DESCENDIENTES DE MORFEO| Sleep Shift Scheduling Tool
Awards & Nominations
DESCENDIENTES DE MORFEO has received the following awards and nominations. Way to go!
Sleep Shift Scheduling Tool
Morpheus
Summary
Morpheus is a prototype APPLICATION that applies COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES to improve the QUALITY AND QUANTITY OF SLEEP, FOOD, EXERCISE, and travel plans for the crew. It works as a complement in space missions when confronting problems of sleep disorders and CIRCADIAN RHYTHM DESYNCHRONIZATION.Finally, with this tool, crew members will be able to SLEEP BETTER and maintain their PERFORMANCE DURING THE TRIP.
How We Addressed This Challenge
A prototype application was designed not only for astronauts, but also the general population, who require assistance to improve their health condition through the good organization of sleep, food consumption, and physical activity.
Currently, the population presents a lack of quality and quantity of sleep which leads to fatigue, which in turn affects performance, increases irritability, decreases concentration and reduces reaction time; it causes as well the deterioration of health in general. Circadian rhythm is primarily related to light and dark in the environment which can turn on and off the genes that control the molecular structure of the biological clocks. Factors that affect this biological process include: light from electronic devices, lack of exposure to sunlight and poor eating habits; and, in the particular case of astronauts, the physical environment in which they sleep, as well as irregular exposure to sunlight.
This application serves as a reminder of the daily routines previously established by the professionals in charge of the astronauts' conditioning and physical training. This tool has four different sections, the first three referring to sleep, food, and exercise, respectively, and finally a schedule of shifts of the activities mentioned above.
First, the crew member must create a record with his personal data for the system to take this information and, with the help of a database of NASA professionals, adapt a series of parameters to the user to establish it’s regimes. Later, the application allows users to select the date and time of launch, landing, docking, undocking and departure/arrival to adapt the schedule. Then, the app shows a main menu containing four options to select; if you select, for example, the Sleep Programs option, it leads us to another tab with four options oriented to provide sleep assistance: an alarm section, one of selectable recommendations for good sleep consolidation, a view of the crew member's previous sleep cycle and an area for remote assistance. Regarding the feeding program, the crew member will have access to a table with daily nutritional content taken from the database mentioned above, an alarm system to notify the hours of the meals and a section for remote assistance, where the designated nutritionist will be able to follow and modify the diet of each user as well as communicate if necessary. The exercise program section shows the crew member's personalized routine with the different types of exercises. Finally, the Shift Schedule option allows you to completely visualize all the activities to be performed before, during and after the trip.
With the development of this prototype it is intended to provide a solution to the problem of circadian rhythm desynchronization, which astronauts present due to the conditions mentioned above. In addition, it is expected to improve the quality and quantity of sleep of the crew with the use of tools that help sleep conciliation, including a personalized program of balanced diet and functional exercises adapted to the environment.
Likewise, we hope to have the opportunity to take a tour of the NASA facilities and work with the team to contribute with our knowledge and, especially, acquire new knowledge from them.
How We Developed This Project
According to the CDC, in America, 70% of adults report not getting enough sleep at least one night a month, and 11% report not getting enough sleep every night.
Sleep-related problems are estimated to affect 50 to 70 million Americans of all ages and socioeconomic classes.
For this reason, as biomedical engineers with the primary purpose of solving health problems of the population through the implementation of technology and recent scientific advances in the different fields of study of human biology; we chose to focus our efforts on meeting this aggravating situation.
In order to help, not only the crew and different members that make up the space missions, but also the population in general, and aware of the growing problem of disorders associated with sleep and the desynchronization of the circadian rhythm, we decided to face the Sleep Shift Scheduling Tool challenge.
The objective is to present a technological application prototype for managing the sleep, food and exercise schedules of the team members on space missions.
With this in mind, we decided to choose a systematic approach that allowed the development of the prototype in different stages: 1) planning of the general strategy, 2) approach and structure of the prototype; 3) define the requirements of the project; 4) design the visual interactive concepts and 5) convert them into detailed specifications to develop the application and implement it.
