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Toolkit3D's Scan-to-Fit Design Engine helps make VICIS ZERO2 MATRIX the NFL's Top-Rated Helmet.

VICIS and Custom Fit

VICIS is no stranger to custom fit. With their DTLA Pod Fit System, players could already modify the interchangeable pads to personalize the comfort and fit of their ZERO2 helmets across six different zones. The only downside? The fitting process manually modified one zone at a time, exchanging pods and retesting fit with each adjustment, making it a time-consuming experience.

While it filled the requirement for a good fit - VICIS knew there was an opportunity for innovation in not only how they fit helmets, but how they manufacture them, too, and set off to create the next generation of position-specific football helmets that would answer the question: Can we develop a helmet that enables the most accurate fit, maximizing player comfort and protection?

And what better way to do that than with a truly personalized 3D scan and print solution?

vicis fit instructions

Using Additive Manufacturing to Improve Performance

Cue our friends at Carbon who, in collaboration with the engineers at VICIS, developed a 3D-printed lattice structure to replace the standard DTLA Pods, building an “impact-absorbing structure that was high-performing, consistent, durable, and pushed the limits of modern 3D-printing technology.”

Read More about Carbon's lattice design process and their collaboration with VICIS here: https://www.carbon3d.com/resources/case-study/vicis-and-carbon-combine-technologies-to-create-top-rated-helmets

vicis front lattice

Perfecting the Fit with Toolkit3D

With Toolkit3D, VICIS could create a helmet designed directly from the player's head scan, enabling the most accurate way to deliver the best fit and the highest level of stability.

In parallel to the material testing and lattice development, Toolkit3D began building the solution to tie everything together-- focusing not only on the final custom fit, but the player's experience while being fit.

VICIS wanted to deliver more than a customizable fit - but a truly personalized experience for the players. To accomplish that, Toolkit3D built the VICIS Scanning App, giving the teams the ability to create and manage player databases, capture the 3D head scan, initiate the automated scan-to-fit process, and retrieve or modify their custom fit configurations.

Within Toolkit3D's in-house scan-to-fit design engine (Shapeshift3D), each MATRIX pod is individually fit to the player's head, taking into consideration both a player's preferred fit for comfort and the structural engineering properties for printability (ensuring the resin can easily drain after printing) and connecting pods to the helmet themselves.

The fitting process starts with a 3D head scan. In this project an occipital camera attached to an iPad was used, but the Toolkit3D platform is scanner agnostic, and any 3D scanner would suffice. The raw scan is sent through the Design Engine and the Constraint Template Morphing (CTM) modeling paradigm which includes scan landmarking, scan reconstruction, helmet positioning, and helmet fitting. Scan Landmarking consists of automatically detecting more than 3000 anatomical and non-anatomical landmarks and unique points on the playe'’s head, allowing the helmet to be fit to an exact replica of the head.

Here the scan is automatically repaired, cleaned, and rectified (ex. removing hair or shoulders) to prepare for fitting the individual helmet pads.

Vicis design engine part positioning

Next, the player is fit to the correct helmet shell size and the pad lattices are individually morphed to the player's head within the constraints of the helmet's shell. This integration begins as a manual process while perfecting the exact requirements and algorithms, but once into production it becomes fully automated through the Toolkit3D platform-- with the possibility of print ready files being sent directly to the manufacturer and their respective MES software.

Vicis matrix positioned

In addition to the personalized experience, Toolkit3D built a customizer for the standard DTLA Pads. Using the same head scan data, the app enabled players to quickly receive best-fit pad suggestions instead/or in addition to, MATRIX 3D printed ones. Like VICIS's original manual fit method, the app was built with enough flexibility to modify pad selection based on the player's preferred fit. From here, helmets could be assembled in the factory and shipped or assembled directly in the locker room.

Now VICIS had a solution that could manage a solution for every player - whether they wanted a fully personalized, 3D printed experience, or not.

Vicis scanning app

Top Rated for Safety by the NFL and NFLPA

Head injuries have the potential to be career - and sometimes life - ending. In efforts to mitigate injuries and long-term effects on players, the NFL has implemented new rules and protocols, while increasing awareness of risks.

The NFL, in collaboration with the NFLPA, coordinate extensive laboratory research with their biomechanical experts each year to evaluate which helmets best reduce head impact severity. While some helmets became newly prohibited or fell under the “Do Not Recommend” category, the VICIS ZERO2-R MATRIX ID TRENCH took the number one spot. Overall VICIS held the top five spots in 2023— three utilizing their 3D printed MATRIX pads.

Read more: https://static.www.nfl.com/image/upload/v1681310780/league/kolarozeolaw53tmq37z.pdf

helmet laboratory testing performance results

What's Next?

VICIS continues to push the boundaries of innovation and the future of player protection, and with partners like Toolkit3D and Carbon, building prototypes and testing ideas is easier than ever before.

"We're excited to continue exploring the possibilities of intelligent fitting and automation with the fantastic team at Toolkit3D." - Cord Santiago, Senior Design Engineer, Certor Sports.

With Toolkit3D's Design Engine, the opportunities of truly personalized fit are endless, and the ZERO2 MATRIX helmets are only the beginning.

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