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EMERGENT: Emerging for Emergencies

Published onOct 15, 2024
EMERGENT: Emerging for Emergencies
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Project Overview

How can we design for human habitation in extreme environments, to ensure that people can not just survive, but thrive?

Introducing "Emergent", a wearable human snail habitat that can provide emergency shelter for nomads in distress, aka something that Emerges during Emergencies! The ambition is to create a working prototype that can work just as well in space as on earth, for application to both astronauts in physical duress during gravity transition emergencies in space flight, and disaster refugees on earth experiencing both climate and man-made emergencies such as flooding, earthquakes, emergency plane landings, and geo-political conflicts.

Development Documentation


Sep 17, 2024 - Brainstorming session (in-class)

To flesh out the concept and plan out the prototyping process, I considered areas of the human body to focus on, as well as discrete mechanisms to test.

I chose to isolate specific areas of the body to focus on, to address elements of comfort and safety unique to that body part. For example, the abdominal area contains most of our vital organs, so it could be worthwhile designing for a vest that could expand like a portable airbag/lifejacket/kevlar vest. Another example is the cranial area, where most of our sensory organs are (vision, sound, smell), and so in addition to designing a protective helmet, paraphernalia addressing sensory issues like visually-induced motion sickness during physical turbulence, could be interesting as well!

For physical mechanisms to test out, I considered two main categories: transformation mechanisms, and deployment mechanisms. The former will entail physical forms like accordion folds and flexible grids that can allow a pliable fabric to expand and contract. The latter will involve self-sufficient (i.e. non battery operated, so no inflatables for now...) tensile methods such as springs or elastic bands.

Class boardwork, “Emergent Ideas”, He Yutian (Sep 17, 2024)

Sep 20, 2024

Tested out some transformation mechanisms i.e. possible ways to expand and contract between 3D and 2D states, using laser-cut cardboard. Will continue to think of how to translate this to a wearable form, e.g. fabric with interfacing.

Transformation mechanism testing, He Yutian (Sep 20, 2024)

Transformation mechanism testing, He Yutian (Sep 20, 2024)

Sep 26, 2024

Identified 2 potential discrete phases to test: an on-off switch for self-deployment by an informed user (e.g. an astronaut), and a sensor-based switch for automatic deployment by a layperson. The former can be entirely mechanical and not require any microcontroller. The latter would require using a microcontroller and some sort of motion sensor. Considering how noisy it would be onboard a parabolic flight (the envisioned testing environment for the final project), I elected to prioritize working with light-based sensors over sound-based ones, which I will be exploring further as part of my fabrication adventures over at the Center for Bits and Atoms’s How to Make (Almost) Anything course.

Oct 1, 2024 - Astronaut Ethnography (in-class)

Following Sana Sharma’s lecture on Astronaut Ethnography, we considered the following:

  • How might you apply the questions, recommendations, or examples on these cards to:

    • Your experimental setup and materials?

    • How you plan to interact with your project artifact?

    • How you plan to document your project?

    • What you need to account for when sharing the space around you during the flight?

    • What are new questions/concerns/opportunities that you need to address?

Arrangement of Astronaut Ethnography Cards in class - front view (Oct 1, 2024)

Arrangement of Astronaut Ethnography Cards in class - front view (Oct 1, 2024)

The above cards were most salient to my project, and my reflections on the prompts are:

  • Experimental set-up and materials: Given the multi-directional motion of the user, I may need to make use of more complex motion sensors, such those used in fitness trackers, with a combination of accelerometers and gyroscopes to measure multiple degrees of freedom. In terms of materials, I will need to find a balance between tactile comfort for the user (e.g. breathability) and functionality (e.g. solar shielding).

  • Interaction with project artifact: I could either keep the interaction simple i.e. a mechanical switch, or test automatic deployment through a sensor e.g. an IMU (inertial measurement unit) that detects spins. The question is whether I will personally carry out that spinning motion and risk motion sickness, or bring a mannequin and hurl that around instead.

  • Project documentation: I will most likely record a video of the experiment using a few go-pros, from several camera angles. This will double up as a timer for how long each deployment takes, without having to bring a stopwatch up.

  • What you need to account for when sharing the space around you during the flight? It would be tricky to test turbulent motion within a confined space such that it does not negatively impact my coursemates’ experiments, but yet remain true to the intent of my project. Perhaps I could focus on a particular wall to hit and/or spin with restraints/ in a spatially-confined manner?

  • What are new questions/concerns/opportunities that you need to address? The reuse-ability of the product was not something I earlier considered, since protective helmets (like bike helmets) are typically single use. The choice of material will also likely affect reuse-ability, such as whether it would be easily washable, or in the context of spaceflight, require minimal hygienic maintenance.

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