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NASA NTRS2016

Exhibition of Stochastic Resonance in Vestibular Perception

Astronauts experience sensorimotor changes during spaceflight, particularly during G-transitions. Post flight sensorimotor changes include spatial disorientation, along with postural and gait instability that may degrade operational capabilities of the astronauts and endanger the crew. A sensorimotor countermeasure that mitigates these effects would improve crewmember safety and decrease risk. The goal of this research is to investigate the potential use of stochastic vestibular stimulation (SVS) as a technology to improve sensorimotor function. We hypothesize that low levels of SVS will improve sensorimotor perception through the phenomenon of stochastic resonance (SR), when the response of a nonlinear system to a weak input signal is enhanced by the application of a particular nonzero level of noise. This study aims to advance the development of SVS as a potential countermeasure by 1) demonstrating the exhibition of stochastic resonance in vestibular perception, a vital component of sensorimotor function, 2) investigating the repeatability of SR exhibition, and 3) determining the relative contribution of the semicircular canals (SCC) and otolith (OTO) organs to vestibular perceptual SR. A constant current stimulator was used to deliver bilateral bipolar SVS via electrodes placed on each of the mastoid processes, as previously done. Vestibular perceptual motion recognition thresholds were measured using a 6-degree of freedom MOOG platform and a 150 trial 3-down/1-up staircase procedure. In the first test session, we measured vestibular perceptual thresholds in upright roll-tilt at 0.2 Hz (SCC+OTO) with SVS ranging from 0-700 μA. In a second test session a week later, we re-measured roll-tilt thresholds with 0, optimal (from test session 1), and 1500 μA SVS levels. A subset of these subjects, plus naive subjects, participated in two additional test sessions in which we measured thresholds in supine roll-rotation at 0.2 Hz (SCC) and upright y-translation at 1 Hz (OTO) with SVS up to 700 μA. A sinusoidal galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) perceptual threshold was also measured on each test day and used to normalize the SVS levels across subjects. In roll-tilt thresholds with SVS, the characteristic SR curve was qualitatively exhibited in 10 of 12 subjects, and the improvement in motion threshold was significant in 6 subjects, indicating that optimal SVS improved passive body motion perception in a way that is consistent with classical SR theory. A probabilistic comparison to numeric simulations further validated these experimental results. On the second test session, 4 out of the 10 SR exhibitors showed repeated improvement with SVS compared to the no SVS condition. Data collection is ongoing for the last two test sessions in which SCC and OTO only perceptual motion recognition thresholds are being measured with SVS. The final results of these test sessions will give insight into whether vestibular perceptual SR can occur when only one type of vestibular sensor is sensing motion or if it is more evident when sensory integration between the SCC and OTO is occurring during the motion. The overall purpose of this research is to further quantify the effects of SVS on various sensorimotor tasks and to gain a more fundamental understanding of how SVS causes SR in the vestibular system. In the context of human space flight, results from this research will help in understanding how SVS may be practically implemented in the future as a component of a comprehensive countermeasure plan for G-transition adaptation.

Galvan-Garza, R. C.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Functional Imaging of Human Vestibular Cortex Activity Elicited by Skull Tap and Auditory Tone Burst

