Upper Body Injury Prevention in Extravehicular Activity Suits
Presenter: Brigid Kathleen Duffy
Faculty Sponsor: Douglas Eddy
School: UMass Amherst
Research Area: Mechanical Engineering
Session: Poster Session 6, 4:15 PM - 5:00 PM, Auditorium, A78
ABSTRACT
Upper body movement in the context of Extravehicular Activity suits (space suits) has been historically compromised by what is called the Hard Upper Torso (HUT) of the suit: a fiberglass shell that acts as a central structural component to the suit to contain pressure and joint bearings that interact with the extremities of the suit. In past models, the HUT was a major mechanism of upper body injury even just in the donning stage, due to its inability to conform to a person’s torso. With that however, comes larger issues, the most prevalent being that the HUT causes abrasion and impingement injuries to the top of the shoulder both during movement and rest in a partial gravity environment. This project looks to characterize the fatigue and abrasion in the shoulder caused by interactions with the HUT and looks to provide a prototype of an assistive mechanism to prevent such injuries in context of full-day overhead intensive extravehicular activities. The project will employ the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving, as well as an iterative design process that is informed by preliminary evaluations on the prototype’s pressure distribution and ability to conserve the range of motion necessary for the shoulder in mission-specific movements. In a broader context, this project assists in the goal of prolonged extravehicular activities in lunar surface missions, such as Artemis, and beyond.