Message from Last Year's Boot Camp Participants
Before attending the ARC-SCI Crash Team Boot Camp, most of the participants had high expectations and were looking forward to an opportunity to work side-by-side with experienced people in the field of crash testing. Others were not sure what they had gotten themselves into and wondered if the benefit was going to justify the cost (expensive, but well worth it, read on). While the boot camp experience is not for the passive or casual member, the long hours, hard work, and active participation met participants’ high expectations and quickly erased any doubts about the benefits of the experience. The experience has delivered what we believe will be long term friendships and given us one valuable tool for our collision analysis toolbox. This experience was a great way for the Boot Camp members to learn “hands-on” the necessary skills and equipment required for crash testing. Learning from highly skilled individuals who have already made most of the mistakes, (but not all mistakes, as evidenced by an unexpected airbag deployment Rusty Haight and Kent Boots experienced, or an “unplanned” crash of a phantom driver driven vehicle) was invaluable.
Learning about the equipment and instrumentation the ARC-CSI Crew’s use and its abilities and limitations was an invaluable asset from this experience. The member of the Boot Camp Crash Team would overwhelmingly recommend this experience to anyone who has an in-depth interest related to crash testing, is willing to work hard, and has a hands-on attitude. What did we learn? We learned what goes in to planning, executing and presenting a crash test – much more effort than you would believe or understand without this experience. We learned that while there may seem to be down time as a spectator, when you are on the track, down time does not exist. Between getting vehicles into position, getting them instrumented, crashing them, collecting data, removing instruments, and then repeating the procedure seven or eight times in one day, there is no down time. That doesn’t even begin to address dealing with all of the mechanical issues that old cars always have! In order to crash them, you have to get them to run and drive first. Lastly, we learned that you will get out of this experience what you put into it. If you choose to stay on the sidelines and do the minimum or nothing just to be able to put this on your resume, you are wasting your time and the team’s time. If you choose to get fully involved and pitch in wherever needed, including weighing cars, pushing cars around, drilling holes or whatever else is necessary, you’ll have a great experience and learn more than you can imagine. You may gain a new respect or appreciation for team members from outside your area of expertise (for instance, on our team, some engineers gained a new appreciation and respect for law enforcement and some law enforcement officer developed a new attitude about engineers!). If you are lucky, you will also make some friends and great contacts along the way! Much like the military recruit’s feeling of accomplishment on graduation day, the members of the inaugural Crash Team Boot Camp left the experience with a sense of accomplishment and lessons learned that will last a life time. So, were the hours long, the work a bit dirty? YES! Did we each learn something from related fields that we hadn’t worked on before? YES! Did we enjoy each other’s company and solving problems on the fly? YES! But overall was it worth it? Well, was it recruit? - “Sir, yes sir!!!” |
Crash Team Boot Camp Experience
Instructors: Rusty Haight and Bob Anderson
June 2-7, 2012
Palace Station Hotel
Las Vegas, NV
Cost: $1999.00 (includes ARC-CSI Confernece registration)
This is an opportunity to learn what goes into crash testing. The Boot Camp will be limited to about 10 people and is a first-come, first-serve basis. The Crash Team Boot Camp attendees receive:
- Registration to the ARC-CSI Crash Conference
- Classroom instruction learning about testing equipment, planning a crash test, developing a plan and testing goals
- Working with instructors to implement the plan, conduct the crash test and "crunch the data"
- The Boot Camp Team will be given two cars to plan their test and parameters to work within and then set about developing that plan for crash day at the Conference.
- The Team will conduct a live, fully instrumented crash test at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on the conference crash day
- Using the data collected, the Team will present the findings on Crash Data Review day
- The Team will then be given the opportunity to develop an article for publishing in Collision Magazine
- Each Boot Camp attendee will also receive an ARC-CSI Boot Camp Crash Team track shirt
About Crash Team Boot Camp
A feature added to the ARC-CSI Crash Conference in response to the interest expressed by those who have attended in the past is "Crash Team Boot Camp." Every year, we hear back from those who attend the conference that they'd like an opportunity to learn more about what goes into the crash testing conducted at the conference. They want an opportunity to be involved in the testing directly, learn more about the instrumentation, better understand the outward appearance of "down time" between tests and then see what goes into the "data crunching" after the crash day. They look at the "organized chaos" and want to better understand what's really happening.
This year will mark the second year we offer the Crash Team Boot Camp. The goal of the Boot Camp is to allow a small group of those interested to learn about the instrumentation available and then plan and conduct one of the tests at the ARC-CSI Crash Conference. Then the Team would be responsible for analyzing the data and presenting the crash data and their analysis on the last day of the conference.
