firsthand

Youtube Video: https://youtu.be/pgpdkSxYGXs

One of the many challenges that Nasa Astronauts face when out in the vacuum of space is the drastic atmosphere change between what’s out there and what we need to survive. Thankfully we've done well for what we have to protect our Astronauts but there are still things we can improve on. The protection of the human hand is one of these. The current spacesuit is a pressurized oxygen environment, with heating elements on the fingertips of the glove to keep the fingers warm.

Unfortunately this current system with the the heating pads at the fingertips causes the fingernail to press against itself and during long continuous abuse it can cause trauma and fall off.

Our mission was to find a way to prevent injury to the wearer without sacrificing temperature regulation at the finger extremities. But because of the risk of fire in a pure oxygen environment we decided that our temperature system would only work under a mechanical pressure system.

In order for the Astronaut to have easy access and control over their hand temperature we have built an android app that receives voice commands to either cool or warm the pads inside the glove. The glove’s heating elements are controlled by the intel Edison which sends and receives data from the integrated app. Ideally the entire system is connected to IBM’s Bluemix Data Analytics system that can send and receive usage information to record and visualize the data received. Which can help scientists get one step closer to a better understanding of the effects of space on the human body. Ideally adding comfort and flexibility while removing potential hazards.

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