Hands On with Electrostatic Discharge -- ESD and Tribocharge Measurements at NASA’s Science Technology Showcase are for Kids, Too

“The June 29, 2009 event was very worthwhile!” said Bob Vermillion, of NRP’s RMV Technology Group, LLC. “When RMV received the
invitation to display at the NASA Science & Technology Showcase in Mountain View, we jumped on it right away as a means of getting the message out about static electricity problems to the general public, namely future astronauts and engineers - kids!”

“To my surprise, said Renee Mitchell of RMV, “Bob had all kinds of experiments geared towards kids for generating static electricity. He even set up the same instruments used in satellite high bay areas and university seminars. It seemed to work, as an verwhelming number of future scientists and astronauts were attracted to our booth.”

“I was amazed that the youngest kids were able to grasp concepts about static electricity and ESD because they could participate in the experiments and see what was happening,” said Bob.

Vermillion explained how static electricity related issues are harmful to electronics in spacecraft, space suits and potential
specimen sampling on Lunar or Mars due to Electrostatic Attraction (ESA), a concept the kids readily embraced.

According to NASA JPL, ESD issues are a big problem and increasing -- as devices get smaller ESD sensitivities increase.
The aerospace sector is seeing ESD sensitive devices being compromised at <50 volts and the roadmap is now at +/25
volts as the maximum allowable voltage seen on a device. In like fashion, microprocessor densification is sacrificing protection
for real estate, Vermillion explained.

“With computer interfaced instrumentation in hand and visual aides, Bob was able to bring static electricity to life. Our booth was flooded with kids from age 4 to teenagers who were captivated by the experiments of Tribocharge Generation (charging by friction), Field Inducing ESD events and attraction issues,” said Renee.

For the next NASA event, Bob will expand his array of experiments and equipment to accommodate more kids’ quest for science. According to a surprised Renee Mitchell of RMV, several parents had asked if Bob would set up experiments at their schools.

For info contact: renee@esdrmv.com