High-Level Project Summary
The Flywheel Storage and Siphon System (FSSS) has two key components; the charging station and the rover itself. First, we had to come up with a way to generate electricity on Venus. We tried many ways, such as solar panels, chemical batteries, and even the concept of ocean thermal energy conversion. However, all of the ideas were either too complicated or just downright impossible on the hellish surface of Venus. Just as we were about to call it quits, we got inspired by a coffee siphon. However, we still had to find some way for the rover to store that energy. That's when we came across the flywheel. Now we had a way to generate power and to store that power. Voilà! The FSSS was born.
Link to Final Project
Link to Project "Demo"
Detailed Project Description
The FSSS charging station uses the idea of water/coffee rushing down a siphon. It uses the temperature difference between the surface and below the surface. Since one of the past probes launched to Venus proved that drilling a hole on Venus is possible, we think this idea is possible. The FSSS energy storage system on the rover is a mechanical flywheel, since traditional electronics and batteries do not work on Venus. The rover will have a high-rpm flywheel rather than the high-mass flywheel because of the much higher energy density of the high-rpm flywheel. The FSSS does have limited range because of the static power source. However, it should allow a much more detailed exploration of the area.
Space Agency Data
I used all the resources on the resources tab on the challenge page. The page about the AREE rover was especially helpful because it told us in detail about the challenges for Venus rovers. I also watched the homemade volcano video for fun as well.
Hackathon Journey
Even though the space apps challenge was very challenging, - pardon the pun - ultimately it was a very fun experience. I learned about the countless ways to store energy and a variety of ways of generating electricity. I hope I can use this experience and knowledge I've gain to solve more problems around the world and maybe even the universe.
References
https://www.clipartmax.com/download/m2H7i8H7N4A0N4A0_syphon-coffee-maker-icon-icon/
Google Slides
Google docs
Wikipedia
NASA
Flat icon
https://nets2020.ornl.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/TRACK-1-Full-submission.pdf
Youtube
https://www.aeronomie.be/en/encyclopedia/venus-atmosphere-mainly-composed-carbon-dioxide-and-nitrogen
Tags
#Venus #Battery