Endevco Sensor Survives Four Decades

Michael Donaruma has what is believed to be the world's oldest functioning Endevco sensor. The 1962 model 2224C accelerometer showed "extraordinary stability" when tested by Endevco as part of its "world's oldest functioning sensor" contest. The competition was held as part of the company's 60th anniversary celebration. Donaruma, who works for the Environmental Test Facility of C.S. Draper Laboratory in Boston, said the sensor was originally purchased in 1962 by Charles Stark Draper, a professor at MIT who also ran the Instrumentation Lab there. In the early 1970s, Draper and MIT spun the lab off as a non-profit operation, where the accelerometer was used to test gyroscopes that were used in the earliest Apollo missions. When tested recently, the device showed "extraordinary stability" over a period of four decades with original vs. current frequency deviations of +2.0% and +1.19% at 20 Hz, 0% and +0.02% at 50 Hz, 0% and -0.76% at 100 Hz, and 0% and -1.46% at 200 Hz. "It is always intriguing to hear the stories behind the applications for Endevco devices," Endevco President Scott Silcock said in a statement. "And it’s truly astounding to ponder the advances made in aerospace technology from the early days of the Apollo program to the programs that seem routine today. We are very proud of the role Endevco plays in that legacy." Donaruma will receive a $5,000 Endevco Test Essential products gift certificate and a 15 percent discount on calibration services for one year.