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A new realistic motion control algorithm for digital human models is presented in this paper based on the principle of effort minimization. The proposed algorithm is developed through an innovative mathematical model to make the applications more flexible and more global, especially for the visualization of human motions in automotive assembly operations. The central idea of this unique model is to interpret the solution of the homogeneous Lagrange equation for a mannequin as the origin of dynamic motion. Furthermore, a digital human possesses about 42 joints over the main body except the head, fingers and toes, and offers a large room of kinematic redundancy. We have found 14 new 3-D independent motion markers assigned over the human body to constitute a Cartesian coordinate system, under which a minimum-effort based dynamic control scheme is developed using a state-feedback linearization procedure.

With the increasing emphasis on Systems Engineering, there is a need to ensure that Electrical/Electronic (E/E) Systems Endurance Testing of vehicles, in a real world environment, prior to Production Launch, is performed in a manner and at a technological level that is commensurate with the high level of electronics and computers in contemporary vehicles. Additionally, validating the design and performance of individual standalone electronic systems and modules “on the bench” does not guarantee that all the permutations and combinations of real-world hardware, software, and driving conditions are taken into account. Traditional Proving Ground (PG) vehicle testing focuses mainly on powertrain durability testing, with only a simple checklist being used by the PG drivers as a reminder to cycle some of the electrical components such as the power window switches, turn signals, etc.

The development of the Advanced Life Support (ALS) Sizing Analysis Tool (ALSSAT) using Microsoft® Excel was initiated by the Crew and Thermal Systems Division of the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) in 1997 to support the ALS and Exploration Offices in Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) design and studies. It aids the user in performing detailed sizing of the ECLSS for different combinations of Exploration Life Support (ELS) regenerative system technologies. This analysis tool will assist the user in performing ECLSS preliminary design and trade studies as well as system optimization efficiently and economically.

The Hybrid III family of dummies is used to estimate the response of an occupant during a crash. One recent area of interest is the response of the neck during air bag loading. The biomechanical response of the Hybrid III dummy's neck was based on inertial loading during crash events, when the dummy is restrained by a seat belt and/or seat back. Contact loading resulting from an air bag was not considered when the Hybrid III dummy was designed. This paper considers the effect of air bag loading on the 5th percentile female Hybrid III dummies. The response of the neck is presented in comparison to currently accepted biomechanical corridors. The Hybrid III dummy neck was designed with primary emphasis on appropriate flexion and extension responses using the corridors proposed by Mertz and Patrick. They formulated the mechanical performance requirements of the neck as the relationship between the moment at the occipital condyles and the rotation of the head relative to the torso.

This paper contains a review of methods for deriving risk curves from biomechanical data obtained from impact experiments on human surrogates. It covers many of the problems and pitfalls of obtaining realistic human risk curves from impact experiments. The strength and weakness of both parametric and non-parametric methods are evaluated. The limitations of standard analysis of censored impact test data are presented. Methods are given for determining risk curves from both doubly censored data and data obtained from impacts to body regions in which there are more than one mechanism of injury. A detailed set of examples is presented in which different experimental data are analyzed using the Consistent Threshold method and the logistic approach. Finally risk curves for published data are presented for the femur, head, thorax, and neck.

This paper summarizes the results of our continued testing of a radio based, non-Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation and communications system. The system has been integrated with two mobile computers, a robot and four work stations. It demonstrated crewmember interfaces for acquiring, storing and transmitting data from a space suit life support system simulation, test subject Electrocardiogram (ECG) and other biomedical data. This is an extension of the functions which were tested last year during the NASA Desert Research and Technology Studies (RATS) 2006 activities at both Johnson Space Center in Houston Texas and at Meteor Crater near Flagstaff Arizona. We added considerable complexity to the tests. The tests were conducted on an accurate series of geo-referenced paths at the El Toro Marine Air Station, a closed air field.

Metabolically produced carbon dioxide (CO2) removal in spacesuit applications has traditionally been accomplished utilizing non-regenerative Lithium Hydroxide (LiOH) canisters. In recent years, regenerative Metal Oxide (MetOx) has been developed to replace the Extravehicular Mobility Unity (EMU) LiOH canister for extravehicular activity (EVA) missions in micro-gravity, however, MetOx may carry a significant weight burden for potential use in future Lunar or planetary EVA exploration missions. Additionally, both of these methods of CO2 removal have a finite capacity sized for the particular mission profile. Metabolically produced water vapor removal in spacesuits has historically been accomplished by a condensing heat exchanger within the ventilation process loop of the suit life support system.

