High-Level Project Summary
We developed a type of battery that works and is charged through nuclear energy, this battery is coated with different materials in order to protect it, as a plan B we made another one that works based on electric discharges. The batteries we designed have a very long life span, as well as protection against various anomalies. This is necessary so that they can withstand 60 days on Venus, which is required by the challenge. Having a long battery life and endurance is essential to be able to stay on Venus while obtaining data without having to worry about powering the rover.
Link to Final Project
Link to Project "Demo"
Detailed Project Description
As a main plan we have the idea of creating a type of battery that works and is charged through nuclear energy, this battery is covered by 6 layers that would be stainless steel which would be in charge of the acoustic gases and heat; silica whose function is exclusively to retain heat; Cork which would protect the aluminum from heat; Aluminum which would only retain heat; a vacuum vessel (which is filled with liquid nitrogen); Iridium surrounding the batteries and finally the batteries (The first element mentioned is the layer that is in contact with the outside in this case the stainless steel). The batteries could be recharged with a thermoelectric radioisotope generator using plutonium 238.
As plan B we developed a battery that works based on electrical discharges, this battery is charged through a mechanism of attraction and conversion of the lightning obtained by the electrical storms of Venus. The batteries are discharged and connected to the lightning rod by means of a gold wire coated with a layer of silica, aluminum, cork and ultra high temperature ceramics (UHTC). The lightning rod consists of a modified lightning rod capable of withstanding discharges greater than 200,000 Amperes; to reduce that amount of Amperes it is necessary to place resistors to reduce by half the Amperes for each resistor. It is necessary to have at least 6 resistors to reduce the Amperes to the amount of 3250. Having 10 batteries per section it is necessary to have 10 wirings connected from the batteries to the contact of the lightning rod with the surface of the Rover; having 10 batteries the Amperes are divided equally by each conduit, therefore, there would be 325 Amperes in each battery.
To withstand the pressure, a pill-shaped structure measuring 4.6 meters long by 1.9 meters wide and 3.7 meters high would have to be used, although the length could vary and be a little longer to better distribute the pressure on the Rover.
The Rover would be totally enclosed and its interior would contain the nuclear batteries insulated with the aforementioned materials, the engine and all the wiring. The Rover would be made of materials such as titanium, steel and iron, carrying a chamber surrounded by aluminum oxynitride and reinforced plastic with iron corners. The Rover would use tracked wheels and would be equipped with a sensor system so that when it overturns it can be reinserted by a system of thrusters. Finally, the Rover would have its antenna above the entire structure with cables running underneath the antenna into the interior of the Rover where the batteries are discharged.
The Rover's power generation should reach 900 volts.
Space Agency Data
https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/pdf/10.2514/1.41886
https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/1519/venus-resources/?page=0&per_page=40&order=created_at+desc&search=&tags=Venus&category=324
Hackathon Journey
Our experience in Space Apps was satisfactory, we achieved a great result and we are very happy with it.
We learned a lot about physics and chemistry, several things that will help us in the future.
We focused on achieving a rover capable of surpassing the rover sent by NASA to Venus a short time ago. Thanks to that we were able to finish the project, our ambition was what drove us forward.
There were too many setbacks, but thanks to many professionals we were able to move forward and we were able to realize our ideas; they helped us by listening to our ideas at all times.
We would like to mention Pablo Carriquiry and Guillermo Popelika. They both helped us in the area of materials selection.
References
https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/pdf/10.2514/1.41886
https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/1519/venus-resources/?page=0&per_page=40&order=created_at+desc&search=&tags=Venus&category=324
Tags
#Funny #Funny #Venus