When we were asked to design an innovative bicycle helmet for Rockwell Headgear, one critical aspect became clear very early on: A helmet is a helmet and must not be called helmet if it does not comply with the european standard EN 1078, that defines helmets for pedal cyclists and for users of skateboards and roller skates.

The standard EN 1078 demands, that any product in this category has to pass several tests defined by the norm:

Field of vision - "When tested in accordance with §5.7 there shall be no occultation in the field of vision bounded by angles as follows."

Retention system strength and effectiveness - "Means shall be provided for retaining the helmet on the wearer's head. All parts of the retention system shall be securely attached to the helmet."

Shock absorbing capacity - "The helmet shall give protection to the forehead, rear, sides, temples and crown of the head."

Driven by innovation and an ambitious client, we developed a helmet design with a soft liner that adapts to the user's head and provides a unique layered appearance. (Check out our case study to learn more about the final product)
We decided to verify the safety of the concept very early in the development process. This meant building prototypes of the new design that are as close as possible to the final product in terms of materials and structural properties.

With help from the cushion supplier, thermoformed shells and our neigbhour's Kuka milling robot we where able to produce a small batch of testing prototypes.

... only to promptly destroy them at certified testing facilities.

Just like in any other rocket science project, the first test rarely passes, and that was the case for us too. However, with the results in hand, we were able to identify the problematic areas, so we returned to the CAD stations to improve the cushion layout.
As we were also working to a tight product-to-market timeline, we decided to produce several versions of the layout to speed up the turnaround time of any test run. 
We were also able to use production hardshells from our development partner, which enabled us to produce and destroy more prototypes faster.

For each test, we received impact data in the form of a curve representing the absorption qualities of our helmet design. While the results were promising, they were still failing in certain configurations.

For the next round, we decided to test different materials for the cushions. We also switched to a different testing facility close to our Milan office to speed up the process of destroying helmets.

We improved the performance of the liner through several rounds of testing. Since the procedure involved testing at different temperatures, we had discovered that the cushion of a hot helmet would perform slightly worse than a frozen one.

Another major redesign of the liner and further testing were required before we were confident enough to take the design into production. 
After over 200 prototypes were crushed in 5 different testing facilities, the Rockwell Headgear helmet was released at ISPO 2016.