USING ROBOTS IN THE TESTING OF NASA EVA SPACE SUITS

SARCOS RESEARCH CORPORATION (SRC) AND THE CENTER FOR ENGINEERING DESIGN (CED) AT THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH HAVE DEVELOPED AND COMMERCIALIZE HUMANOID ROBOTS WITH REMARKABLE HUMAN-LIKE MOTIONS FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY. WITH THEASSISTANCE OF THE BATTELLE-OPERATED PACIFIC NORTHWEST LABS, A NEW COMPUTER-BASED PROGRAM CONTROLLER AND DATA ACQUISITIONSYSTEM CAN BE INTEGRATED INTO A SPACE SUIT TEST. IT IS PROPOSED TO ENHANCE THE DESIGN OF ONE OF THESE COMMERCIAL HUMAN-SIZED ROBOTS TO PERFORM LIFE CYCLE AND THE MEASUREMENTOF MOBILITY AND RANGE OF MOTION TESTS ON NASA EVA SPACE SUITS. THIS WOULD PROVIDE A SAFE, ECONOMICAL, REPEATABLE AND ACCURATE MEANS TO EFFECTIVELY TEST THE SPACE SUITS. SUCH A PROGRAM WOULD GREATLY AID IN SPACE SUIT DESIGN, ASSIST IN THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF QUALITY ASSURANCE TESTS AS WELL AS HELP ASSURE THE SAFETY AND RELIABILITY OF NEW REUSABLE SPACE SUITS. PHASE I WOULD INCLUDE A FEASIBILITY STUDY, A CONCEPTUAL DESIGN, AND THE DEFINITION OF A SPACE SUIT TESTING PROGRAM USING ROBOTS AND PHASE II WILL BE PRODUCING THE DEFINITIVE DESIGN FOLLOWED BYCONSTRUCTION AND TESTING OF A FUNCTIONAL ROBOT AND CONTROL SYSTEM.