The current study characterizes brain activation in response to two modes of vestibular stimulation: skull tap and auditory tone burst. The auditory tone burst has been used in previous studies to elicit either the vestibulo-spinal reflex (saccular-mediated colic Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials (cVEMP)), or the ocular muscle response (utricle-mediated ocular VEMP (oVEMP)). Some researchers have reported that air-conducted skull tap elicits both saccular and utricle-mediated VEMPs, while being faster and less irritating for the subjects. However, it is not clear whether the skull tap and auditory tone burst elicit the same pattern of cortical activity. Both forms of stimulation target the otolith response, which provides a measurement of vestibular function independent from semicircular canals. This is of high importance for studying otolith-specific deficits, including gait and balance problems that astronauts experience upon returning to earth. Previous imaging studies have documented activity in the anterior and posterior insula, superior temporal gyrus, inferior parietal lobule, inferior frontal gyrus, and the anterior cingulate cortex in response to different modes of vestibular stimulation. Here we hypothesized that skull taps elicit similar patterns of cortical activity as the auditory tone bursts, and previous vestibular imaging studies. Subjects wore bilateral MR compatible skull tappers and headphones inside the 3T GE scanner, while lying in the supine position, with eyes closed. Subjects received both forms of the stimulation in a counterbalanced fashion. Pneumatically powered skull tappers were placed bilaterally on the cheekbones. The vibration of the cheekbone was transmitted to the vestibular system, resulting in the vestibular cortical response. Auditory tone bursts were also delivered for comparison. To validate our stimulation method, we measured the ocular VEMP outside of the scanner. This measurement showed that both skull tap and auditory tone burst elicited vestibular evoked myogenic potentials, indicated by eye muscle responses. We further assessed subjects' postural control and its correlation with vestibular cortical activity. Our results provide the first evidence of using skull taps to elicit vestibular activity inside the MRI scanner. By conducting conjunction analyses we showed that skull taps elicit the same activation pattern as auditory tone bursts (superior temporal gyrus), and both modes of stimulation activate previously identified vestibular cortical regions. Additionally, we found that skull taps elicit more robust vestibular activity compared to auditory tone bursts, with less reported aversive effects. This further supports that the skull tap could replace auditory tone burst stimulation in clinical interventions and basic science research. Moreover, we observed that greater vestibular activation is associated with better balance control. We showed that not only the quality of balance (indicated by the amount of body sway) but also the ability to maintain balance for a longer time (indicated by the balance time) was associated with individuals' vestibular cortical excitability. Our findings support an association between vestibular cortical activity and individual differences in balance. In sum, we found that the skull tap stimulation results in activation of canonical vestibular cortex, suggesting an equally valid, but more tolerable stimulation method compared to auditory tone bursts. This is of high importance in longitudinal vestibular assessments, in which minimizing aversive effects may contribute to higher protocol adherence.

Noohi, F.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Design and Control of Modular Spine-Like Tensegrity Structures

We present a methodology enabled by the NASA Tensegrity Robotics Toolkit (NTRT) for the rapid structural design of tensegrity robots in simulation and an approach for developing control systems using central pattern generators, local impedance controllers, and parameter optimization techniques to determine effective locomotion strategies for the robot. Biomimetic tensegrity structures provide advantageous properties to robotic locomotion and manipulation tasks, such as their adaptability and force distribution properties, flexibility, energy efficiency, and access to extreme terrains. While strides have been made in designing insightful static biotensegrity structures, gaining a clear understanding of how a particular structure can efficiently move has been an open problem. The tools in the NTRT enable the rapid exploration of the dynamics of a given morphology, and the links between structure, controllability, and resulting gait efficiency. To highlight the effectiveness of the NTRT at this exploration of morphology and control, we will provide examples from the designs and locomotion of four different modular spine-like tensegrity robots.

Modular↗
NASA NTRS2016

Estimation of Optimum Stimulus Amplitude for Balance Training using Electrical Stimulation of the Vestibular System

Sensorimotor changes such as posture and gait instabilities can affect the functional performance of astronauts after gravitational transitions. Sensorimotor Adaptability (SA) training can help alleviate decrements on exposure to novel sensorimotor environments based on the concept of 'learning to learn' by exposure to varying sensory challenges during posture and locomotion tasks (Bloomberg 2015). Supra-threshold Stochastic Vestibular Stimulation (SVS) can be used to provide one of many challenges by disrupting vestibular inputs. In this scenario, the central nervous system can be trained to utilize veridical information from other sensory inputs, such as vision and somatosensory inputs, for posture and locomotion control. The minimum amplitude of SVS to simulate the effect of deterioration in vestibular inputs for preflight training or for evaluating vestibular contribution in functional tests in general, however, has not yet been identified. Few studies (MacDougall 2006; Dilda 2014) have used arbitrary but fixed maximum current amplitudes from 3 to 5 mA in the medio-lateral (ML) direction to disrupt balance function in healthy adults. Giving this high level of current amplitude to all the individuals has a risk of invoking side effects such as nausea and discomfort. The goal of this study was to determine the minimum SVS level that yields an equivalently degraded balance performance. Thirteen subjects stood on a compliant foam surface with their eyes closed and were instructed to maintain a stable upright stance. Measures of stability of the head, trunk, and whole body were quantified in the ML direction. Duration of time they could stand on the foam surface was also measured. The minimum SVS dosage was defined to be that level which significantly degraded balance performance such that any further increase in stimulation level did not lead to further balance degradation. The minimum SVS level was determined by performing linear fits on the performance variable at different stimulation levels. Results from the balance task suggest that there are inter-individual differences and the minimum SVS amplitude was found to be in the range of 1 mA to 2.5 mA across subjects. SVS resulted in an average decrement of balance task performance in the range of 62%-73% across different measured variables at the minimum SVS amplitude in comparison to the control trial (no stimulus). Training using supra-threshold SVS stimulation is one of the sensory challenges used for preflight SA training designed to improve adaptability to novel gravitational environments. Inter-individual differences in response to SVS can help customize the SA training paradigms using minimal dosage required. Another application of using SVS is to simulate acute deterioration of vestibular sensory inputs in the evaluation of tests for assessing vestibular function.

