Awards & Nominations
Operation LV-426 has received the following awards and nominations. Way to go!
Global Nominee
Utilizing the Environment of Venus to Power Venus Rover for Long Durations
High-Level Project Summary
Our team developed a helical wind turbine made of Ti-6Al-4V (titanium alloy) attached to a system of bearings and drive shafts that power a generator and potentially provide excess power that could be stored. As a team, we believe that our solution will enable a Venus rover to last at least 60 days on the planet's surface. Our solution to this challenge is essential because previous Venus rovers have lasted hours on the surface of Venus. Our battery system can potentially allow future Venus rovers to last well over 60 days on the surface of the hellish planet.
Link to Final Project
Link to Project "Demo"
Detailed Project Description
Our project aims to provide power to a Venus rover for at least sixty days. Our project consists of a helical wind turbine that will generate power for the rest of the rover. The turbine is made entirely from Ti-6Al-4V (titanium alloy), then connected to a bearing made of plain carbon steel. The rest of the components are encased inside a Ti-6Al-4V (titanium alloy) enclosure.
Space Agency Data
Our group was initially inspired by NASA's Venus Rover challenge winners. Upon looking at the winners of the challenge, we came across a conceptual image of a turbine-powered rover and thought this was the most practical and promising solution.
Hackathon Journey
Overall, our experience was phenomenal, with a multitude of learning taking place concerning the conditions of the Venetian surface and what it takes to generate enough power in those conditions. Our team was inspired by the difficulty of this challenge and what it would actually take generate power in a world tha is hostile to its surroundings. This challenge required a lot of research and teamwork to accomplish and conceive an idea. When first developing the idea, a few ideas were bounced around involving a gas turbine, Stirling engine design, Nikola Tesla's Oscillating motor design, and a wind turbine which would ultimately power a transmission leading to the generator. Wind power seemed the most feasible in the conditions and could yield the required power output needed for a rover. Our team resolved our setbacks and roadblocks by bouncing ideas around, talking out difficulties, and looking back at early attempts at power production. We would like to thank NASA for the resources utilized during the challenge, along with the members here at PARI for helping resolve issues, and we would like to further thank previous scientists who have led us to our solution because of their early contributions to solving ways of power generation.
References
References:
Tags
#venus #hardware #engineering #space #lander #physics #mechanical #chemistry #redundancy #turbine #energy #power #battery