You might have seen, we do like to have a bit of fun away from the deep technical projects we get involved with and so why not do something seasonable! This Halloween, that meant putting the ZEISS ARAMIS SRX to the test in a slightly unconventional way — by dropping pumpkins.
Yes, you read that right. Pumpkins.
Armed with the ARAMIS SRX, we captured the action at 1,000 Hz, giving us a front-row seat to the deformation, displacement, and strain as each pumpkin met its (inevitable) fate.
Our video editing may have been strictly home-made, but the tech certainly wasn’t.
What makes ARAMIS SRX special?
The ZEISS ARAMIS SRX is a high-speed 3D digital image correlation (DIC) system designed for analysing materials and structures under dynamic loads. Using dual high-resolution cameras, it captures surface deformations in three dimensions — without ever touching the specimen.
That means no strain gauges, no accelerometers, and no glued-on sensors — just pure optical measurement powered by ZEISS CORRELATE software.
With ARAMIS, you can:
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Measure 3D strain, displacement, and velocity in real time
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Track deformation at up to 2,000 frames per second
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Capture full-field data across complex surfaces, not just a few points
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Analyse results immediately and compare them directly with FEA models
In industry, this same technology is used for everything from crash testing and vibration analysis to aerospace component validation and battery housing impact studies. We just decided to give it a more seasonal twist.
A closer look
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- The test set up needed a lot of light!
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- Henry processing the data
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- The displacement of the smashed pumpking
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- A crush test was something else we tried.
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- The strain behaviour on the Pumpkin
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- ScanBox scan data of the pumpkin
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- Working at heights – the final test was simulated with a ball and the drop height was circa 3 metres from the ground
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- Pumpkin preparation in progress
Watching the data unfold frame by frame, you can see exactly how the pumpkin’s structure reacts at impact — the surface strain, the energy absorption, and, eventually, the glorious structural failure.
It’s oddly satisfying to see a humble pumpkin turned into a case study in high-speed testing.
Wrapping up
Our Halloween drop test was a bit of fun, but it also highlights what ARAMIS SRX does best — capturing precise, high-speed, non-contact measurements that reveal what the eye can’t see.
We’ll call it pumpkin science — or perhaps just good, clean (messy) fun.
