Analysis of the Flexibility of a Soft Hinge with a Floating Power Connection

Providing high safety standard for aerospace field is one of the most important issues that designers and engineers must face [1, 2]. It is especially important for life support systems, which consist of a set of tools used to ensure human safety while maintaining high performance. However, human needs to have a stable and comfortable environment inside the suit, as well as an appropriate suitable and high-tech equipment. One of the most important problems in the development of perspective spacesuits (extravehicular and rescue) is the flexibility of the legs and especially the arms of the spacesuit. Ideally, the level of flexibility of the spacesuit should correspond to the level of flexibility of a person in ordinary clothes. This paper presents an analysis of the flexibility of a soft hinge with a floating force connection, guaranteeing the mechanical flexibility of the soft hinge elements. The advantages and disadvantages of corrugated joints are discussed. Conclusions have been drawn on the relevance of using soft joints with a floating force connection in space suits, especially in gloves. This paper discusses requirement analysis on the materials used for gloves manufacturing as well as test procedures used to the requirements control.