Among the tools used to develop our project include:
- Lucidchart to outline the project ideas.
- Marvel App to create the interface of the application prototype.
- Adobe Photoshop to design the images of the project.
- Genially to make the demonstration of the project.
Some problems encountered during the development of this project include:
- Understanding the environment in which the activities are carried out by the crew.
- Learning to use some of the software needed for the development of our prototype.
- Understanding the process of circadian rhythm and its influence on the process of sleep conciliation.
Some of our achievements are:
- Successfully completing the development of the graphic interface of the application prototype.
- Acquiring new knowledge about the effects of the activities performed and the environment in a space mission on the sleep of the astronauts.
- Learning new strategies and methods to counteract the negative effects of circadian rhythm.
- Efficiently programing the routines of exercise, nutrition and sleep of the users.
How We Used Space Agency Data in This Project
For the creation of our tool, data was taken from different studies, research and articles carried out by the different scientific research centers associated to NASA, where topics related to the environmental conditions of the spacecrafts and the physiological parameters presented by each crew member in a space mission were addressed; between them: loss of bone and muscle tone and the desynchronization of the circadian rhythm.
Thanks to these resources, it was possible to determine the variables to be considered for the different options available in the application, such as: establishing schedules for sleeping shifts, exercise routines and diet.
Among the resources that most caught our attention are the seven ways astronauts improve sleep, which is why we created a section with a checklist of these recommendations for the crew to have on hand.
Project Demo
Data & Resources
- American Sleep Apnea Association. (2018, 24 septiembre). Good sleep promotes good health. SleepHealth. https://www.sleephealth.org/sleep-health/the-state-of-sleephealth-in-america/#:%7E:text=In%20America%2C%2070%25%20of%20adults,report%20insufficient%20sleep%20every%20night.&text=It%20is%20estimated%20that%20sleep,all%20ages%20and%20socioeconomic%20classes.
- Ames Research Center. (2018, 2 junio). NASA Research Reveals Biological Clock Effects on Sleep for Astronauts. NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/ames/nasa-research-reveals-biological-clock-misalignment-effects-on-sleep-for-astronauts/
- Gomar-Serrano, J. A. (2015, julio). La alimentación en los viajes espaciales tripulados: desde el Programa Gemini hasta la ISS/Shuttle. scielo. http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2174-51452015000200008#:%7E:text=Los%20miembros%20de%20las%20misiones,y%20los%20alimentos%20liofilizados%20(Figura
- Howard, J., International Space Station Program Science Office, & Johnson Space Center. (2017, 6 agosto). Seven Ways Astronauts Improve Sleep May Help You Snooze Better. NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/astronauts_improve_sleep/
- NASA. (2018, 18 julio). Ep 43: Diet Like an Astronaut. https://www.nasa.gov/johnson/HWHAP/diet-like-an-astronaut/
- NASA. (2019, 9 septiembre). NASA SPACEFLIGHT HUMAN-SYSTEM STANDARD VOLUME 2: HUMAN FACTORS, HABITABILITY, AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH. https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/nasa-std-3001_vol_2_rev_b.pdf
- NASA, & May, S. (2015, 8 julio). Exercising in Space. NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/stem-on-station/ditl_exercising
- National Sleep Foundation. (2020, 28 julio). Relaxation Exercises for Falling Asleep. Sleep Foundation. https://www.sleepfoundation.org/shift-work-disorder/shift-work-you/relaxation-exercises-falling-asleep
- Pamela Baskin (NASA) | Considerations for the «Sleep Shift Scheduling Tool» Challenge. (2020, 25 septiembre). [Vídeo]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wH2hL5Ua_m8
- ScienceAtNASA. (2016, 13 diciembre). ScienceCasts: The Power of Light [Vídeo]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBtdbaSKexU&feature=emb_logo
- Wild, F. (2018, 27 julio). Eating in Space. NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/stem-on-station/ditl_eating
- Wu, B. (2020, 4 octubre). On-orbit sleep problems of astronauts and countermeasures. PubMed Central (PMC). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5975626/