Engineering solutions for soldiers on the battlefield

Third year MEng Mechanical Engineering student Erik Kovalan is part of a team which has won its way through to the final of a national competition.

With fellow students from Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton, Erik has designed an innovative helmet that monitors soldiers’ heartbeat and temperature along with other factors such as their body position.

The contest, organised by Thales involved the use of its Arduino open-source prototyping platform. ECS students worked on the microprocessing circuits while Erik used the University’s 3D printing facilities to create a robust casing for the technology. The teams in the internal contest had two weeks to work on their design and produce a video showcasing their invention.

“We were asked to come up with an idea that reflected Thales work. The company is a big defence contractor so we thought a multi-purpose helmet would be worth developing,” says Erik.