Buffet Station

Summary

A kitchen concept for cislunar missions aboard the Gateway space station. I was in a group of four and we had selected the theme of 'home' for our habitat. My role in the team was to design a food delivery system. Inspired by vending machines and traditional kitchen preparatory systems, the Buffet Station is a sensorial approach to food preparation in space. Extensive research was done on the Gateway to ensure spatial flexibility and cohesion for the proposed designs, as well as crew members long-term comfort and wellbeing in 0-gravity conditions.

Group of 4

Year: 2022

Scope: 14 weeks

Category: Interdisciplinary design

Skills Used:

Sketching
Photoshop, Illustrator
User Research
Solidworks (CAD Modelling)
Model-making

Design Brief

To design a habitat for four astronauts on a long duration mission orbiting the Moon. Our objectives include:

> Design for Eating

> Design for Food Delivery System (my chosen area)

> Design for Relaxing

> Design for Socialisation

Our Theme & Mission Characteristics

Our group of 4, named Gucci Belters, decided on a 5-6 months mission aboard the Gateway. The Gateway habitation area includes two modules which add up to at least 138 cubic metres of habitable volume. Confined in such parameters and out of reach from Earth’s simple joys, the safety and wellbeing of our crew are extremely critical. As such, we proposed a theme of "modularity, cleanliness and homeliness" to ensure our crew's psychological and nutritional needs are met.

Background

According to Häuplik-Meusburger (2016), space habitation is a harmonious synthesis between comfortable and functional living. While it is critical for astronauts to achieve their mission goals, they also need an environment that ensures their health and security, not just in the sense of survival. Habitation is defined as a suitable living space for its inhabitants over a period of time within a specific environment and has a large focus on human-oriented values. Without human values, mishaps or unintentional accidents will occur due to careless designs.

Häuplik-Meusburger highlights 3 main architectural themes that enable habitability in space:

> Usability – concerns infrastructure, spatial arrangement, object management and ergonomic safety

> Liveability – concerns territoriality and privacy, sensory perception, external and internal relations

> Flexibility – concerns variations in size and locations, object usage, individual ergonomic and user orientation

Applying these architectural themes within the everyday routine of astronauts can help them maintain a healthy and productive living cycle. For example, the inclusion of a window allows astronauts to enjoy the view outside. However, the window must also have a well-placed

safety handhold installed nearby to prevent astronauts from pressing into the window or an equipment surface, which can cause damage to either object.

As such, longer missions will require more space and volume as well as more elaborate configurations within the internal structure. This is because over time, the needs of astronauts within the confined space will increase as they are exposed to deeper physiological, social and psychological challenges.

Current Cis-lunar Food Prep Systems

The most relevant food preparation system in a cislunar mission is from the International Space Station (ISS). The ISS does not have an Earth equivalent of a kitchen, but a small area called the “galley” which serves the purpose of food preparation and consumption. According to a former NASA astronaut, the galley on the ISS Node 1 consists of a table for three, potable water dispensing system (used for the rehydration of food) and food oven for warming foods to the proper serving temperature. The table is set up on the other end of the module so that the crew have more room to prepare and secure the food packages in the 0-gravity environment.

The crew’s food supplies are stowed in locker trays with food packages arranged in the order they will be used. Astronauts can choose their own menus prelaunch, which will last for 28 days. This selected menu repeats every 7 days, and there are also additional “pantry” snacks and beverages for the crew to share among themselves. With increasingly advanced technology, preparation of food has become quicker and easier as well as more variety of food items that can be sent aboard. In 2019, a full meal for a crew of four can be set up within 5 minutes. Heating and rehydration takes an additional 20 to 30 minutes, which is about the average time it takes to make a quick snack at home.

Gateway Proposed Layout

Dimensions we established for Gateway modules. Blue lines show interior parameters

In this project, as we are designing for a long duration mission, our interior dimensions for HALO and I-HAB will slightly differ from the actual station dimensions. HALO will be 3.4m in diameter and 7.1m long, while I-HAB will be 8.1m long with similar diameter. The extension in length will provide larger storage and free-roaming space for our crew, which are beneficial towards their wellbeing. In total, habitable volume for this project is about 138 cubic metres.

