Messerschmidt and Austin to Present at the 2012 ARC-CSI Crash Conference

Kelly Messerschmidt
Technical Communications Manager
MSC

Bill Messerschmidt of MSC, and Tim Austin of the Wisconsin State Patrol Academy will give a presentation on “Using ECM Diagnostic Data in Crash Reconstruction” at the 2012 ARC-CSI Crash Conference, which will take place June 4-7, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Messerschmidt and Austin’s presentation explores the presence of important, volatile fault data in heavy vehicle Engine Control Modules (ECMs) that are oftentimes ignored, inadvertently erased, or overwritten during the ECM data imaging process.

They will discuss how and when diagnostic records are written, how they can be useful in collision investigations, as well as how the data can be preserved correctly. Messerschmidt and Austin will describe data imaging methods, such as the use of surrogate vehicles and devices like the “Truck in a Box.”

The ARC-CSI Crash Conference takes place annually and—as they have done for the past 10 years—the ARC-CSI Crash Team will conduct multiple, fully instrumented live crash tests of vehicles in real world crash scenarios. Learn more about the crash tests.

The two days that follow crash test day are comprised of technical presentations given by experts from around the world on topics relevant to investigating and reconstructing vehicle collisions. Learn more about the topics and speakers for the 2012 ARC-CSI Crash Conference.

Register to attend this year’s conference.

MSC Conducts Heavy Vehicle EDR Testing

In conjunction with the Wisconsin State Patrol, DP Plant & Associates, and Fox Valley Technical College, Benjamin Smith of MSC conducted research tests on Heavy Vehicle Event Data Recorders (EDRs) last week. This testing was performed on Mercedes Benz and Detroit Diesel engines and took place at the Fox Valley Technical College driving course in Appleton, Wisconsin.

Over 35 tests were run in an effort to strengthen and supplement current research projects. These tests will be included in a publication to be released in mid-2011. They are part of a larger research effort that has been in operation since early 2009.

MSC thanks Fox Valley Technical College for having generously donated the use of test vehicles, test engines, test facilities, and staff. Smith says, “Our team’s research projects would not be possible without Fox Valley Technical College and their dedication to science and technology.”

MSC in Wisconsin Trooper Magazine

In February, Messerschmidt Safety Consulting was honored by inclusion in the cover story of the Spring 2010 issue of Wisconsin Trooper magazine. Wisconsin Trooper is the official quarterly publication of the Wisconsin State Trooper Association.

During 2009, Troopers from the Wisconsin State Patrol (WSP) made important contributions to two Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) technical papers. Sergeant Duane Meyers coauthored a technical paper with Dr. L. Daniel Metz, which looks at tire/road friction at high speeds (“Controlled Braking Experiments with and without ABS,” forthcoming SAE 2010-01-1000), and Trooper Tim Austin coauthored a technical paper with representatives of several other organizations (including MSC) on the effect that power failure has on event data recorders (EDRs) in heavy trucks (“Simulating the Effect of Collision-Related Power Loss on the Event Data Recorders of Heavy Trucks,” forthcoming SAE 2010-01-1004).

Wisconsin’s Technical Reconstruction Unit, of which Meyers and Austin are members, continues to make meaningful and valuable contributions to forensic science, accident investigation and reconstruction, and criminal justice. We at MSC are privileged to have had the opportunity to work with the WSP and to have been included in the Trooper Association’s quarterly magazine.

Bill Speaks at the Midwest Association of Technical Accident Investigators (MATAI) Annual Conference

On June 9, at the MATAI Annual Conference, Bill presented the results of Heavy Vehicle Event Data Recorder (EDR) testing that was conducted with the Wisconsin State Patrol last month at Fox Valley Technical College. The testing involved using heavy vehicles to simulate real-life events (such as a loss of power) to better understand how an Event Control Module (ECM) records data during accidents.

MATAI is a group of accident investigators from law enforcement, engineering, and academia, whose members represent eight states in the Midwest. Visit the MATAI website.

Other speakers at the conference included John Daily (pole impacts); Ron Heusser (truck brake systems); Dr. Daniel Metz (vehicle dynamics); Rick Ruth (automobile EDRs); and Jim Sobek (conspicuity). About 125 people attended this year's conference at the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin.