Ornitotech

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sbaLEEWyrBWi6SoCQHAAkPX2Y3E0_hh_/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nAa4ddDgW4Rvfhu90GNrgqxdYGgEye-f/view?usp=sharing

We tried to create a mini-ecosystem in our "Interdisciplinary Food and Nutrition Module" project. This ecosystem that we have prepared will be sustainable due to the mineral cycle and there are some minerals that plants take from the soil. Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), and Potassium (K) minerals needed by plants will be provided from vermicompost, but we will need to add Calcium Nitrate to maintain the quality of fruits and vegetables. As a result of many improvements made, the yield to be taken from the soil has been maximized. Plants need oxygen for respiration and carbon dioxide for photosynthesis. Oxygen and carbon dioxide balance is very important because low or high values ​​can cause problems such as the death of worms and a decrease in plant yield. There are sensors in the module that continuously measure the amount of carbon dioxide and oxygen. If an excess of oxygen or carbon dioxide is detected inside thanks to the sensors, the excess will be collected and stored by vacuum. These stored surpluses will be loaded back into the module in case of any deficiency. In this way, although we minimize the relationship with the crew, we try to grow the best crop.

Water is as important for plants as it is for humans, and without water, plants cannot survive. The amount of water we have for the plants we have planted in the module is limited. So we will need an extra water source to irrigate the plants. We will get this water we need from the urine of astronauts. We will use this water obtained for the plants we have planted in the module. Although we have found a new water source, we may run out of water as time progresses. For this reason, the plants we will plant in the module are plants that do not require much water and are drought resistant.

While choosing the plants we will plant, detailed research was carried out and both asexual reproduction, drought resistance, and plant nutrients of the selected plants were taken into consideration. The ecosystem has been made sustainable thanks to plants that have asexual reproduction. Plants with various vitamins and healthy properties were cultivated. The purpose of planting these plants is to ensure that astronauts can continue their healthy lives by taking these vitamins and nutrients. The plants harvested from the module must be consumed in a short time. If we don't consume them, they will rot. Because space missions can take months or even years, we must store the resulting products. The most important point is to keep it fresh even if we won't be able to use it on time. There are two most useful storage techniques for the vegetables and fruits we plan to plant. The first of these techniques is drying. The procedure is to remove and preserve some of the water vegetables containing the soft tissue. Low humidity allows us to keep products fresh. The second of the storage techniques are fresh storage. If we can consume the crops within days, we can keep them as they are. We can ensure food safety by disinfecting them and store them in containers.

One of the most important needs for growing plants is light. Since the vehicle will be constantly moving during the space mission, its connection with sunlight may be cut off at some point. In this case, a light source is needed so that the created system can continue to work and is not affected by certain situations. With high-pressure sodium vapor (HPS) lamps, it can be ensured that plants continue to grow most effectively. Some level of energy is needed to operate the lamps. Although it is possible to obtain this energy from solar panels during the space mission, a different electricity generation method is used because the system is intended to be sustainable within itself. In a plant system, electrons form the waste product of bacteria living around plant roots. This process occurs when a plant leaves the organic matter, which is broken down by bacteria, in the soil and is converted into electricity as a result of the release of electrons from this material during the decomposition process.

In the created system, it is aimed that all subsystems work autonomously. Developed system; Since it works fully autonomously in situations such as planting, mowing, and balancing, it minimizes interaction with the user. The user only benefits from their products without having to be involved in the working mechanism of the system. The crops grown are based on the nutrients astronauts need to take, and the types of plants grown can be tailored to the occasion and the individual, depending on the length of the space mission or a specific need. With the IoT technology in all over the system, all values are analyzed continuously. and as a result of this analysis, the missing or excess items are balanced at the required level. During this balancing, an intelligent storage system is used and in this way, it does not require any outside intervention when needed in the future. Each system has its own working mechanism. All of these subsystems work with smart storage and sensors.

Gravity is needed for plants to grow most efficiently. Due to the non-gravity environment, the soil cannot be fixed and water is not left, so plant roots cannot grow healthy and clods of soil can spoil everything. The best way to hold the soil together is to cover the surface, but this prevents the soil from getting fresh air, which makes it unqualified and the worms can die. To prevent this, we can use air tubes to keep the worms alive and maintain the quality of the soil. Another method is to use clay in the soil. Worms are afraid of light and clay also blocks light so worms can move freely and create more channels which are good; When we water, the clay will keep the shape of the soil so plants have easier access to water.

We used Have Seed Will Travel! | NASA Space Apps Challenge video to have a general view about the topic. Secondly we used Fresh Fruits and Vegetables in Space article to learn more about storage of nutritions. Then we used Growing Plants in Space article to design a system to grow plants and learn about critical points. And finally we perused Veggie system to have an example design, to find out which points are more important and which parts should we touch.

It was tiring but it was beneficial as well as tiring. Besides fun, seeing a lot of ideas and projects helped us to create new ones. With different opinions, we met with mentors. Talking to experienced people who worked on similar subjects with our topics really helped us. Furthermore, we had a chance to work in a team, communicate, and take responsibility. Studying innovative ideas of SpaceApps prepared us for what the world will study in the near future.

The reason behind why we chose Have Seeds Will Travel, we have some interests and abilities that contact this topic. And when we consider the problems that we have to travel in space we wanted to have a solution for it. The problem was not having enough capacity to store nutrition for travel. As we searched for previous studies we couldn’t find enough resources and the lack of information really inspired us.

First of all, we created an idea and we defined the topics we have to research. Every member of the team had specific subjects to search for. And we wrote a report about our project. And from the report, we prepared a presentation and video. When we had trouble we shared some opinions and we took help from the organization team and mentors.

Thanks to the organization team of Istanbul-Sanliurfa, and mentors.

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#space, #mars, #ornitotech, #şanlıurfa, #turkey, #istanbul, #türkiye, #have seeds will travel!, #have seeds will travel, #Interdisciplinary Food and Nutrition Module, #Move the Seeds, Reach New Life

This project has been submitted for consideration during the Judging process.