The use of permanent magnets in zero-gravity mobility and restraint footwear concept

Mobilty and restraint equipment to date has been designed for relatively small-volume spacecraft. In these vehicles the crew is always within the touch distance of installed equipment and work areas. In anticipation of larger and more spacious spacecraft, a NASA mobility and restraint concept was designed and prototype articles were fabricated. These articles are known as shufflers and they use permanent magnets for a normal holding force. The concept utilizes a shuffling technique where both feet maintain constant contact with the surface. The shuffler´s major application will be in transporting bulky equipment and assisting in equipment monitoring and adjustments. A force analysis was performed for each proposed use of the shuffler to establish required magnetic attractive forces for stability. A magnetic analysis was then performed to establish the design parameters of the magnetic circuit necessary to achieve the required forces.