Seal Beach, CA – (Apr. 27, 2020, Update)

Dear Valued Clients and Associates,

We are open.

At this time all DTS offices worldwide remain open and ready to respond to your needs. We continue to monitor the Coronavirus pandemic and respond with our best efforts. The Health and Safety of our staff, clients, suppliers and agents is our top priority.

We will continue to navigate these uncertain times by being responsible citizens, while also striving to meet commitments to our customers. As part of the Defense Industrial Base, DTS along with many of our clients and suppliers have a responsibility to continue to operate as part of the Critical Infrastructure of the United States.

Our staff is our first priority. We have implemented CDC guidelines for hygiene practices in the workplace, including requiring every employee reporting in for work to record their temperature daily. Employees with elevated temperatures, symptoms of illness or known contact with infected individuals will not be allowed to enter our workplace. All travel has been eliminated or minimized to only what is safe and essential.

Our scheduling and planning team is working daily to accommodate all customers, with top priority shipments based on customer needs. DTS will communicate regarding any deliveries that may be impacted and work with you to find the best solution. We encourage our clients to contact customerservice@dtsweb.com or sales@dtsweb.com regarding any requests to:

• move scheduled orders out
• bring orders in to ship early
• accept partial shipments

Product calibration and repairs continue at all DTS support sites. The COVID-19 outbreak requires that we work differently, but we are working to maintain standard lead times and meet customer needs. For customers that normally take advantage of our on-site calibration services, we are offering complimentary shipping to a DTS support site closest to you.

DTS has implemented staggered work shifts and work-from-home practices. Our Engineering and Software teams are following our 2020 business plan to ensure product development timelines stay on track. Our Sales and Business Development teams are available to discuss current and future opportunities.

Thank you for your ongoing support and partnership. Our company mission is to be the most trusted provider in the markets we serve. We aim to honor that objective through these challenging times and the future.

Sincerely,

Steve Pruitt, CEO

Rollin White, President

Seal Beach, CA – (Aug. 2019) – Introducing the new SLICE6 AIR data acquisition system to measure analog signals for in-flight, aerospace and defense testing. Offering flexibility and powerful new functionality, the ultra-small SLICE6 AIR allows test engineers to embed the data recorder in locations that were previously inaccessible. SLICE6 AIR can be used standalone, networked for high channel counts tests or easily integrated into existing Ethernet-based flight test instrumentation.

Measuring just 42 x 42 x 13mm with a mass of 50 grams, the miniature SLICE6 AIR is optimized for size, weight and power (SWaP). The rugged module can be embedded on or in small test articles like unmanned systems, munitions and helicopter rotors without altering test dynamics. Positioning the DAQ near the sensors eliminates complicated cable runs that can get tangled or cause issues with signal or power drops, plus it helps reduce test set-up time.

SLICE6 AIR offers real-time streaming in IRIG (Chapter 10 or TmNS) as well as store-in-place recording. The system also supports Ethernet timing and synchronization using IEEE 1588 PTPV2 protocol. These new features, along with all the functionality of its proven SLICE6 DAQ predecessor, make it ideal for applications requiring high-speed streaming data collection and precision timing.

“Flight test engineers are always looking for ways to reduce lengthy test set-up time,” says Huy Nguyen, DTS Aerospace and Defense Sales Manager. “SLICE6 AIR can be rapidly deployed at the last minute to support test modifications ‒ like additional sensor channels or new points of interest ‒ making it a real game-changer for speeding up the test process.”

The onboard IEEE 1588 compliant Ethernet functionality allows the 6-channel SLICE6 unit to be expanded to hundreds of channels (via PTPv2 daisy-chaining ) per test setup. Programmable sampling rates support a variety of sensors including full and half-bridge, strain gauges, pressure sensors, voltage input and thermocouples. Data writes directly to onboard flash memory.

