# New US Patent Granted | Active Safety System Technologies Inc.

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- Entity ID: wefunder:feed_item:169644
- Published at: 2023-12-23 08:40:24 UTC
- Updated at: 2025-07-09 03:24:19 UTC

## Author
Roger Sloman

## Subject
Active Safety System Technologies Inc.

## Content
We are very pleased to announce that we have just heard today that the US patent for our innovative Vehicle Active Floor System (VAFS) design reference number WO 2021/032968A1 has been granted.This is an important step, as the main reason that the US Army extended the CRADA (Co-Operative Research and Development Agreement) with our US based Active Safety System Technologies Inc for another 3 years was their desire to undertake testing of the system during 2024.The problem to be solved is the way the floor reacts to a mine or IED blast under the vehicle. The shockwave passing through the vehicle structure makes the floor vibrate so violently that any loose item on the floor is thrown upwards at high speed, so anything heavy such as a weapon or ammunition box becomes a potentially lethal projectile flying around the vehicle interior. And if anyone has their feet on the floor they are highly likely to receive severe ankle, knee and leg fractures.VAFS solves these problems by pulling the floor down by a small amount very quickly after the mine explodes, and it is this very fast response that is critical for the function. We demonstrated the system very successfully in August 2017 as part of the Snatch Land Rover test which also proved the VGAM technology at full scale, and it is also part of the planned US TBI R&D project.In this TBI project case the floor, acting like a drumskin, can create a pressure pulse inside the vehicle which has previously been identified in a US Army patent as being the cause of lung injuries, and potentially TBI.There are active floor systems already in service, but all only operate once and then require re-building the floor whilst VAFS has the unique ability to reset itself automatically, and it could be designed to operate multiple times without any servicing. We have planned to integrate the VAFS testing under the CRADA (for which we are not paid) as part of the TBI R&D project in order to save costs, but if we do not get the TBI project we will be able to fund this CRADA test from the current investment round.A variant of the system can also be used in small patrol vehicle footwells as well as the main floor in a large Armoured Personnel Carrier.Whilst the VAFS technology is a small system compared to VGAM, if it is adopted by the US Army and Marines as a standard for production armoured vehicles it could be very lucrative for ASST and ABBS. The HMMWV production reached 281,000 and the current JLTV order is about 19,000 with 49,000 projected eventually, so even if the system was sold for as low a price as $20,000 every 100 vehicle sets would result in $2,000,000 turnover, and the ultimate potential value is obviously very high.Hence with the US patent now granted and a European equivalent still in process, and with this system being relatively simple to build and get tested we will now put some focus on this and try to get the US Army GVSC test done as soon as possible.