High-Level Project Summary
Greenery is a device that Is capable of growing edible plants in a space station in large amounts to provide food for Astronauts. It operates using the concept of veggie plantation and In addition, it provides much more products and it is very suitable for the condition that are found In space. Furthermore, our project has managed to solve the water distribution problem in space and also we figured out a method for the root to get oxygen. Each plant grows in a sac of clay-based growth media and fertilizer, and the LEDs above the plants to provide light for photosynthesis.After being fully developed it will be very helpful in future space explorations.
Link to Project "Demo"
Link to Final Project
Detailed Project Description
Greenery in general, is a device used to grow plants in space. We designed it so as to use in space in order to provide the needed healthy food in wanted amount.
This system uses a pillow like structures of very fertile soil to plant the seeds in. Plant photosynthesis by the help of LED system we used this will also allow us to direct the seeds which way to grow their stem by phototropism. These seeds will grow rapidly because we used sensors to sense each essential nutrients, so if there is any shortage of nutrients or dehydration of water is detected in the sac of soil, it will immediately and autonomously get dissolved nutrients and oxygenated water through a pipe system we made. The watering system is connected to each sac of clay using pipes that uses pump to distribute water. There is a microcontroller which is coded to turn on the pumps when the humidity and nutrition is less than the needed amount. All information is gathered by the sensors in the soil, then the information is computed by the microcontroller which then sends command to the pumps to do the work. The other thing is the planting system, in space the plants will exhibit a microgravity condition because of this there will be no geotropic adaption to make them grow their roots downward. So the astronaut that is planting the seeds is going to attach them to a wicking material to guide the seeds which way to grow their root.
The main purpose of this project is to supply sustainable food product on the space.
As we all know our astronauts really suffer from lack of food for the sake of science! These problems are limitations of food, insufficiency of nutrients and also consuming the same food repeatedly. On top of this, the food might be neither organic nor fresh. We are presenting a device that will solve all this problem. Our hope is to see our project providing sustainable and efficient edible plants that grow fresh for the astronauts in their own spaceship.
We used C++ programming language to program the microcontroller and we also used AutoCAD to do a simulation.
Space Agency Data
We used all the information provided by NASA in the space app challenge page. Before using the resources we were going to use hydroponic system, but it was very difficult to use because of the microgravity condition in space. But after we saw the resources given almost all of our problems were solved. In the resources we found projects that were actually made in the real conditions of space. From these we used veggie and advanced plant habitat as a base for our projects.
The idea of using sacks of clay was really the exact solution we needed to complete our project.
Hackathon Journey
We had a very inquisitive experience like no other in this space app challenge. We got the opportunity to meet very intellectual personalities and learn from them. This program has shown us what we are capable of doing.
We learned how to refine understanding through discussion and explanation, how to manage our time, and work in groups. We have also learned that tasks that seem complex can be done in a strong team and by breaking the task into parts or steps.
In this competition, we have developed a number of skills. For instance, we enhanced our leadership, risk taking and competitive skills.
We are inspired because we have a vision that our project will help in the space exploration in the future time. We really believe our project can solve our society's problems and bring a significant change in the world.
Challenges are inevitable when it comes to team work specially when every individual is dedicated to meet the goal with their own ways. There has been different perspectives and it was tough at times to make the final decision. However, our friendship and ultimate desire to do this project helped come all the barriers that came our way. Challenges we faced from the very simplest decision making to the difficult ones, has made us a better team.
We would like to present our biggest gratitude to ESSTI for giving us such an opportunity. We also would like to thank Nobel who had been supporting us in the process. It's also important to thank our team, which preferred unity over anything.
References
As we mentioned earlier, we used different references from different sources that pushed our project further.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM3uaR0dltQ&list=PL37Yhb2zout05pUjr7OoRFpTNroq_wd9f&index=8
https://www.nasa.gov/content/growing-plants-in-space
https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/veggie_fact_sheet_508.pdf
https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/advanced-plant-habitat.pdf
Additionally we found other resources like,
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-astronaut-paints-a-picture-of-success-growing-plants-in-space/
Tags
#software #plants
Global Judging
This project has been submitted for consideration during the Judging process.