Safety Harnesses
• Dead-Man Switch: If this switch is released, the simulator and the x-y gantry system will automatically freeze.
• Infrared video surveillance system (two cameras per payload): Will allow the occupants of the payload to be seen from the control room at all times, when the interior is both illuminated and in darkness.
• Smoke detectors
• Carbon-dioxide and Carbon-monoxide level detectors
• Intercom system
• Voluntary stop buttons in the control room
Safety harnesses:
Two different safety harness systems will be installed into two separate roof caps that can be interchangeably mounted onto StairLab and StreetLab. The Passive Cap will be used when the payloads are parked in the payload hall and the RoboCap will be used when the payloads are loaded on to the motion platform. The RoboCap will also provide individual support to a second person (‘safety spotter’) who will hold a dead man’s switch. The StreetLab will have a separate, single point safety harness.
A. Passive Cap: This system consists of a single rail onto which a safety harness can be attached. Once on the rail, the harness can slide from one corner of the roof to the opposite corner (i.e. along the diagonal extent of the payload). A mechanical fall-arrest device (descent controller) will ensure that, in the case of a fall, the subject will be lowered to the floor very slowly (North Safety, FP2515GD).
B. Robo Cap: The active safety harness robot consists of a powered x-y gantry system installed in the roof (see figure below). As such, it will be able to accommodate movements in both x and y directions, allowing for unrestricted walking throughout the entire payload. It uses a mechanical inverted joystick that measures the cable angle attached to the occupants and uses this information to track their movements throughout the platform. The occupants will wear a body harness that will be attached to the fall arrest device on the robotic tracking mechanism with a fall arrest cable.