Seal Beach, CA – (Mar. 2019) – Following the successful launch and return of the Crew Dragon capsule from the International Space Station (ISS), one of the next steps for SpaceX will be a detailed review of every aspect of the mission. That includes extensive analysis of data collected via Ripley, the HYBIII-50M Anthropomorphic Test Device (ATD) that was one of the first official first “passengers.” According to SpaceX, Ripley was instrumented with 10 (of 30 available) critical sensors to capture head, neck and spine data. DTS sensors and data acquisition systems were onboard to measure loads and forces that future crew members may experience during launch, docking and splashdown. The Demo-1 data will be carefully analyzed to ensure the safety, comfort and reliability of space travel for future astronauts. Once SpaceX determines everything is mission-ready for Demo-2, this will include transporting a live crew of two NASA astronauts to the ISS.

Seal Beach, CA – (2019) – Mike Beckage, co-founder and CTO of Diversified Technical Systems, has been inducted into the Cal Poly Pomona College of Engineering Hall of Fame. This prestigious honor recognizes outstanding accomplishments of distinguished engineers from the more than 25,000 alumni. Along with Beckage, nine other alumni were inducted in 2019.

Cal Poly Pomona’s ‘learn by doing’ paradigm became an essential component for Beckage as he earned a BS in Engineering Technology and began his career as an electronics technician at Mobility Systems & Equipment Company.
“I truly learned how to identify a problem, propose a viable solution and then carry the concept forward to fruition in an effective way,” he says. “Many of my classroom and lab experiences immediately made me a more valuable employee and led to an engineering position even before I graduated.”

Soon after graduating, Beckage was promoted to senior test engineer. At Mobility Systems he was responsible for all aspects of data collection and analysis of automotive safety tests performed for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

In 1988 he moved on to Nissan Motor Corporation, where he served as an engineering specialist and was responsible for analyzing and reporting on potential safety or emission issues and corresponding with NHTSA and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Looking for his next career move, Beckage co-founded Diversified Technical Systems (DTS) in 1990, a high-tech company that engineers and manufactures miniature data acquisition systems for crash test, blast protection and product testing. Today Fortune 500 companies rely on DTS data recorders and sensors for critical testing in automotive, aerospace, military, defense, sports and injury biomechanics. Headquartered in Seal Beach, California, DTS has over 100 employees and offices in Michigan, France, Japan, China, Asia-Pacific and the United Kingdom.

With a passion for teaching, inspiring, and making a difference, Beckage says he still enjoys going to work each day. He likes the people and work, and values the fact that DTS products help advance human safety all around the world.

Proud to be recognized as one of the distinguished engineers whose achievements inspire future generations of engineers, Beckage had this to say, “If you study diligently, work hard, persevere and pay supreme attention to detail in everything you do, your education will take you far.”

DTS Co-Founders and CPP Alumni Share Their Success Story | Click on image above to watch the Cal Poly video shot at DTS headquarters featuring Mike and Tim.

Mike Beckage proudly wears the traditional Cal Poly Pomona green jacket in front of his honorary Hall of Fame portrait on display in the Cal Poly Pomona Engineering building. Beckage is pictured with his wife Bridget Spanier-Beckage (center) and sister Donna Beckage (right).

Award inducting Mike Beckage into the Cal Poly Pomona College of Engineering Hall of Fame was presented March 20 at a black tie event at the Pacific Palms Resort.

Seal Beach, CA – (Jan. 2019) – Diversified Technical Systems, Inc. (DTS) has been awarded two Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)* Phase I contracts to develop miniature data acquisition systems for flight crew safety testing by both the US Air Force Research Lab and NASA. DTS was selected for each project based on their expertise in test and measurement solutions for crash, blast and injury biomechanics testing.

The DTS ‘blue boxes’ will be engineered to collect physical measurements including triaxial linear and angular acceleration for two very different applications. NASA’s focus is on low-level accelerations over extended time periods, while USAF testing is centered on short duration events. NASA’s Dynamic Kinematic Recorder (DKR), as it’s being called, will be used to measure vibration data that spaceflight crews may experience during launch and re-entry periods. The USAF Dynamic Impact Recorder (DIR) will measure more intense head and neck accelerations that pilots may be subjected to during ejection seat events.