Goel, R.↗
NASA NTRS2017

The Effects of Spaceflight and Head Down Tilt Bed Rest on Neurocognitive Performance: Extent, Longevity, and Neural Bases

Spaceflight effects on gait, balance, & manual motor control have been well studied; some evidence for cognitive deficits. Rodent cortical motor & sensory systems show neural structural alterations with spaceflight. specific Aims: Aim 1-Identify changes in brain structure, function, and network integrity as a function of head down tilt bed rest and spaceflight, and characterize their time course. Aim 2-Specify relationships between structural and functional brain changes and performance and characterize their time course.

Seidler, Rachael D.↗
NASA NTRS2017

The Effects of Spaceflight on Neurocognitive Performance: Extent, Longevity, and Neural Bases

Spaceflight effects on gait, balance, & manual motor control have been well studied; some evidence for cognitive deficits. Rodent cortical motor & sensory systems show neural structural alterations with spaceflight. We found extensive changes in behavior, brain structure & brain function following 70 days of HDBR. Specific Aim: Aim 1-Identify changes in brain structure, function, and network integrity as a function of spaceflight and characterize their time course. Aim 2-Specify relationships between structural and functional brain changes and performance and characterize their time course.

Seidler, Rachael D.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Brain Activations for Vestibular Stimulation and Dual Tasking Change with Spaceflight

Previous studies have documented the effects of spaceflight on human physiology and behavior, including muscle mass, cardiovascular function, gait, balance, manual motor control, and cognitive performance. An understanding of spaceflight-related changes provides important information about human adaptive plasticity and facilitates future space travel. In the current study, we evaluated how brain activations associated with vestibular stimulation and dual tasking change as a function of spaceflight. Five crewmembers were included in this study. The durations of their spaceflight missions ranged from 3 months to 7 months. All of them completed at least two preflight assessments and at least one postflight assessment. The preflight sessions occurred, on average, about 198 days and 51 days before launch; the first postflight sessions were scheduled 5 days after return. Functional MRI was acquired during vestibular stimulation and dual tasking, at each session. Vestibular stimulation was administered via skull taps delivered by a pneumatic tactile pulse system placed over the lateral cheekbones. The magnitude of brain activations for vestibular stimulation increased with spaceflight relative to the preflight levels, in frontal areas and the precuneus. In addition, longer flight duration was associated with greater preflight-to-postflight increases in vestibular activation in frontal regions. Functional MRI for finger tapping was acquired during both single-task (finger tapping only) and dual-task (simultaneously performing finger tapping and a secondary counting task) conditions. Preflight-to-post-spaceflight decreases in brain activations for dual tasking were observed in the right postcentral cortex. An association between flight duration and amplitude of flight-related change in activations for dual tasking was observed in the parietal cortex. The spaceflight-related increase in vestibular brain activations suggests that after a long-term spaceflight, more neural resources are required to process vestibular input.

Yuan, Peng↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Behavioral consequences of low dose radiation and sex differences in MCAT mouse model

Our study used 1-year old C57BL/6NJ male and female mice (astronaut-relevant age) that underwent exposure to 0.5 gray of gamma radiation and were euthanized 12 weeks after. In this study, we used an MCAT mouse model for mitochondrial ROS quenching, which overexpress human catalase. MCAT mice were shown to live longer and age better. Hence, in this study we determined whether quenching ROS in the mitochondria will mitigate the adverse effects of ionizing radiation exposure on spaceflight-relevant tissues. As part of the analysis, we have completed 5 different behavioral tests which focus on memory, physical stance, stress, anxiety, and other mission relevant behaviors. In the Neuro-score battery, performed after both 1and 8 weeks post IR we saw that all female groups had significantly higher scores compared to males. When comparing the baseline vs 8 weeks of radiation, we saw that all the male groups (including the sham) had lower neuro-score, pointing out to aging effect in addition to IR. In the female groups only the female IR group had lower neuro-score and the MCAT group was protected from this effect. In the Nestlet building test we saw similarly that only females were affected by radiation, having lower scores and this effect was mitigated in the MCAT animals as well. In the Catwalk test we saw that females were faster, had higher swing speed and stride length in all four paws. Males had higher stand, step cycle and max contact area. Aging is associated with slowing of gait speed, swing speed and shortening of stride length which we see in males, this is consistent with physical appearance where males look markedly older. In the Light-Dark Box test we saw that females were more frequently present in the light side and altered zones more frequently, pointing out to a more exploratory and less anxious pattern of behavior. Similarly, to what was detected in the Nest building and Neuro-score test, in the Barnes maze test, during the acquisition phase (learning) we saw that IR affected more the females who did not do better in the maze after 4 days. On the other hand, during the probe phase of the test (spatial memory) the females visited the target hole and the box quadrant more often, but also had more errors vs males, which points out to possible serial escape vs spatial escape strategy. Overall, we see that older females look physically better are faster and perform better almost in all behavioral tests compared to their male counterparts. On the other hand, they are more sensitive to low dose radiation in many cases, in some cases this effect was mitigated in the MCAT model pointing out to the importance of ROS in these stressors. In the near future we will focus on corelating these behavioral tests with molecular findings such as for example brain IHC, plasma and hippocampal cytokines in order to find specific biomarkers for behavioral deficits.

radiation↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Adjusting a Full Body Model to Mitigate Inverse Kinematics Artifacts in Opensim

BACKGROUND: In support of Vibration Isolation and Stabilization (VIS) system development for Human Health Countermeasures (HHC) exercise systems in space, such as the European Enhanced Exploration Exercise Device (E4D) [1], dynamic quantities required to model the response of a proposed VIS while considering the effect of VIS motion on the forces between the human and VIS platform were obtained using motion capture data [2]. On occasion, large-amplitude oscillatory spikes were found in the subject’s linear and angular momentum derivatives, affecting analyses that depend on forces and moments derived from motion capture. The purpose of this investigation was to identify causes of these artifacts and techniques for their resolution. METHODS AND RESULTS: To obtain the required human dynamic quantities to drive the VIS simulation, motion capture data was collected containing recorded trajectories of passive retroreflective markers on body landmarks of an exercising subject. Since the full body Rajagopal model [3] was originally used to enhance gait analysis, upper body joints did not require large Ranges of Motion (ROM). We thus modified the Rajagopal model [4, 5] to allow it to be used for upper body intensive exercises like those common to the E4D. OpenSim Inverse Kinematics (IK) [6] was performed using these scaled subject models to generate the joint angles throughout the exercise while minimizing marker error. At times, the arms were observed to ‘snap’ from one configuration to another, causing spike artifacts. Following IK, a custom OpenSim plugin [7] was used to determine the required dynamic quantities including the rates of change of the linear and angular momenta of the human. Since motion capture is recorded at a larger time step than required by the VIS simulation, the human center of mass location was fit with splines and a second derivative taken to obtain the momentum derivative, allowing the VIS simulation to maintain conservation of momentum when appropriate. In a few cases during this stage, artifacts much larger than the expected noise of the second derivatives were introduced. Investigation of cases containing artifacts revealed several modifications that could be made to the OpenSim model to improve IK results. Since OpenSim models use Euler angles and rotation sequences, ‘gimbal lock’ would be encountered in the arms when raised 90 degrees to the side (e.g., T-pose, some hang clean exercise, etc.). This was resolved by reorienting the horizontal axes at the shoulder joint by 45 degrees, placing ‘gimbal lock’ outside common arm ROM, with the arm ROMs adjusted following this change. Elbow and wrist ROMs could also be adjusted to allow realistic motion while at the same time limiting the likelihood of unrealistic orientations. On occasion, the arms flipped backwards when raised above the head. This was prevented by using medial elbow markers in scaling and IK. When medial markers were not available, the acromial joint location in the unscaled model was shifted before model scaling to better align the arm with available markers. Lastly, artifacts which became apparent after taking the second derivatives of spline-fit data were found to occur in cases when the pelvis rotation limit prevented the full range of motion of an exercise. These issues were resolved by unclamping the pelvis rotation limit. Through this investigation, an understanding of conditions leading to IK artifacts was acquired allowing the automation of artifact detection. These artifact detection and mitigation techniques can be applied toward modeling of upper body motions in aerospace and other fields for improved IK results.

C A Bell↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Toward an IMU-based Space Suit Motion Capture System

Spacesuits are complex engineering systems that sustain human health and enable performance outside of Earth-like environments. These systems must support human mobility and physical workload demands while minimizing injury risk during extravehicular activity (EVA). Future EVA on the lunar surface during the Artemis program is expected to be more frequent and require higher physical workloads than previous EVAs during the ISS, Shuttle, or Apollo programs. Hence it is important to optimize future as well as current spacesuits to be efficient and comfortable for the success of space and planetary missions. To enable this, an efficient method is needed to test these spacesuits on the ground.When testing spacesuits in ground environments, it is often necessary to understand the kinematics of the suit to validate the design against relevant requirements or characterize the physical workload necessary to operate the suit. This is a challenging task for traditional optical motion capture (OMC) approaches: suit-mounted OMC markers are easily occluded by the subject or environment and may become detached during testing. Controlling lighting and reflectivity of objects in the motion capture volume is also difficult. Fixed-position OMC cameras also constrain testing to a small and contrived laboratory environment, disallowing kinematics capture in field environments.One promising alternative is the use of suit-mounted inertial measurement units (IMUs). These sensors are small, unobtrusive, and portable, but come at the cost of increased sensor noise and complexity of the software and mathematics to analyze the collected data. To this end, engineers at NASA are developing the Augmented Suit Inverse Kinematics (ASIK) system, a complete motion capture methodand inverse kinematics solver which relies solely on a network of wireless IMUs attached to the major kinematic segments of the spacesuit. The ASIK modeling language allows for the simple inclusion of probabilistic priors such as suit size and shape or IMU positions and rotations. Furthermore, to increase accuracy and reduce operational overhead to use this motion capture approach, the developed inverse kinematics solver exploits so-called self-calibratingalgorithmic techniques, which reduce the need for precise alignment of the sensors on the segments or scripted functional calibration procedures. The ASIK system was tested in a 7-subject pilot study. Each subject donned NASA’s new prototype exploration spacesuit in the Active Response Gravity Offload System (ARGOS) facility at the NASA Johnson Space Center. The subjects were outfitted with a set of 14 APDM (Portland, OR, USA) Opal IMUs, 12 of which were used in the ASIK model to estimate lower body and trunk kinematics. The subjects were also outfitted with a set of reflective OMC markers and traditional OMC data was collected and processed. Presented results will include characterization of ASIK-derived suit joint angles accuracy against an optical motion capture datum. Discussion of these results, as well as discussion of system calibration and nuances of mathematical observability, will be included.If successful, IMU-based motion capture will enable testing and validation of spacesuits more frequently, with less overhead, in more extreme environments. Future work will apply these techniques to common spacesuit testing tasks, such as gait, mobility, and balance assessment, physical workload characterization, and ergonomics evaluations.

Timothy Mcgrath↗
NASA NTRS2022

A Rideshare Tensegrity Rover Concept to Explore Titan’s Lands and Oceans

The Tension Adjustable Network for Deploying Entry Membrane (TANDEM) concept is a phase II NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) project. One of the goals for this project was to extend the application of tensegrity-based rovers to a rideshare concept for a Titan mission. This report provides preliminary details of the TANDEM concept for Titan. System analyses of the entry vehicle were performed and compared to data from the Huygens mission to Titan. The entry aeroshell was based on Huygens and Stardust aeroshells. Modeling, simulation and design of the tensegrity deployment were performed using a nonlinear optimization form-finding algorithm. Lastly, a neuroevolution-based machine learning control strategy was applied, which produced efficient rolling locomotion gaits.

tensegrity↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Recent Improvements and Verification of A Full Body Model in Opensim

BACKGROUND: The dynamic feasibility [1,2] criterion, that the subject’s Center of Pressure (COP) be located within the Base of Support (BOS) which outlines the feet, has aided in assessing the stability of human motion recorded on earth while performing the recorded tasks in lunar gravity or as countermeasures exercises on a vibration isolation and stabilization system in microgravity. The convex hull of the BOS on the platform under the subject’s feet was estimated using virtual markers on the feet of the scaled subject model. The COP was calculated using the ground reaction forces and moments determined from motion capture data with biomechanical modeling tools [3]. Occasionally, large-amplitude oscillatory spikes or “artifacts” were observed in the subject’s linear and angular momentum derivatives, affecting some COP data derived from motion capture. The purpose of this investigation was to assess and improve the accuracy of model scaling and BOS estimation as well as to determine the efficacy of model adjustments in mitigating artifacts influencing motion capture-derived ground reaction force and COP results. METHODS: To aid evaluation of proposed process and model updates, motion capture data were collected for two subjects during unit test and range of motion trials, lunar tasks, and countermeasures exercise motions. Markers were added to the full body Plug-in Gait marker set [4] during data collection. New markers were placed on the front, back, sides, and top of the head to improve scaling using distances between marker pairs. Medial elbow markers were added to stabilize the upper arm during OpenSim Inverse Kinematics (IK) [5]. Finally, markers were added on the outer edge of the heels and on the outside edges of the first and last toes on each foot. These additional foot markers were made available to test new automated foot scaling techniques and to calculate the error between the subject’s estimated and recorded BOS. The modified unscaled OpenSim Full Body Rajagopal Model [6,7] was adjusted using some previously investigated techniques [8] to mitigate rapid shifts in joint angles occurring during IK, as these were found to cause the spike artifacts observed in subsequent stages of analysis. Since OpenSim models use Euler angles and rotation sequences, the arm axes of rotation were adjusted, and the pelvis order of rotation was changed to minimize the likelihood of encountering “gimbal lock” during common human motion. The model clavicle, arm, elbow, wrist, pelvis, and ankle angle limits were adjusted to better accommodate the full human range of motion seen in exercise and lunar data. The shoulder joint center was calculated using a “pivoting” algorithm [9], and both shoulder joint center and upper arm markers were included during IK to provide additional shoulder stability on a case-by-case basis. The quality of IK results was assessed by three criteria: minimizing error between recorded motion capture markers and model markers, checking for reasonable rates of change in joint angles between fames (i.e., no IK artifacts), and ensuring the absence of spikes in the inertial forces and angular momentum derivatives calculated using a custom OpenSim plugin [10]. RESULTS: The additional markers placed on the subject during data collection allowed the head and feet to be scaled more accurately using distances between new marker pairs. Scaling with BOS markers placed on the subject and removing the limit on subtalar angle resulted in more accurate BOS determination. Unrealistically large changes in joint angles between frames could be reduced by including clavicle, sternum, and medial elbow markers during IK. In cases with large arm ranges of motion, results could be further improved by running IK using medial elbow and virtual shoulder joint center markers. Model adjustments significantly improved the IK results affecting COP calculation and increased the accuracy of BOS estimation.

C A Bell↗
NASA NTRS2021

ReQuBiS - Reconfigurable Quadrupedal-Bipedal Snake Robots

Self-assembling and self-reconfiguring robots have the ability to adapt to different or varying environments and carry out complex tasks. Robots competent of performing serpentine gaits and transforming into legged systems impart a wide range of locomotion schemes. Most of the reconfigurable robotic solutions consist of a large number of complicated mechanisms to detach and re-attach at different places making the system fragile and increase its size, weight and power (SWaP). We propose Reconfigurable Quadrupedal-Bipedal Snake Robots (ReQuBiS) to easily transform into these forms. Experimental results demonstrate the mobility in snake, quadruped and biped modes and transition between them with minimal change in modules.

Chiddarwar, Shital↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Scaling Climbing Collaborative Mobile Manipulators for Outfitting a Tall Lunar Tower and Truss Structures

In-space and planetary truss structures like the Tall Lunar Tower (TLT) can greatly benefit from truss climbing collaborative mobile manipulators (C2M2) for outfitting and other servicing tasks. Mobile robotic systems traversing truss structures will allow for improved access to the structure for placing equipment and routing cables after the structure has been assembled. The C2M2 is designed to provide access to the structure through collaborative mobile robotics. A series of gaits are developed allowing the robot to reach any point on the structure and validate the capabilities of the joint configuration. Scaling the system during the design phase is a necessary process given the wide range of trusses in development and payloads which are required for outfitting. The variable features of the system are the actuators and the length of the links connecting the two-degrees of freedom (DOF) modules. A scaling method was developed for determining the range of usable link lengths for a selected actuator in a design environment. The focus of the design is on a six-DOF robot arranged with two-DOF at each end and at the center. Two grippers are mounted at each end for grappling on the truss and holding cargo.

