Pressure sensing for in-suit measurement of space suited biomechanics

Abstract Extravehicular Activity (EVA) is a critical component of human spaceflight, but working in gas-pressurized space suits causes fatigue, excessive energy expenditure, and injury. Relatively little is known about how the astronaut moves and interacts with the space suit, and what factors lead to injury. A wearable pressure sensing system to quantitatively measure areas on the body׳s surface that the space suit impacts during dynamic EVA movement is developed. The system is used to characterize human–suit interaction in the NASA Mark III space suit. Three experienced subjects perform a series of upper body movements: 3 isolated joint movements and 2 functional tasks. Movements are repeated 12 times each and in-suit pressure responses are evaluated both by quantifying peak pressure and full profile responses. Results Sequential sensor activation allows subjects to be indexed inside the space suit during complicated motions to better understand suited biomechanics. Subjectively, subjects generally feel they are consistent for all movements. However, using a nonparametric H -test, 54% of movements are found to be biomechanically inconsistent ( p

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