How and where each unit will be mounted and powered are critical to the development process. With the goal of positioning the recorder as close as possible to the point of interest, which could be on or in a helmet, the real challenge for DTS design engineers becomes size, mass and center-of-gravity (CoG). DTS’ ultra-low power designs are significantly smaller and lighter than similar systems on the market. Each unit will feature six degree of freedom (6DOF) sensing and onboard memory, which means all data will be stored in place to non-volatile memory.

Phase 1 deliveries include working prototypes, which will be evaluated against key metrics to assess performance and accuracy of the units. The NASA DKR is scheduled to be complete in January 2019 and the USAF DIR is scheduled for April 2019. One or both may be followed by a Phase II SBIR, in which the concept design is then refined into a finished product.

New ways of testing and analyzing football head injuries caused by helmet-to-helmet hits is approaching a touchdown.  The University of Alabama at Birmingham’s (UAB) Department of Mechanical Engineering is developing new testing methodologies using crash test dummies to improve helmet testing and ultimately reduce concussions and traumatic brain injuries (TBI).

While there are recorders that can be attached to the outside of a helmet to alert coaches and medical staff of possible concussions, these devices track helmet motion and generally do a poor job of tracking actual head motion. The UAB research team wants to improve the helmets themselves, starting with the testing process, so they are putting the sensors and recorders inside crash test dummy heads for even more biofidelic impact data.

UAB’s unique test facility recreates the collisions players experience on the field, based on analyzing hours and hours of game footage. An 80-foot railed track with a motorized sled recreates actual impacts using two crash dummies geared up in protective football equipment. Initially the dummies were wired up to exterior data acquisition systems, but there were issues with tangled cables that restricted free-flight test dynamics. The solution: miniature DTS SLICE NANO data recorders plus triaxial linear accelerators and angular rate sensors that are embedded inside the dummy head – eliminating any trailing cables. The system records each collision, calculates the velocities of the players involved, the locations of impact on each player’s helmet and more. This data is critical to support UAB’s goal to identify helmets that best protect players from concussions, as well as encouraging the design of new, even safer helmets. The institution’s new partnership with VICIS, a helmet technology company, will aid that goal even further.

“Right now, there are no football helmet standards that specifically address concussions,” said Dean Sicking, Ph.D., professor in UAB’s Department of Mechanical Engineering.  “The DTS data recorders and sensors collect the relevant data that we need from replicated real-world hits in order to ascertain what kind of forces the hits cause.  Ultimately, we can gather enough data to see whether helmet A or helmet B performs better in protecting against concussions.”

UAB looked to Diversified Technical Systems (DTS) for their expertise in biomechanics and occupant safety testing. The California-based company is known for miniature, rugged data recorders and sensors used for crash, blast and safety testing worldwide. DTS designed the first in-dummy data acquisition system (DAS) for the WorldSID, a side impact dummy developed and used in automotive regulatory testing.  Most recently, DTS completed building  the first military blast test dummy (WIAMan) for the U.S. Army with next generation data recorders and sensors inside. This breakthrough of moving data recorders inside the test dummies has significantly changed the face of safety testing by improving the fidelity of the data and the efficiency of the test set-up.

“DTS systems are so small that they really are a game-changer in this important work of improving player safety,” says Hans Hellsund, Director of Sales for DTS. “For over 26 years our technology has been focused on helping keep people safer, whether it’s with auto manufacturers, aerospace testing, or soldier protection,” adds Hellsund.

Diversified Technical Systems (DTS) is proud to announce that SAE International has honored Steve Moss – DTS Director of ATD Systems – with the 2017 James M. Crawford Technical Standards Board Outstanding Achievement Award.

The award recognizes individuals for outstanding service in the technical committee activities of the Society. This includes valuable contributions to the work of SAE International technical committees, unusual leadership in the activities of an SAE International technical committee, significant contributions as a representative of the Society to the accomplishments of technical committees of other organizations or of government agencies, and outstanding contributions to SAE International technical committee work in the form of research, test methods and procedures, and/or development of standards.

