The Resettable Latching MEMS Shock Sensor provides the capability of
recording external shock extremes without consuming electrical power. The
device incorporates a shock sensitive suspended proof mass, spring-loaded
contacts, latches, and actuators for device reset. The device can be
designed, hardwired, or programmed to trigger at various shock levels.
The device can be fabricated in a simple micromachining process that
allows its size to be miniaturized for embedded and portable
applications. During operation, the device consumes no quiescent power.
The device can be configured to close a circuit, switch an interrupt
signal, or switch some other electrical trigger signal between devices at
the time of a shock extreme being reached, or it can be configured to
latch and be polled at some time after the shock limit has occurred.