Work Measurement Videotaping Technique as a Means for Estimating Food Preparation Labor Time of a Bioregenerative Diet

A bioregenerative diet is characterized by a high proportion of foods produced on site. The production and processing of foods into either ingredients or recipes entails certain labor requirements. Ideally these labor requirements should be estimated with a high degree of accuracy. Crew time is at premium and any amount of time spent on food preparation and processing is time not spent in conducting research and any other activities devised to improve the quality of life of the astronauts. Moreover, a wide variety of tasks are involved in the food preparation of a bioregenerative diet and the labor times of these tasks do not scale or increase in uniform fashion. Predicting food preparation labor requirements for varying crew sizes will require task specific models and data. Videotape analysis is a work measurement tool used in the manufacturing industry. The use of this tool to provide labor cost estimates in ESM units (equivalent system mass matches well the objectives of devising a highly reliable schedule for the food-related activities in a bioregenerative lifesupport scenario.