Monthly Archives: May 2014

Science and Technology

Sci-Tech: DARPA funded advanced prosthetic arm approved by FDA

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An announcement from DARPA:

From Idea To Market In Eight Years, DARPA-Funded
DEKA Arm System Earns FDA Approval

DARPA’s Revolutionizing Prosthetics program delivers on goal of providing
advanced prosthetic upper limb with near-natural control mechanisms to amputees 

DARPA launched the Revolutionizing Prosthetics program with a radical goal: gain U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for an advanced electromechanical prosthetic upper limb with near-natural control that enhances independence and improves quality of life for amputees. Today, less than eight years after the effort was launched, that dream is a reality; the FDA approved the DEKA Arm System.

“DARPA is a place where we can bring dreams to life,” said Dr. Geoffrey Ling, M.D., Director of DARPA’s Biological Technologies Office . Dr. Ling is a retired Medical Corps neuro-critical care officer who served in combat hospitals in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He launched the Revolutionizing Prosthetics program in 2006 with a desire to provide better care “to repay some of the debt we owe to our Service members.”

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The newly approved system expands prosthetic choices for amputees, who have generally used body-powered prosthetics – in particular the split-hook device invented in 1912. DARPA took up the challenge to advance the field of modular upper-limb prosthetics and committed to making the significant research and development investment required.

The system allows for simultaneous control of multiple joints using a variety of input devices including wireless signals generated by innovative sensors on the user’s feet. The battery-powered arm system is of similar size and weight to a natural limb and has six user-selectable grips. The DEKA Arm System is indicated for individuals 18 and older.

Many technological breakthroughs at the intersection of biology and engineering were necessary to enable the creation of the arm system: for example, miniaturization of parts for motors, computer controls and sensors, and manufacturing processes with lightweight, but strong materials.

A number of federal agencies contributed to the Revolutionizing Prosthetics program. The FDA reviewed information from a Department of Veterans Affairs-funded Optimization Study, which included data from 36 participants. The United States Army Medical Research and Materiel Command provided funding assistance to enable completion of tests and trials required to meet FDA requirements. The U.S. Army Research Office provided contract management support.

“Interagency collaboration has been critical to the Revolutionizing Prosthetics program to allow for independent assessments of the technology, incorporation of user feedback into the design, and identification of regulatory strategies and transition paths,” said Dr. Justin Sanchez, the current program manager. “We could not have achieved our goal so quickly without the support of many partners in government.”

The DEKA Arm System was developed by DEKA Integrated Solutions in Manchester, N.H. FDA approval allows DEKA to pursue manufacturing and commercial opportunities to bring the arm to market.

Solar Sci-Fi, Space Arts, Space books

Review: “Perigee” by Patrick Chiles

After procrastinating for ages, I’m finally starting a series of  book reviews. I’ll start with Perigee by Patrick Chiles.

I’m sure that many space enthusiasts hope that the success of Gravity will convince  the general public  that near term, realistic space science fiction can be just as exciting and engaging as stories of intragalactic wars and faster-than-light aliens. This convincing will be boosted as well if NewSpace companies begin to fulfill their promises. We may soon see, for example, a SpaceX Falcon 9 first stage fly back to the pad at the Cape after separating from its upper stage and then be re-flown again in another launch. We could see Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo and XCOR’s Lynx making routine suborbital trips to space and back in the coming year.

Such “futuristic” activities should encourage greater interest in books like  Perigee by Patrick Chiles, whose scenario may lie in a not so distant future. The company Polaris Aerospace Lines provides a  transport service flying  passengers on  the rocket powered Global Clipper ships that travel very quickly between cities across the globe. The story is played out by pilots, flight attendants, managers, technicians and the owner of Polaris.

Richard Branson, the owner of Virgin Galactic, often talks about someday flying passengers across the world with rocket powered descendants of SpaceShipTwo. Though it is quite a feat to send a SS2 vertically past the 100 kilometer line to space and back down safely, it can be surprising to many people to learn that the SS2 could only fly a short distance horizontally. The rocket motor propels the SS2 up to around Mach 3 in 60 seconds and then runs out of fuel. So a horizontal flight would only go as far as it could “coast” on a ballistic trajectory (along with some gliding) after the motor shuts off.

The physics of the rocket equation, chemical propulsion, the lower edge of the first Van Allen Belt, and orbital mechanics mean that a rocket flight from New York to Tokyo will require performance only slightly short of going into orbit. So long distance rocket transportation between points on earth will most likely be derived from an orbital transportation system, not a suborbital space tourism vehicle.