An extremely compact heat exchanger is being developed which can boil cryogenic fluids with a liquid heat source at temperatures close to its freezing point. Freezing of the heat source fluid, e.g. water is precluded by the normal flow arrangement. Boiling and superheating of the cryogen occurs as the fluid approaches the heat source in a stack of bonded jet-array laminations. This heat exchanger technology is important in many applications where the storage of fluids at cryogenic temperatures offers substantial advantages in terms of system weight and volume. Often, as in several advanced portable life support system concepts, the advantages include the use of the cryogen as a heat sink in system thermal management. Realizing this benefit and safely conditioning the stored fluid for use requires effective heat transfer between the cryogen and a secondary heat transport fluid.

A number of amine-based carbon dioxide (CO2) removal systems have been developed for atmosphere revitalization in closed loop life support systems. Most recently, Hamilton Sundstrand has developed an amine-based sorbent, designated SA9T, possessing approximately 2-fold greater capacity compared to previous formulations. This new formulation has demonstrated applicability for controlling CO2 levels within vehicles and habitats as well as during extravehicular activity (EVA). Our current data demonstrates an amine-based system volume which is competitive with existing technologies which use metal oxides (Metox) and lithium hydroxide sorbents. Further enhancements in system performance can be realized by incorporating humidity and trace contaminant control functions within an amine-based atmosphere revitalization system. A 3-year effort to develop prototype hardware capable of removing CO2, H2O, and trace contaminants from a cabin atmosphere has been initiated.

The Portable Life Support System (PLSS) emergency oxygen system is being reexamined for the next generation of suits. These suits will be used for transit to Low Earth Orbit, the Moon and to Mars as well as on the surface of the Moon and Mars. Currently, the plan is that there will be two different sets of suits, but there is a strong desire for commonality between them for construction purposes. The main purpose of this paper is to evaluate what the emergency PLSS requirements are and how they might best be implemented. Options under consideration are enlarging the tanks on the PLSS, finding an alternate method of storage/delivery, or providing additional O2 from an external source. The system that shows the most promise is the cryogenic oxygen system with a composite dewar which uses a buddy system to split the necessary oxygen between two astronauts.

The pulse severities from various vehicle impact tests need to be assessed during the impact structure development and targeting stage to assure that the occupants can meet the injury criteria as required. The conventional method using TTZV (time to zero velocity), TDC (total dynamic crush), and G1/G2 (two stage averaged pulse) is often unable to give a quick and clear answer to the question being raised. A simple numerical tool is developed here to assess the pulse severity with a single parameter in which the severity is expressed as the amount of chest travel under a certain target restraint curve or chest A-D curve. The tool is applied to several front impact vehicle pulses to show the effectiveness. The new method developed here can be used to assess the pulse severity in an easy and objective way along with conventional parameters.

This paper addresses the issue of fault diagnosis in the heat exchanger of an aircraft Air Conditioning System (ACS). The heat exchanger cools the air by transferring the heat to the ram-air. Due to a variety of biological, mechanical and chemical reasons, the heat exchanger may experience fouling conditions that reduces the efficiency and could considerably affect the functionality of the ACS. Since, the access to the heat exchanger is limited and time consuming, it is preferable to implement an early fault diagnosis technique that would facilitate Condition Based Maintenance (CBM). The main contribution of the paper is pre-flight fault assessment of the heat exchanger using a combined model-based and data-driven approach of fault diagnosis. A Simulink model of the ACS, that has been designed and validated by an industry partner, has been used for generation of sensor data for various fouling conditions.

As part of NASA's initiative to develop an advanced portable life support system (PLSS), a baseline schematic has been chosen that includes gaseous oxygen in a closed circuit ventilation configuration. Supply oxygen enters the suit at the back of the helmet, passes over the astronaut's body, and is extracted at the astronaut's wrists and ankles through the liquid cooling and ventilation garment (LCVG). The extracted gases are then treated using a rapid cycling amine (RCA) system for carbon dioxide and water removal and activated carbon for trace gas removal before being mixed with makeup oxygen and reintroduced into the helmet. Thermal control is provided by a suit water membrane evaporator (SWME). As an extension of the original schematic development, NASA evaluated several Helmet Exhalation Capture System (HECS) configurations as alternatives to the baseline.

