Ricardo Defense Systems in Van Buren Township and Lightweight Innovations For Tomorrow (LIFT), a Manufacturing USA institute in Detroit, today announced the successful completion of their pilot project to retrofit 10 Michigan National Guard vehicles with RDS’ optimized antilock braking system (ABS) and electronic stability control (ESC) to reduce fatal rollovers in High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWV). The system is now available for purchase by military units worldwide.
The project’s goal was to further develop and scale Ricard Defense Systems’ ABS/ESC system and provide validation of quality retrofit installation on the HMMWV fleet, including training soldiers on the installation process and further demonstrating the systems’ value in the field.
ESC is based on National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data from similar vehicle classes and reduces fatal rollovers by 74 percent.
“We’re proud to have been involved in this important project with the aim of reducing the risk of injury to our men and women in uniform, and civilians on public roads,” says Chet Gryczan, president of Ricardo Defense Systems “By working with LIFT on this project, we’ve proven our system is ready and able to be installed across the HMMWV fleet to improve safety immediately. We have also been able to investigate opportunities for possible future implementation, which reduce weight and hence improve vehicle payload or efficiency.”
Project partners included GKC as a technology partner and the University of Michigan Transportation Resource Institute as a research partner. A video demonstrating the stabilizing effects of these systems can be viewed here.
, a Manufacturing USA institute in Detroit, today announced the successful completion of their pilot project to retrofit 10 Michigan National Guard vehicles with RDS’ optimized antilock braking system (ABS) and electronic stability control (ESC) to reduce fatal rollovers in High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWV).){kind=link}