Work design and analysis for space-based manufacturing: a case analysis of initial design issues.

Area of Science:

• Space exploration engineering
• Human factors engineering
• Manufacturing systems

Background:

• Space-based manufacturing (SBM) is crucial for sustained human presence in space.
• Current SBM designs are in early conceptual and flow sheeting stages.
• Understanding human roles is key to SBM development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate human manufacturing tasks in a space environment.
• To compare space-based manufacturing work with terrestrial manufacturing.
• To inform human factors engineering for long-duration space missions.

Main Methods:

• Employed a case analysis approach.
• Conducted function allocation and task analysis.
• Focused on the production of tailored industrial crystals as a representative SBM process.

Main Results:

• Human intervention is recommended for corrective maintenance tasks.
• Humans should be allocated to manage abnormal system conditions.
• Automation is less suitable for these specific dynamic SBM functions.

Conclusions:

• Human roles in SBM require careful consideration of human factors.
• Task allocation between humans and automation is critical for SBM success.
• Findings provide insights for designing human-centric SBM systems.