NASA Space Grant
I wrote a proposal, and was selected for a Utah NASA Space Grant Fellowship. Over the course of my senior year, I’m designing restraints and mobility aids for intravehicular activity (IVA) in microgravity environments, with the goals of increasing comfort, making space mobility more acessible, and reducing kinesthetic cognitive load.
This project is a work in progress; check back as I add more to it.
The Problem
I observed significant task inefficiencies that result in microgravity environments, as they require shifting the majority of tasking and stabilization to the hands. As human bodies assume neutral body position in microgravity, it creates ergonomic challenges when interacting with a traditional, orthogonal built environment, which increases risks for repetitive strain injuries and adds to cognitive load, something that is uniquely problematic in space.
Astronaut Jeff Williams, reading on the ISS. Pictured is an adaptive behavior, demonstrated in many locations throughout the ISS, of duct taping cushioning onto handrails to make them more usable as foot anchors.
Scroll to see the project so far
Ideation Sketches
Design Testing
For this project, I’m conducting two types of testing: general human factors testing and neutral buoyancy testing. Due to the conditions of the fellowship, all testing has to receive IRB approval.
Comfort and grip testing
The first rounds of testing will use a chair to mimic neutral body posture and test hand/foot restraints as well as footwear. Pictured are diagrams of the testing procedure and the first iteration testing chair.
Neutral buoyancy testing
Pending IRB approval, I’ll also conduct testing in a swimming pool to approximate microgravity and assess the design prototypes ability to facilitate movement and orientation in 3-dimensional space.
Grant Proposal Abstract
Astronauts must engage in compensatory behaviors or use structures (restraint, mobility aids, specialized exercise equipment) in built environments to complete tasks and support physical health in microgravity environments. Current solutions, are inadequate, resulting in inefficiency and risk for ergonomic injuries (cumulative trauma disorders, repetitive strain injuries, musculoskeletal disorders), especially for long-duration missions. There exists a pressing need to design more effective restraints and mobility options that address human factors needs, to accomplish tasks required for operations in space. The objective of this project is to use design science and human factors approaches to prototype solutions that facilitate improved intravehicular mobility/locomotion, and increase task efficiency while minimizing physiological risk by facilitating more ergonomically optimal positioning. Positioning aid prototypes will be created for potential further testing by NASA, in alignment with the goals of the Exploration System Mission Directorate.