Compact Advanced Resistance Exercise Machine (CARED)

Find a way to adapt common gym tools for a reduced gravity environment and design a workout routine that can minimize bone and muscular loss while being fun and easy to use during a long term mission. In doing so consider constraints regarding weight (equipment should weigh less than 500kg) and dimensions. Consider incorporating virtual reality to simulate a jog through an astronaut’s favorite Earth destinations or incorporate gaming to motivate users.

We proposed a miniaturized ARED by that only utilizes its core principle of vacuum pistons. Hinges were added to increase the flexibility of the machine for different types of exercises. CARED is designed to be disassembled and space efficient. Moreover, in our concept demonstration experiment using syringes of different sizes, we were able to determine that the vacuum pressure is strongly dependent on the cross sectional area or surface area of the piston.

A general relationship between the force per unit area and the air volume content of the system was established. This relationship enabled us to design Compact AREDs of varying specifications. In particular, a piston with a diameter of 5cm at 0cc volume of air would be equivalent to a 19kg weight at 1cc displacement; and a 15cm diameter piston at 0cc volume of air would be equivalent to a 175kg weight at 1cc displacement.

The high weight to size ratio of CARED would enable the production of different weights similar as what you would here on Earth (i.e. disks of different sizes corresponding to different weights). Moreover, the small size means that CARED is incredibly compact and would be well under NASA's 500kg weight!

In this stage we verified the general principles and theory for CARED. The next stages of the project, if to be continued, is to build prototypes and test materials suitable for CARED.

Please see our solution URL for our entire paper.

6.Resources

1. Sandilin D. Burning Astronaut Pee – Smarter Every Day 149. 2015 Dec 31. YouTube. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05oOst9kZXQ

2. European Space Agency. NASA’s Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) for the ISS. 2008 Nov 20. Available from: http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2008/11/NASA_s_advanced_Resistive_Exercise_Device_aRED_for_the_ISS

3. European Space Agency. Exercise in space with Samantha Cristoforetti. 2015 Feb 20. YouTube. Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87YxeKTv8Y8

4. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Human Research Program. Available from: https://hrp.grc.nasa.gov/explore/computational-modeling/digital-astronaut/musculoskeletal/

5. Macleod K. Cut and Run. Incompetech. 2011 Sep 3. Available from: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=usuan1100851