Collaborative Robotics↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Kinematic Sensors Evaluation for Spaceflight Exercise Data Collections

INTRODUCTION: On the International Space Station (ISS), exercise feedback from astronauts is very important to diagnose and mitigate any form-related injuries and ensure efficacious exercise prescriptions and systems. Going forward, exploration exercise efforts seek to gain further quantitative data of human and system performance. Currently, methods of collecting in-flight exercise data on the ISS are limited to marker-based motion capture (MoCap) where astronauts must wear reflective markers over their clothes and specialized cameras are used. The main objective of this work was to investigate the following alternative tracking options: markerless video-based MoCap and inertial measurement units (IMUs). These were compared against traditional marker-based MoCap to evaluate kinematic accuracy and inform feasible methods for future exercise data collections on the ISS, especially in support of future Vibration Isolation and Stabilization (VIS) system development. METHODS: Three test subjects performed a variety of flight-like resistance and aerobic exercises using the Miniature Exercise Device (MED-2), Concept-2 rowing ergometer, barbell mockup, bench (e.g., for bench press, hip thruster, and cycling), and a custom structure for dips. These were intended also to represent exercises which could be performed on the multi-modality European Enhanced Exploration Exercise Device (E4D) [1]. The marker-based MoCap data, collected through a 16-camera OptiTrack MoCap system, was regarded as the gold standard to compare the data against. Passive markers were affixed to each subject according to a modified full body Plug-in Gait marker set [2] with 46 total markers. The markerless MoCap data was collected using two GoPro Hero7 cameras and one GoPro Hero11 camera. For the IMU data, a full body set of 17 Xsens DOTs were placed on the subject: 10 upper body and 7 lower body IMUs. Biomechanical modeling and evaluation was conducted through OpenSim [3] (MoCap), OpenSense [4] (IMU), OpenCap [5] (markerless), ENABLE [6] (markerless), and other modeling software. Secondary objectives included comparing the volume of equipment, reducing mass and crew set-up time. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: While there were issues with initial processing for the IMUs and markerless MoCap, the results aided in the understanding of each sensor, developing end-to-end processes, and identifying future needs. Some observed concerns with the markerless MoCap approaches included being cognizant of a cluttered background, number of people in field of view, camera number and placement. Some challenges with the IMUs included possible sliding, early deactivation possibly due to exercise pose, and large quantity sensor synchronization. Overall, the markerless MoCap option may be the preferred method of data collection and processing as it provides a solution for certain IMU shortcomings and may be least in equipment volume, upmass, and crew setup time. CONCLUSIONS: While this work was mainly focused on ISS data collection, these sensor data along with continued evaluation and development efforts will help to establish best methods for exercise data collection on Gateway, for other Artemis missions, and beyond. Details on the latest end-to-end processing of the data and results will be presented, along with lessons learned and recommended sensor selection and methods.

S. Faragalla↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The NASA Open Science Data Repository: Biomedical Fair Data, Analysis Tools, User Communities, Publications, and Discoveries for Deep Space Missions

