Device for assessing the solidity of a material

A device for assessing a solidity of a material comprising:

• ancillary tool having opposite first and second ends, the second end being in the form of a point or blade,
• an impactor suitable for striking the first end of the ancillary tool,
• at least one sensor, and
• a processing unit,
• wherein the ancillary tool is adapted for being placed between a material and the impactor, with its second end in contact with the material, and for transmitting an impact force generated by the impactor to the material,
• wherein the sensor is capable of measuring a quantity from among the impact force generated and a deformation of the impactor, and of supplying a measurement signal representing a variation in time of said quantity upon an impact,
• wherein the processing unit is adapted for calculating, from the measurement signal, an indicator representative of the solidity of the material, and
• wherein the indicator corresponds to the duration of a time window, a start of this time window being defined with respect to an instant corresponding to a first peak of maximum amplitude of the measurement signal and an end of this time window being defined with respect to an instant corresponding to a second peak of maximum amplitude of the measurement signal.