After a sufficient amount of use under certain conditions, parachutes wear out and can no longer be safely employed. A simple and effective indicator of the remaining life of a parachute is the number of times it has been used, surviving opening shock, canopy inflation, transient parachute dynamics, and low velocity flight to the ground. This paper documents a small electronic device that automatically detects and logs each time a parachute has been used. Hardware and software that enables this device are described and data from bench and flight testing are detailed to highlight detection algorithm performance and long-term power consumption. Data shows that the proposed device accurately and reliably identifies individual parachute flights and that the ultra low power nature of the design permits the device to be continuously on for a period of time that is greater than the life span of the parachute. Thus, the device can be installed in the canopy during the fabrication process without the need for recharging or replacement of batteries.

在一定条件下使用足够数量后，降落伞会磨损，无法再安全使用。降落伞剩余寿命的一个简单而有效的指标是它的使用次数、在打开冲击、伞盖膨胀、瞬态降落伞动力学和低速飞行到地面时的使用次数。这篇论文记录了一个小型电子设备，它可以在每次使用降落伞时自动检测和记录。描述了支持该设备的硬件和软件，并详细介绍了工作台和飞行测试的数据，以突出检测算法性能和长期功耗。数据表明，所提出的设备可以准确可靠地识别单个降落伞飞行，并且设计的超低功耗特性允许该设备连续运行一段时间，该时间大于降落伞的使用寿命。因此，该装置可以在制造过程中安装在顶篷中，无需充电或更换电池。