The James M. Crawford Fund was established in 1953 and honors James Crawford, who was SAE International President in 1945. In 2013, the award previously known as the Technical Standards Board Outstanding Achievement Award, was renamed the James M. Crawford Technical Standards Board Outstanding Achievement Award.

 Mr. Moss was born and educated in the United Kingdom and received a BSME from University of Hertfordshire in 1977. He worked as an automotive engineer at Rover UK, and GM and Ford in Detroit in the occupant safety and crash test and analysis fields for 15 years. Mr. Moss was the Technical Director at First Technology Safety Systems (now Humanetics ATD) from 1995 to 2005 in charge of crash dummy development. He now works for DTS in the Novi, Michigan office and is in charge of the WIAMan underbody blast dummy development, a project for the U.S. Army. He is an active member of several SAE and ISO Standards Committees, including the Safety Test Instrumentation Standards Committee for over twenty years. Moss has previously received the SAE International Ralph H. Isbrandt Automotive Safety Engineering Award.

Seal Beach, CA (February 2017) – Nearly 100 DTS employees and several key U.S. Army personnel gathered for the official ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new WIAMan ATD Lab located inside DTS headquarters in Seal Beach, California. The new lab is being used exclusively to support the design, development and testing of the first blast test dummy, officially called the Warrior Injury Assessment Manikin (WIAMan). DTS is the Prime Contractor to the U.S. Army for the WIAMan project, which is the first anthropomorphic test device (ATD) designed specifically to withstand underbody blasts (like IEDs). The goal of all WIAMAN testing is to advance soldier protection and improve military vehicle designs.

The new 3,000+ sq. ft. lab is furnished with state-of-the-art test equipment including an 11-foot drop tower used to simulate the vertical impact experienced by an occupant in a vehicle blast. A 5-point harness secures WIAMan in the drop tower seat while a 200g pulse simulates blast forces. Load cells in the seat measure five different load paths through the pelvis and femur to quantify potential spine and lower extremity injuries. A linear impactor performs iterative testing on lower leg and pelvis components, accelerating a 20kg impact mass to a velocity of 20 meters/sec. Analyzing gross motor movement in slow motion helps engineers better understand the forces soldiers experience in the field, so multiple high speed cameras capture the action at over 100,000 frames/second.

“The program provides a state-of-art test capability to assess potential skeletal injuries of Soldiers exposed to under-body blast,” said Fred Hughes, director of the WIAMan Engineering Office. “The manikin’s sophisticated biofidelity and robust sensor design provides an unmatched level of accuracy determining the potential effects of blast on Soldiers in new vehicle systems. The WIAMan effort is an example of outstanding collaboration among academia, industry, and the government.”

The WIAMan project is especially important because no human surrogate for blast testing exists today. Automotive crash test dummies have been used in the past, but they are built to withstand frontal and side impacts, not the vertical acceleration of an under-body blast. The multi-year project includes not only building the new ATD, but also a next generation in-dummy sensing and data acquisition solution that goes inside the dummy.

To measure potential skeletal injuries, WIAMan currently uses 146 channels of embedded data acquisition and sensors, but is designed to support up to 180 channels. The self-contained miniature data acquisition systems are distributed throughout the test manikin and include internal power and a variety of sensors. The data collected includes six degree of freedom of forces, moments, accelerations and angular velocities from sensors located along the pelvis, spine, tibia and foot/heal. The data WIAMan will measure has far reaching, life-saving implications not only in the development of safer military vehicles and tactical gear, but to families around the world.

About DTS: Founded in 1990 by three crash test engineers, DTS data recorders and sensors are used worldwide in crash, blast and biomechanics testing by top automakers, aerospace and leading research facilities. The U.S. Army named a DTS helmet sensor as one of “The Greatest Inventions.” Inc. Magazine has named DTS three times as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. Based in Seal Beach, California DTS has technical centers in Michigan, Australia, China, Japan and the U.K.