Increased biomedical risks and challenges associated with deep space missions require new knowledge discovery, new health countermeasures, and development of novel ecosystems, life support, crop production, and biomedical support capabilities. To meet NASA’s Moon to Mars strategic program goals for Human and Biological Sciences, findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable (FAIR), and maximally open-access data is going to be required to enable humanity to thrive in deep space. Indeed, this cornerstone perspective on FAIR and maximally open access data was also recommended in the recent 2023-2032 Decadal Survey from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The NASA Open Science Data Repository (OSDR) is a maximally open access and FAIR database, and meets various scientific, technical, and operational spaceflight needs. It offers public users and submitters the ability to upload, download, search, share, analyze, and visualize data across ‘omics, physiological, phenotypic, behavioral, bioimaging, video, and environmental monitoring telemetry datasets. OSDR includes NASA GeneLab, NASA Ames Life Sciences Data Archive, and the NASA Biological Institutional Scientific Collection. OSDR has >455 studies with datasets from model organisms and non-NASA human astronauts. There are ~12 datasets from the Inspiration 4 (I4) mission, spanning metagenomics, comprehensive metabolic panels, clonal hematopoiesis, spatial transcriptomics, proteomics, and cytokine panels. In the interest of data privacy, two I4 datasets have raw FASTQ and FASTA files relating to the epitranscriptome, and a new request feature is live in OSDR (with a backend review process established) which was developed based on industry norms. OSDR also recently began a collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA) to scientifically curate and make available >200 terabytes of human and model organism space-relevant data. The OSDR submission portal is designed to ingest and curate ~25 ‘omics assay data types, and ~50 physiological-phenotypic-imaging assay data types, spanning ultrasonography, micro-computed tomography, histology, morphometric photography, rebound tonometry, gait analysis, optical coherence tomography, novel object recognition, flow cytometry, and immunohistochemistry. A suite of analysis tools are available for OSDR users including: 1) an Environmental Data Application to compare radiation, CO2, relative humidity, temperature, and other telemetry across missions and subjects, 2) the RadLab database, a collaboration between NASA, ESA, the German and Italian Space Agencies, and the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, which compiles radiation measurements relevant to human spaceflight and provides tools for accessing and manipulating the data, and 3) a Multi-study visualization tool which enables users to look across and combine GeneLab’s omics datasets across different experiments and missions. There are ~600 volunteer OSDR Analysis Working Group (AWG) members who: 1) provide feedback on scientific standards for reuse (subject and assay metadata; processing pipelines; dataset formats and uniformed structures for machine-readability), and 2) collaborate to mine-reuse OSDR data conducting scientific analysis. OSDR has enabled 60 publications as of September 2023, many directly from AWG collaborations most notably the Cell Press package in 2020. Lastly, there are at least 15 articles which mine OSDR data part of a package of ~50 articles across Nature Portfolio with research stemming from I4, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, NASA Space Biology, and the NASA Human Research Program.

space biology↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Development of Head-Trunk Coordination Measures for Monitoring Postflight Sensorimotor Readaptation Strategies

During exploration missions, individual health assessments will be required to account for variability in neurosensory adaptation and task readiness for the initial extravehicular activities (EVAs). Previous research has identified postflight vestibular alterations and disruptions in head-trunk coordination after both short and long duration spaceflight missions. Astronauts were found to minimize head angular displacement and utilize a consistent forward head tilt theorized as a compensatory approach to stabilize the cephalic system and reduce motion sickness during readaptation to Earth’s gravity. Further, anecdotal self-reports from Shuttle crewmembers stated that pitch and side-to-side head movements immediately post-landing typically resulted in perceived angular self-motion. Notable disruptions also occur upon arrival in orbit, with astronauts choosing waist rotation rather than head movements during dynamic tasks. It is thought that the underlying sensorimotor disruptions may contribute to motion sickness in space and upon landing, postflight gait dysfunction, and inaccurate spatial orientation when performing daily tasks. To better characterize microgravity-induced sensorimotor adaptations, it is important to develop measures and monitoring tools that have high sensitivity in detecting changes in head-trunk coordination.

H M Weiss↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Scaling Climbing Collaborative Mobile Manipulators (C2M2) for Outfitting a Tall Lunar Tower (TLT) and Truss Structures

In-space and planetary truss structures like the Tall Lunar Tower (TLT) can greatly benefit from truss climbing collaborative mobile manipulators (C-CMMs) for outfitting and other servicing tasks. Mobile robotic systems traversing these structures will allow for improved access to the structure for placing equipment and routing cables after the structure has been assembled. The robotic system described in the proposed paper is designed to provide access to the structure through collaborative mobile robotics. The paper will provide a method to constrain the design of such a robot via the geometry of the truss structure and the controlling joint torques across various gaits. The focus of the design is on a six-degree of freedom (DOF) robot arranged with two-DOF at each end and at the center. The variable features of this system are the actuators and the length of the links connecting the two-DOF modules. The result of the analysis is a link sizing range which the robot can be designed within to ensure functionality on the truss structure. A C-CMM will be designed using the scaling utility and several constructed to demonstrate operating both independently and collaboratively.

in-space assembly↗