NASA SUITS

NASA SUITS is a collaborative design challenge offered nationwide that encourages university involvement in STEM research. The challenge involves designing an augmented reality environment on the Microsoft® HoloLens to assist astronauts on spacewalks.

Bradley University’s team consists of designers, developers, animators, and engineers.

ROLE

Design & Research Lead

DURATION

August 2020 – June 2021

TOOLS

Figma, Unity, Microsoft HoloLens

Summary

NASA SUITS AR Design Challenge

BACKGROUND

As NASA pursues Artemis – landing American astronauts on the Moon, the agency will accelerate investing in surface architecture and technology development. For exploration, it is essential that crewmembers on spacewalks are equipped with the appropriate human-autonomy enabling technologies necessary for the elevated demands of lunar surface exploration and extreme terrestrial access. The SUITS Challenges target key aspects of the Artemis mission.

problem

Astronauts face many challenges during extravehicular activity (EVA) operations. For example, an astronaut has to work with reduced mobility due to the mechanical design of the spacesuit while also performing their resource-intensive activities. However, physiological restrictions are not the only challenges an astronaut will face. Research conducted by De la Torre (2014) illustrates that space greatly impacts neurocognitive performance. Psychomotor functions degrade during space flight, such as the following: the degradation of speed and accuracy of aimed movements, internal timekeeping, attentional processes, sense of limb position, and the ability to manage concurrent tasks. It is essential to combat these issues that astronauts face to ensure a safe and effective spaceflight mission.

 

solution

This project aims to investigate how an augmented reality heads-up display (HUD) can minimize the current physiological and psychological challenges that astronauts face. The team hypothesized that providing astronauts with a detailed and user-friendly visual interface using augmented reality will improve performance in the high-stress environment of human spaceflight operations.

 

outcome

Through collaboration with designers, developers, animators, 3/D modelers, geologists, and NASA employees, our team created a user-friendly interface for the Microsoft Holoens 2. This application can display vital information, assist in navigation, and guide the user through science sampling tasks, all through the use of voice commands. Please view the details below.

process

project process

1

Discovery

Review Design Challenge
Literature Review
Functions & Features

2

Ideation & Design

Flow Charts
Mockups
Prototypes
Proposal Writing
HoloLens Build

3

Testing

HITL Test Plan
Testing @ Outreach Events
Iterate on Designs

4

Handoff

Final Testing with NASA
Iterate on Designs
Final Presentation
Academic Paper

About

The Challenge

The 2020-2021 challenge focused on implementing navigation and science sampling features for the Artemis Mission. Throughout this project, I led the design team, created user interface designs, user-tested our build, presented our work to NASA experts, and participated in outreach events.

research

Psychomotor Degradation in space

Astronaut (user) Challenges:

  • Reduced mobility due to spacesuit
  • Lower speed and accuracy
  • Degradation of Internal timekeeping
  • Degradation of Attentional processes
  • Lower Task Management Ability
  • Lighting conditions on the moon

Analysis

User Flows

onboarding

navigation

science sampling

ideation & design

Features

Prototype

Onboarding/Tutorial

Prototype

Navigation

Prototype

Science Sampling

testing

Test Results

Positive:

  • Purposeful use of color
    Adaptive and well-designed UI
    Unobtrusive warning systems

 

Improvements:

  • The lighting is difficult you may not see the crater in front of you
    • Use Directional arrows on the ground
    • Obstacle avoidance would be key
  • Caution with regard to the required frequency of voice commands



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2020 Bradley University Paper

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2020 Bradley University Paper