de