DESIGN OF A SPACE SUIT GLOVE TESTER

THERE IS CURRENTLY NO METHOD AVAILABLE FOR REALISTICALLY ASSESSING SPACE SUIT GLOVE DESIGN PARAMETERS IN A REPEATABLEFASHION. QUANTITATIVE EVALUATIONS OF RELATIVE COMFORT, ACTIVATION FORCES/TORQUES, MOBILITY, AND FATIGUE LIFE ARE ESSENTIAL TO HELP ADVANCE THE STATE OF THE ART IN GLOVE TECHNOLOGY. USING HUMANS TO EVALUATE GLOVE DESIGN PRODUCES NO QUANTITATIVE INFORMATION AND IS HIGHLY SUBJECTIVE. FURTHERMORE, IT DOES NOT ALLOW FOR HIGH CYCLE LIFE TESTING AND COMPREHENSIVE FAILURE MODE IDENTIFICATION TO BE CARRIED OUT. THIS PROPOSAL OUTLINES A PLAN TO CARRY OUT A FEASIBILITY STUDY FOR THE DESIGN OF A COMPLETE GLOVE TESTING SYSTEM THATIS CAPABLE OF ACTUATING A GLOVE WITH A HUMAN-LIKE ROBOT HAND. THE SYSTEM WILL PERFORM HIGH PRECISION MEASUREMENT AND CONTROL OF LOAD/TORQUE AND POSITION. FURTHERMORE, THE SYSTEM REMOVE HUMAN SUBJECTIVITY FROM GLOVE TESTING RESULTS. THE DEVICE WILL ASSIST IN ESTABLISHING FAILURE MODES AND OPERATIONAL LIMITS OF SPACE SUIT GLOVES OF VARIOUSDESIGNS OVER THE RANGE OF OPERATING PRESSURES TO BE ENCOUNTERED IN SERVICE. THE PROPOSED SYSTEM WOULD PERMIT THE STANDARDIZATION OF SPACE SUIT GLOVE EVALUATION AND TESTING PROCEDURES. IT WOULD ALSO ENABLE THE INTRODUCTION OF A MEANINGFUL QUALITY ASSURANCE PROGRAM.