This fact leads to the central crisis in Perigee when a spaceliner gets stuck in orbit. The mystery of how that occurs and what happens to the Clipper, the crew and the passengers is a story well told. The characters are not deeply drawn but are sketched well enough to care about what happens to them.

Perigee is a fun read about a 21st Century the way it should be and might soon be.  A fine first novel by Chiles.

(Check out also Patrick’s blog The Chiles Files | It’s not rocket science.)

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In Space Infrastructure, Living in Space, SpaceCasts

Video: “Space to Ground” update on ISS

Here’s NASA’s latest Space to Ground report on activities aboard the International Space Station:

History, Space Models

Stratosphere Models – kits for X planes, NASA spacecraft and more

Here’s a message from Stephane Cochin of Stratosphere Models:

Stratosphere Models produce the finest, high quality, pressure cast models of X-Planes and NASA spacecrafts as well as classified USAF spaceplane kits (several of which required in depth research that lasted several years).

Several of my kits were produced with the technical and research assistance of some of the biggest names in the domain of aerospace engineering, particularly for my series of hypersonic and classified spaceplanes, as well as for several of my NASA X-Planes. People who worked in high positions as chief test engineer, chief of hypersonic propulsion design or at national research laboratories.

Some particular examples include the chief test engineer for the Rockwell Int’l -NASA X-31 program, as well as professor Paul Czysz, of Parks College, formerly with the hypersonics propulsion and design department of Mc Donnell [Douglas]as well as the AFFDL lab at Wright Patterson (for my series of classified USAF spaceplanes and my research on Aurora and PWDE engines, on which he provided guidance as well as a long distance accelerated course on hypersonics).

Many other engineers and specialists have helped me along the years for several of my projects, either through their own initiative or from interviews i conducted with them concerning certain aspects of hypersonic design or specific aircrafts.

See, for example, the X-37, X-38, and DC-X.

DC-X model

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Find lots more links to space modeling stores and resources in the HobbySpace Modeling section.

Contests and Games, Space Systems, The Moon

RevUp Render Lunar Iditarod – racing lunar micro-rovers

A readers points me to the debut of the RevUp Render Lunar Iditarod, a micro-rover contest involving stages of competition that ultimately will result in a race on the Moon as the final stage:

Micro Rover Race

The RevUp Render Lunar Iditarod is a micro rover race. Participants will build very small rovers to race, both for time and against one another. The Lundar Iditarod will take the top three participants to the moon for a final challenge.

Gated Challenge

The RevUp Render Lunar Iditarod is a gated challenge.  Participants must partake in the lower level before being allowed to participate in the next.  The different levels will be called “Stages.” Having different stages will provide funding for competition and also prevent individuals from jumping in at the last second and stealing the “prize” of racing on the moon.

There will be five stages:

Each stage has its own entry requirements.  Each stage will have a separate entry fee.  Each stage will have separate rewards.  Teams may participate in as many stages as they pay for and qualify for in a single event.  However, no fees are refundable.

The first and second stage competitions will be held quarterly starting on September 6th, 2014.  The third stage will be held on to-be-determined dates concurrent with the first and second stage competitions once there are 16 qualified entrants.

The fourth stage race will take place seven months prior to the launch of the payloads to the moon.

Each stage of competition among the micro rovers (called DogeSleds) is laid out. Here is, for example, stage one:

Teams must connect their DogeSled to the competition wifi network.   All teams must successfully start from a fixed position and travel nine meters in lunar regolith simulant across a finish line in under ten minutes.

The entry fee is 2,250,000 dogecoin.

A prize for the fastest time in an event will be awarded.  That prize will be 3,000,000 dogecoins.

As you can see, the fees and prizes are expressed in Dogecoin, “an open source peer-to-peer digital currency”. Find the latest value in US dollars at DogePay – DogeCoin Price.

The schedule is still being worked out:

The first two stages will be held quarterly up to seven months before the launch.  The third stage will be announced and held when 16 participants have advanced through the first two stages.  The fourth stage will feature a bracketed race-off that will take place seven months before the launch from which the top three DogeSleds will advance to the moon. DogeSleds will be placed into the stowage for the launch to the moon six months prior to the launch.

The primary sponsor is RevUp Render a cloud computing service.

Requirements and Registration are now available.