"Crash Team Boot Camp" starts the morning of June 2 with classroom time learning about the various pieces of equipment we'll be using, going through the ins-and-outs of planning a test, developing the plan and testing goals and then working with Bob Anderson and Rusty Haight - both veterans of literally thousands of crash tests of varying types and levels of complexity - to implement the plan, conduct the test and then "crunch the data." The "Boot Camp Team" will then present their test analysis at the end of the conference and follow that up with an article in the next issue of Collision Magazine.
We'll look at how the accelerometers, string pots, load cells, etc work, go over data acquisition theory, principles and practices, and we'll look at how to operate specific data collection systems commonly encountered in crash tests.
Get some hands on time on those instruments, hardware and software and then go over camera and video availability and operation. The Team will be given two cars to plan their test with and parameters to work within and then set about developing that plan for crash day at the Conference. On Sunday, June 3, they'll join the ARC-CSI Crash Crew at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway to prep the area where we'll be crashing, prep their cars and do any pre-test activity their plan calls for. Monday the 4th is crash day and the Boot Camp Team will be on the track with the ARC-CSI crash crew and will conduct their test as part of the day's crash sequence. Over the next day and a half they'll see what goes into "crunch time" and will get an opportunity to crunch their own data toward developing a crash test data review presentation on their own crash for a presentation on Thursday the 7th at Conference end. Over the following weeks, they'll work together and develop an article - or two - on the experience and test for publishing in Collision Magazine.
This is a rare opportunity indeed to peek "behind the curtain" and see why there's "so much downtime between tests" (or is there by comparison?) and then learn more about the complexity of testing and benefit from the experience of being there first hand from planning to implementation to analysis to being published. The Crash Team Boot Camp will be limited to about 10 participants this year. Are you up to the challenge? You can be one of them?
Crash Team Boot Camp
Instructors: Rusty Haight and Bob Anderson
June 2-7, 2012
Palace Station Hotel
Las Vegas, NV
Cost: $1999.00
2012 Hotel Information
Palace Station Hotel
2411 W. Sahara Avenue
Las Vegas, NV 89102
Reservations: 800-634-3101
This year we are hosting the ARC-CSI Crash Conference at the Palace Station Hotel. For the past nine years the Palace Station has embraced this conference and has gone above and beyond to make all our attendees and exhibitors feel at home by providing excellent guest services, newly remodeled rooms and highly rated catering services for our breakfasts, breaks, and lunches.
The Palace Station understands many of our attendees have to get travel requests and are on travel budgets. For this year's conference, the Palace Station has once again offered incredible room rates for all of our attendees.
| Group Rate | SUN-THU | FRI-SAT |
| Tower Room | $55 + $4.95 Hotel Service Fee | $79 + $4.95 Hotel Service Fee |
| Value Room | $45 + $4.95 Hotel Service Fee | $69 + $4.95 Hotel Service Fee |
To receive the above Group Rate: Please give the code "PCIARC2" or mention you are an attendee of the "ARC-CSI Crash Conference" when making your room reservation.
NOTE: We have negotiated a $4.95 Hotel Service Fee for everyone booking under our group rate. If you book outside of our group block, the Hotel Service Fee is $14.99 per night.
Palace Station will take reservations at the above stated group rate until May 3, 2012, after this date the hotel will take reservations on a space available basis and at prevailing hotel rate.
Check-in time is 3:00 PM
Check-out time is 12:00 PM
Please be advised that all rates quoted are per room, per night, single or double occupancy. There is a $15.00 charge required per room for triple occupancy and $30.00 per room for quad occupancy. A $4.95 Hotel Service Fee will be added per room, per night. The above rates and Hotel Service Fee are subject Clark County room tax, currently at 12%. Please note: Room tax and Hotel Service Fee are subject to change at any time without prior notice.
Shuttle Service
The Palace Station offers free scheduled shuttle service to and from McCarran International Airport and the Las Vegas Strip.
High Speed Internet Access
All rooms have High Speed Internet access. Included with the hotel service fee.
The Hotel Service Fee of $4.95 will be added per room, per night and includes the following:
- Shuttle Service
- High Speed Internet Service
- Shuttle Service to Las Vegas Strip
- Unlimited use of Fitness Facility
- Line Pass to Buffet
- In-coming Faxes
More information can be found at the Palace Station Hotel web site:
www.palacestation.com
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