Faculty Mentor Information

Megan Gambs, Sarah Haight, and Dr. Steve Swanson

Abstract

The Boise State Microgravity team took part in the EVA Zip Tie Installer challenge. As a part of maintaining the International Space Station (ISS) until 2030, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are inquiring into different device solutions that can install zip-ties fully mechanically and repeatedly by astronauts aboard the ISS during EVA’s. This serves as a solution to the current use of metal wires which are wrapped around pipes and loose wires on the ISS.

The Zip-Tie Revolver (ZERO) was created to install zip-ties taking into account the astronaut’s limited dexterity and the goals of reusability with modular components. In order to address the difficulty of the many steps required to install a metal wire around pipes and loose wires, the ZERO was designed with a simple and streamlined operation to bolster effectiveness and usability on EVA’s. At its core, the ZERO is a spring loaded zip tie gun that can propel zip ties around different objects in a microgravity environment.

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The ZERO: The Zip-tiE RevOlver

The Boise State Microgravity team took part in the EVA Zip Tie Installer challenge. As a part of maintaining the International Space Station (ISS) until 2030, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are inquiring into different device solutions that can install zip-ties fully mechanically and repeatedly by astronauts aboard the ISS during EVA’s. This serves as a solution to the current use of metal wires which are wrapped around pipes and loose wires on the ISS.

The Zip-Tie Revolver (ZERO) was created to install zip-ties taking into account the astronaut’s limited dexterity and the goals of reusability with modular components. In order to address the difficulty of the many steps required to install a metal wire around pipes and loose wires, the ZERO was designed with a simple and streamlined operation to bolster effectiveness and usability on EVA’s. At its core, the ZERO is a spring loaded zip tie gun that can propel zip ties around different objects in a microgravity environment.

 

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