In this work, the feasibility of using thermochemical storage materials as a possible thermal control solution is analyzed for small robots and sensor modules for lunar and asteroid surface environments. The presented technology will focus on using resources that is readily generated as waste product aboard a spacecraft or is available off-world through In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU).
In this work, a sensor module for extreme environment has been designed and prototyped. Our intention is to have a network of tens or hundreds of sensor modules that can communicate and interact with each other while also gathering science data. The design contains environmental sensors like temperature sensors and IMU (containing accelerometer, gyro and magnetometer) to gather data. The sensor module would nominally contain an electrical heater and insulation. The thermal heating effect provided by this active heater is compared with the proposed technology that utilizes thermochemical storage chemicals.
Our results show that a thermochemical storage-based thermal control system is feasible for use in extreme temperatures. A performance increase of 80% is predicted for the sensor modules on the asteroid Eros using thermochemical based storage system. At laboratory level, a performance increase of 8 to 9 % is observed at ambient temperatures of -32oC and -40 oC.
Personal electric vehicles, or PEVs, help individuals navigate short to mid distance commutes in environments that lack effective public transportation solutions. This is known as the “Last Mile” problem. A particular solution, electric skateboards, are highly energy efficient due to their size but lack auxiliary features for safety and user-convenience connected to the same battery supply. Plus, almost all conventional electric boards come with proprietary software and hardware designs, meaning that modifying or improving upon their logic is extremely difficult if not impossible. Therefore, our group aims to prototype an improved, open-source electric skateboard design to determine the feasibility of our ideas.
Personal electric vehicles, or PEVs, help individuals navigate short to mid distance commutes in environments that lack effective public transportation solutions. This is known as the “Last Mile” problem. A particular solution, electric skateboards, are highly energy efficient due to their size but lack auxiliary features for safety and user-convenience connected to the same battery supply. Plus, almost all conventional electric boards come with proprietary software and hardware designs, meaning that modifying or improving upon their logic is extremely difficult if not impossible. Therefore, our group aims to prototype an improved, open-source electric skateboard design to determine the feasibility of our ideas.