Integration of the water and air treatment systems in confined habitats for extended duration space missions will require characterization of the constituents in the gases produced by biological water processors. A membrane bioreactor was constructed to accomplish nitrification as part of a denitrification-nitrification biological water processor to treat a simulated early planetary base wastewater. A gas chromatograph was installed inline to the influent and effluent gas lines of the membrane bioreactor to monitor nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide. The inline monitoring system enabled sampling of gas effluent from the lumen of the membranes and from a gas-liquid separator. Mass flow of the gas streams was also measured to enable calculation of the mass flow rates of the four inorganic gases.

This paper summarizes the first 5 plus years of on-orbit operation for the Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA). The MCA is an essential part of the International Space Station (ISS) Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS). The MCA is a mass spectrometer instrument in the US Destiny Laboratory Module of the International Space Station. The MCA provides critical monitoring of six major atmospheric constituents (nitrogen (N2), oxygen (O2), hydrogen (H2), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and water vapor (H2O)) sampled continuously and automatically in all United States On-Orbit Segment (USOS) modules via the Sample Distribution System (SDS). Sample lines have been routed throughout the U.S. modules with valves to facilitate software-automated sequential sampling of the atmosphere in the various modules.

This paper summarizes the first seven plus years of on-orbit operation for the Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA). The MCA is an essential part of the International Space Station (ISS) Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS). The MCA is a mass spectrometer instrument in the US Destiny Laboratory Module, which provides critical monitoring of six major atmospheric constituents (nitrogen (N2), oxygen (O2), hydrogen (H2), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and water vapor (H2O)). These gases are sampled continuously and automatically in all United States On Orbit Segment (USOS) modules via the ISS Sample Delivery System (SDS). Continuous readout of the partial pressures of these gases is critical to verifying safe operation of the Atmosphere Re-vitalization (AR) system, Atmosphere Control System (ACS), and crew safety for Airlock Extravehicular Activity (EVA) preparation.

As next generation space suit concepts enable extravehicular activity (EVA) mission capability to extend beyond anything currently available today, revolutionary advances in life support technologies are required to achieve anticipated NASA mission profiles than may measure years in duration and require hundreds of sorties. Since most life support systems require power, increased mass and volume efficiency of the energy storage materials can have a dramatic impact on reducing the overall weight of next generation space suits. ITN Energy Systems, in collaboration with Hamilton Sundstrand and the NASA Johnson Space Center's EVA System's Team, is developing multifunctional fiber batteries to address these challenges. By depositing the battery on existing space suit materials, e.g. scrim fibers in the thermal micrometeoroid garment (TMG) layers, parasitic mass (inactive materials) is eliminated leading to effective energy densities ∼400 Wh/kg.

As next generation space suit concepts enable extravehicular activity (EVA) mission capability to extend beyond anything currently available today, revolutionary advances in life support technologies are required to achieve anticipated NASA mission profiles that may measure years in duration and require hundreds of sorties. Since most life support systems require power, increased mass and volume efficiency of the energy storage materials can have a dramatic impact on reducing the overall weight of next generation space suits. This paper details the development of a multifunctional fiber battery to address these needs.

To mitigate head impact injuries of vehicle occupants in impact accidents, the FMVSS 201 requires padding of vehicle interior so that under the free-moving-head-form impact, the head injury criterion (HIC) is below the limit. More recently, pedestrian head impact on the vehicle bonnet has been a subject being studied and regulated as requirements to the automobile manufacturers. Over the years, the square wave has been considered as the best waveform for head impacts, although it is impractical to achieve. This paper revisits the head impact topic and challenges the optimality of aiming at the square waveform. It studies several different simple waveforms, with the objective to achieve minimal HIC or minimal crush space required in head-form impacts. With that it is found that many other waveforms can be more efficient and more practical than the square wave, especially for the pedestrian impact.

In this paper, we study the sensitivity of a vehicle impact harshness (IH) performance to the suspension bushing rates. A mid-sized uni-body SUV is selected for this study, with the acceleration responses at the driver seat track and the steering wheel as objective functions. A sensitivity study is conducted using an ADAMS full vehicle model including a tire model and flexible body structure representation over an IH event. The study resulted in the identification of key bushings that affect the IH performance and its sensitivity to the bushing rates. Based on the results, we came-up with an “optimal” bushing set that minimizes impact harshness, which was subjectively verified to result in significant improvement in IH.