3 Proposals

Proposals for a home-like food preparation apparatus that is easy to use.
Considerations: Spatial, Accessibility, Aesthetic, Human Factors
Features: food display, counter, control panel, heating and rehydration appliances, food extrusion

A plain, rectangular design inspired by vending machines. Its aim is to deliver food quickly and simply for the crew, as well as make it plausible to create new and healthier meal sets during space travel. Similar to a vending machine, there are compartments inside that hold food packages. Users select their food options on the large display screen and an internal mechanism pushes the food out of its packaging into tubes, extruding it out to the heating/hydration zone and then to the plating zone

The circular design offers a cyclic rotation within the display. This design offers some semblance of a kitchen counter to emulate the aesthetic and feeling of a home kitchen. Using the controls, the user will need to rotate the food they want as part of their meal towards the topmost chamber of the display. They can do this via buttons and knobs or through a tablet control panel wirelessly connected to the Buffet Station. This allows crew members to prepare their meals whenever preoccupied elsewhere.

This design follows the décor of a home kitchen. It is a more charming and sensorial approach despite having the same functions and usage as the previous two proposals. The honeycomb displays are compartments of food, each with a single item option. When viewed collectively with all food stocked inside, it resembles a kitchen pantry. Decorative items such as plants can also be placed inside. The heating and rehydration zones are located on a kitchen counter-styled surface so that from above looking in, one can feel as if they are actually cooking. Additionally, a panel curtains the Buffet Station from view, providing a sense of privacy when in this area.

Concept

The Buffet Station aims to merge the experiences from a home kitchen with that from a space galley - it aims to provide the same amenities as the galley alongside the sensorial tour of home food preparation. Food preparation time in space amounts to about 30 minutes, which is about the same time it takes to make a simple meal at home. The Buffet Station allows the crew to use this time to interact with their fellow crew members as they “cook”, within an atmosphere that is homely and warm.

Overall Habitat Design (Team Proposal)

Features of the Buffet Station follow the décor of a typical home kitchen with a honeycomb display “cabinet”, counter, enclosed “stovetop” and simple storage facades. It is named for its ability to enable crew members to easily prepare and create their own multi-ingredient and/or multi-nutritional meals, similar to a buffet service.

Each of the honeycomb display is a single compartment that contain food bags, pertaining to a food option i.e., dehydrated chicken. Due to 0-gravity conditions, it is not possible to physically take food out of these compartments. Rather, a user must select food option by using a touch sensitive silicone rubber (top right image) that simulates the actual process of grabbing food items. The <Grab> lever invites users to hold on to it, and the pressure of the hand motion determines the amount of food that will be extruded out. Light indicators embedded in the display frame to show users the status of the compartment by use of conventional colour codes

To further the home kitchen experience, the Buffet Station utilises simple knobs adapted from a stovetop or oven. These knobs allow the users quick and easy control of the food preparation process, which happens inside the enclosed chambers (food plating zone). Its functional settings are derived from existing galley functions, which include:
● Food Extrude – Extrude the food options selected from the display
● Food Warmer – Heat or warm the food
● Rehydration – Rehydrate the food with ambient or hot water
● Flush – Flush the entire system with iodinated water. Used if microbial overgrowth or other contaminations is detected in the system.

Materials & Manufacture

The body of the Buffet Station is constructed from polyetheretherketone (PEEK), a strong plastic that can maintain stiffness at high temperatures and is suitable for long duration use over a wide range of extreme temperatures. These properties are advantageous towards the durability of the station which houses heating functions for both food and liquid. PEEK is a plastic material widely used for food processing machinery components and aerospace parts, which is ideal for our setting. PEEK parts of the station are compression moulded to ensure continued integrity of the overall design.

The hexagonal compartments are made from injection moulded polyethylene. Safety handles are made from extruded nylon. Control knobs and screen panel on the counter are made from aluminium. The food plating compartments and hexagonal displays are covered by translucent polycarbonate as glass is not allowed on space travel.

Habitat Integration

The Buffet Station (2) is fitted to the side of the module close to the center of the habitation. It serves as the intermediary between the social areas and dining, so that crew members have full view of the Smart Screen (4) when food is in the process of being prepared, and access to the communal dining table (1) when food is ready. Being fitted to the wall, this means that people waiting at the Buffet Station will not get in the way of crew members floating around, including those relaxing in sleeping bags (3).

Side view of the habitat with 4 crew members in the same space.

Final Concept

Detailed Feature 1:1 Model

A 1:1 scaled prototype of the control panel was produced to provide a sense of size and interactivity for the Buffet Station.

There are two dials. The left dial is the main setting control to select the food preparation function needed, which are clockwise <Rehydration>, <Flush>, <Food Warmer> and <Food Extrude>. When a function is selected, the user can use the menu screen on the right to adjust sub settings such as cooking method, temperature, and timer. This screen is not touchscreen, and the user must use the right dial on the right to scroll and confirm their setting selections.

Overall Habitat Design (Team Proposal)

Team-Based Integrated Perspective_Gucci Belters.png