Space Carpinchos

Ciudad de la Costa | Exploring Venus Together

Awards & Nominations

Space Carpinchos has received the following awards and nominations. Way to go!

Global Nominee

La Semilla de Venus

High-Level Project Summary

One of the most important parts of the design of a rover is energy generation and storage, which presents a list of difficulties. To face this challenge we thought of a design that implements both eolic and solar energy and that is capable of performing in the hellish environment of Venus.The system will be inside a dome that will serve as protection against the hostile environment of Venus. On the sides of the dome is placed a set of four propellers that will be driven by the wind to generate energy to be stored in the springs.We also covered the dome with solar panels, which could directly supply the sensors or be stored in a spring, to be used when needed.

Link to Final Project

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qbNl1x--2e1b6k86qcY97XyO8Op88ruwLA_M34Aj9CE/edit?usp=sharing

Link to Project "Demo"

https://www.canva.com/design/DAFN7vpYX0s/cI_vJgSE6JehtlnIxGejOg/view?utm_content=DAFN7vpYX0s&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton

Detailed Project Description

Mission:

The objective of our project is to develop an energy generator and storage system

for an exploration rover, to be used in missions on the surface of Venus.

Materials:

Stainless steel, titanium, aerogel and polyether-ether-ketone.

Functioning:

The system will be inside a dome that will serve as protection against the hostile environment of Venus, and is also a stable shape that will not hinder the rover's movement. Since the components inside this dome will be gears and springs that, made with the right materials, could withstand the atmospheric conditions of the planet, then the pressure inside the dome can be equal to the pressure outside. In this way there would be no risk of the mechanism being crushed by it, as this pressure difference would be enough to destroy a submarine.

On the sides of the dome is placed a set of four propellers that will be driven by the wind to generate energy. The shafts of these will be connected, by means of gears that allow them to rotate in a single direction to prevent them from discharging into the system, to one or more springs to compress them and thus store energy in an elastic potential form. Additionally, in the event of sufficient wind power, the propellers could drive the motion or other minor systems of the rover directly.

Since the data collection equipment will require more energy supply than the wind can provide, solar panels will need to be used in addition. These would be placed on the surface of the dome and would be working constantly throughout the day, directly powering the rover's various systems as needed.

In addition, a battery could be added to the system to store energy, thus facilitating the use of energy in cases of low power. Due to the conditions on Venus, especially the temperature and pressure, this implementation is difficult, an insulator would not be effective and a cooling system would require too much energy. A viable option is to use some types of lithium batteries, such as those from TalosTech LLC and University of Delaware, which are still under development but are very promising, as they are being created specifically for use on Venus and are planned to be able to operate between 100°C and 600°C. Experimental tests are still pending, and if they work, the system would have to be adapted to work in conjunction with them.

Propellers:

The four propellers will be made of titanium alloy due to its low density coated with polyether-ether-ketone which is resistant to the high temperatures and corrosive elements present in the atmosphere of Venus.

Springs:

We will use a system of springs to store the wind and solar energy generated as elastic potential energy, this energy will be administered mechanically to the wheels to make them move and in case the energy provided by the solar panels is not enough, the rover will go into hibernation, where all stored energy will be administered only to the sensors, leaving the rover immobile.

The dark shaft furrowed in the image rotates when the propeller rotates, then it acts to the unidirectional gear that is screwed to compact the spring and store the energy, this is possible since the screw is unidirectional, then, like a bicycle, it rotates when the propeller rotates in one direction and is blocked when it rotates for the other, this is to avoid that it unscrews losing all the progress achieved. A locking tab will be used to prevent movement in the other direction, which can be removed using a low-power servomotor, thus unlocking the mechanism and releasing the stored energy.

Cables:

The cables used on the rover will be composed of stainless steel, aerogel and copper wires as follows:

Solar panels:

We covered the dome with solar panels, which could withstand the temperatures and acidic atmosphere. The energy generated with these solar panels could directly supply the sensors or be stored in a spring as elastic potential energy, to be used when needed.

Energetic Output

Venus has a solar irradiance of 2601.3W/m², this is 53% more than on earth, meaning more solar radiation power per unit area that we can use for our benefit. However, this is counteracted by the dense clouds that prevent this radiation from penetrating the atmosphere in its entirety, due to which more than 50% of the power is lost. Therefore the panels are less than 76% efficient than on earth. So assuming that the area of all the solar panels is 3.53 square meters (the diameter of the dome is 75 cm) the power generated would be approximately 232 W.

Then the wind turbines would generate an average power of 27.71 W, and assuming that the maximum energy accumulated by the springs of 0.09 Wh/kg, with about 10 kg of spring we would have a maximum capacity of 3240 J, with these values the spring system would take about 2 hours to fully charge if all the energy of the turbines is used in it. If the wind conditions allow it, the power generated by the turbines could be used directly in the movement of the rover.

Space Agency Data

The information provided by NASA was of great help, we were able to find information about Venus, future missions to visit this planet, the development of experimental lithium batteries and much more.

Automaton Rover for Extreme Environments

The AREE project inspired us to develop the systems with the propellers and combining it with the solar panels. The detailed description of it also provided us with some useful data, such as the energy that can be stored in the springs.

Hackathon Journey

Nasa Space app challenge siempre supone una oportunidad de crecimiento individual y grupal a través de sus diversas propuestas novedosas, las cuales nos permiten expandir y ampliar nuestro horizonte conocido a través de la investigación, el compañerismo y la sana competencia.

Siendo este nuestro segundo año consecutivo compartiendo con ustedes, nos enfrentamos nuevamente a una desafiante problemática que nos lleva al límite de nuestras capacidades. En esta oportunidad, nos inclinamos por el challenge “Exploring Venus Together” impulsados por nuestro gran interés por el espacio desconocido y los misterios que esconde.

Durante nuestro proceso de investigación, resolvimos contratiempos y organizamos el trabajo en equipo, dando cada uno su punto de vista y llegando a un acuerdo que dejara a todos conformes.

Además, queremos aplicar lo que hemos aprendido en todos los aspectos para animar a otros a crear un mundo mejor. Creemos que no tiene sentido aprender algo si luego no se comparte con los demás, pues el saber es como un canal en el que el aprendizaje fluye y se transmite.

Basándonos en este aspecto, esta competencia presenta un escenario idóneo para dicho objetivo. Por ello, nos encontramos profundamente agradecidos con la NASA y las empresas afiliadas las cuales permiten que todo esto sea posible. Siendo aún jóvenes estudiantes de ingeniería, creemos que estas serán experiencias inolvidables a lo largo de nuestra aún temprana y próspera carrera.