Issue 10 Volume 41 May 16, 2003

at KSC began in 1985 and was called the CELSS Breadboard Project to indicate the capability for plugging in and testing
various life support technologies; this name has since been dropped but bioregenerative testing at KSC has continued to the
present under the NASA s Advanced Life Support (ALS) Program. A primary objective of the KSC testing was to conduct
pre-integration tests with plants (crops) in a large, atmospherically closed test chamber called the Biomass Production
Chamber (BPC). Test protocols for the BPC were based on observations and growing procedures developed by university
investigators, as well as procedures developed in plant growth chamber studies at KSC. Growth chamber studies to support
BPC testing focused on plant responses to different carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations, different spectral qualities from
various electric lamps, and nutrient film hydroponic culture techniques.
Author
Closed Ecological Systems; Crop Growth; Ecosystems; Life Support Systems; Protocol (Computers); Plants (Botany)
20030032921 Wisconsin Univ., Madison, WI
Two-Way Communication Through an Oral-Based Tactile Interface: Preliminary Results
Agarwal, Abhishek K.; Kim, Dongshin; Delisle, Matthew; Tang, Hui; Tyler, Mitchell; Oct 2001; 5 pp.; In English; Original
contains color illustrations
Report No.(s): AD-A410436; No Copyright; Avail: CASI; A01, Hardcopy
A two-way tactile communication system incorporating oral-based tactile modes is developed. The prototype system
allows the user to both receive navigation cues, via a microfabricated flexible electrotactile palate display, and transmit
information to the outside environment using a tongue operated device (TOD). The palate display consists of a flexible
electrocutaneous-mode 7x7 electrode array for stimulating the palate. The TOD has four switches laid out in the cardinal
directions with a fifth switch in the center. An oral-based tactile interface is realized by integrating the palate display and the
TOD using a dental palate mold made from a silicone impression material. The system is programmed to test and simulate
navigational guidance via two-way tactile communication. Preliminary human subject tests have been performed. Results
indicate TOD force requirements influence performance, but adequate performance can be achieved within a relatively large
range of input forces (one order of magnitude).
DTIC
Human-Computer Interface; Tongue
20030032953 Ljubljana Univ.
Robot Assisted Standing-Up in Persons with Lower Limb Prostheses
Kuzelicki, J.; Kamnik, R.; Burger, H.; Bajd, T.; Oct 2001; 5 pp.; In English
Report No.(s): AD-A410421; No Copyright; Avail: CASI; A01, Hardcopy
Robot assisted standing-up maneuver was tested in an intact person and a person after above-knee amputation. The
subjects were asked to use as much leg activity as possible to lift their body while maintaining contact with the robot. The
robot guided the subjects with three reference speeds. Kinematics and external forces acting on the body were recorded. The
robot influence on the hip trajectory and the torques of the leg joints were studied. The subjects were able to track the robot
movement. Thus, it is possible to use the robot to guide an impaired person along a desired trajectory during the standing-up
process. In this way the impaired person can be trained to accomplish an efficient sit-to-stand movement, while different
trajectories of raising can be preprogrammed.
DTIC
Robot Dynamics; Prosthetic Devices; Limbs (Anatomy); Human Body
20030032966 Wisconsin Univ., Madison, WI
Tongue-Based Electrotactile Feedback to Perceive Objects Grasped by a Robotic Manipulator: Preliminary Results
Droessler, Nicholas J.; Hall, David K.; Tyler, Mitchell E.; Ferrier, Nicola J.; Oct 2001; 5 pp.; In English
Report No.(s): AD-A410438; No Copyright; Avail: CASI; A01, Hardcopy
A sensate robotic gripper was developed and interfaced to an electrotactile tongue stimulation system. The prototype
system permits grasped object recognition by the user without visual sensory input. Modifications of an existing two finger
robotic gripper included the addition of six conductive polymer force sensors mounted in a pentagonal (24mm diameter)
pattern with the sixth sensor placed in the center. Shape information from the robot gripper in contact with a test object is
relayed to the user via patterned electrotactile stimulation on a micro-fabricated flexible tongue array. A previously developed
Tongue Display Unit (TDU) provides the electrotactile stimulation, which pattern maps information from the six sensors to
discrete groupings of electrodes on the 12 x 12 matrix tongue array. Modification of an existing software program facilitated
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