With this project, we seek to enforce the information exchange between a distant crew with their beloved ones and the mission control center through biometric readings and qualitative surveys.
It will, also, provide an off-line archive to keep fragments of recorded calls and videos to be played on-demand to help cope with nostalgia and provide emotional nourishment.
We think that having information about the wellness state of the crew members can help to reduce long-term stress, and potential danger to the missions, ensuring a better experience for all of the involved.
Mainly we spotted two scenarios that we can relate to, really up close.
First, is that the love partner of one of our team members works on a scheme similar to the context of an exploration mission. Every two weeks or so, he has to go up into an oil platform with no cellphone communication and very limited access to internet resources. He only can use one of the four local telephones and, sometimes, a computer for a short period of time every day, which have to be distributed between the workers (around 220 people for 20 minutes each). It is also a common scenario for him that these services are been used during the same period of time by multiple persons, ending in saturations of the lines and malfunction, like trouble to connect the calls. And this translates into higher stress levels, anxiety, low morale and fights between the personnel.
Second is a first-hand experience for a lot of us while going through the quarantine process. Suddenly having no interaction and limited communication with the people who care about us and we care about, mixed with a lack of physical activity and sunlight exposure, has rapidly taken us into a spiral of stress, anxiety and depression. We are new to this experience, It may feel surreal sometimes, but it is the everyday reality for the explorers.
Details and requirements
It would consist of two main areas. A daily followup check for the explorers profiling archive, provided by emotional surveys and biometric readings (like heart rate, temperature, blood pressure, etc.) to evaluate both emotional and physical health, and a message library fillable with memorabilia (such as photos, text messages, voice recordings and short videos) that can be seen and added for both the explorer and his/her family.
Thedaily followup survey can bring valuable information to the mission counselor to keep track over the mental health status of the personnel, and can be compared with the electrodermal readings.
Theexplorer’s device must have at least 64GB of solid-state memory to store the message library and get offline access. This device will be located on the wrist to enhance practicality and mobility.
The Explorer’s Wrist Device is thought to interface through RF LoRa frequencies (between 433MHz and 915MHz), for long-range communications and power efficiency. It can also have a WiFi interface to fast transfers in the Mission Base, but must be used carefully.
There are three communication protocols involved: HTML and WebSockets for the Family member;App, TCP/IP, standard SQL channels for synching the mission remote base to the command center; and the most relevant is the RF-Based digital protocol to link the Explorer’s Wrist Device with the Mission Base. This protocol will be a binary implementation to reduce the amount of energy needed to send and receive data. This protocol is described on the docs folder of the source code repository (https://gitlab.com/carpathialab/heart-line/-/blob/master/docs/comm.txt).
The screen of the device will be an electrophoretic paper screen to save battery. The top priority will be to save power for the most relevant tasks.
Solution parts:
We have developed a brief example application which can be used (it's just a demo) on the following URL: https://lab.carpathialab.com/heartline/ you can log in with the user admin@nasa.gov and the password "spaceappscovid"