Research
Funded Research
Grant funds study to assist astronauts working in reduced-gravity environments
Dr. Ou Ma, mechanical engineering, received a NASA EPSCoR grant through the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium to conduct a preliminary study of an innovative technology of using passive mechanism to compensate the gravity force for training astronauts walking on the Moon or another reduced-gravity environment. The technology is based on static balancing of gravity forces using spring enforced parallel mechanisms. In the project, a simplified prototype mechanism will be designed, built, and tested. The test will help: 1) better understand the theory and explore potential issues unforeseeable from the theory; 2) investigate several known influential issues such as spring design, dynamic loading, and joint friction; and 3) improve the design concept to make it practically feasible. The new technology will provide a low-cost, very reliable, and easy-to-use alternative means to meet the increasing need of EVA training for NASA’s future manned planetary exploration missions.