Infrared Real-Time Pyrometer

This technology was developed by NASA engineers to test pyrotechnic initiated systems for stray current before the explosive material is loaded in the devices. This system provides a portable and reliable safety check for equipment to pinpoint insufficient EMI shielding. Instead of a binary pass/fail test, it will enable engineers to determine precisely how close they are to the no-fire threshold. The pyrometer calculates the amount of stray energy by measuring small amounts of thermal radiation emitted by the bridgewire during test. The data collected by the pyrometer data acquisition system can be used to determine the resultant stray current value. Existing technologies can only determine the minimum threshold of current required to ignite an explosive but not the actual measured current present in the system. By contrast, this technology provides users a measurement of how much stray energy is present and if the stray current exceeds or meets the acceptable threshold. Commercial companies can use this technology to measure the amount stray current present to quantify the risk before loading explosives initiators to be used in space and commercial systems.