Patent — available for licensing
ARC ANGEL Reduces Gravity’s Effect on Arms
A NASA invention available to explore as a licensing opportunity.
About this technology
Overview
Innovators at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) have developed an earthbound robotic training system called “ARGOS” for short. It can actively simulate an astronaut’s weightlessness in space by using an overhead runway and bridge drive system to partially or fully offload their weight using attached cables, effectively suspending them off the ground. Although the test subject’s torso and legs are offloaded, their arms and any weighty hand tools are not. Enter “ARC ANGEL”. The Actuated Realtime Control for ARGOS Nega-tion of Gravitational Effects on the Limbs (ARC ANGEL) technology was developed to offload a space suited test subject’s arms and counteract fatigue realized while performing training activities using ARGOS. Like ARGOS, ARC ANGEL provides offloading via computer-controlled active cable tension. Cables are strung between arm cuffs located just above each elbow, and a motorized reel(s) mounted to the spacesuit’s backpack-like Primary Life Support System (PLSS). This active offloading technology could be used for a number of appli-cations in addition to simulating zero to one G environments. For exam-ple, a patient rehabilitating their shoulder could benefit from movement assistance that offloads arm weight or grasp load, a construction worker carrying a heavy tool could more easily manipulate it, or it could offset equipment weight for military personnel ultimately staving off limb fatigue that would otherwise occur.