High-Level Project Summary
An aquaponic system was developed which made it possible to produce vegetables and fish for future space missions or even for life and survival and colonization on Mars. For all of this to be made viable, the highly sought after material of graphene will be used to transport and easily mount the systems that will be available in space (and the resulting weight will also be very low as a consequence). Due to all of this, it would also be possible to serve the food necessities of the astronauts on board.
Link to Project "Demo"
Link to Final Project
Detailed Project Description
Our graphene aquaponics system produces fish and vegetables, according to the necessities of the astronauts on board. The vegetables are inserted into a tube system composed of graphene that is also provided with water and illumination so that photosynthesis can occur. The resulting legumes and vegetables created from photosynthesis would be consumed daily by the astronauts, and therefore the system would provide space for about sixty plants, occupying a space of four meters cubed. This plant system would also of course be used in conjunction with the fish system, which allows for an availability of nutrients to be exchanged, benefiting both groups.
The fish that would be ideal for this project would be tilapia and shrimp, with about four fish being produced each week, with around twenty fish per month. The rest of the food such as vegetables as well as the fish would pass through a process of liquid extraction and the dry mass would be used to produce fish food that would feed the fish.
Due to the fish having a metabolism linked to the temperature of the water, it would be possible to control the restlessness and agitation of the fish and even lower the quantity necessary of the feeding of the fish in lower temperatures.
Space Agency Data
It was really great participating in the Space Apps challenge of 2021. Our team learned a lot such as how to research the integration of various different professionals in the area, which inspired our team in choosing this challenge. "Agro-business," which has strong roots here in Brazil, is already a challenge in itself because it involves producing several types of food daily for the population not only in Brazil but worldwide. Recent favorable weather of rain allowed one of our team-members that works in the rural industry to work over-time to put in more time and take advantage of the right conditions.
Hackathon Journey
I would really like to thank the entire team of mentors that helped us on this project by providing tips and suggestions that would improve our results. There was also the organizational team that helped bring this massive project to the Rio Preto area, without them we would not be here.
As far as setbacks and challenges, my laptop is very old and requires constant tinkering and maintenance to get it to work. I also live on a very busy street and would have to wait until late at night or early in the morning in order to get the microphone to not pick gains from sounds outside. But my determination still pushed me to get the job done and see how far I can get in this challenge.
References
https://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/9-12/features/aquaponics.html
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/graphene-in-space-artists-concept
https://www.nasa.gov/content/space-food-systems
https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/9-12/features/F_Fruits_and_Vegetables_Space.html
these websites provide a few examples of the research i went through to figure out how to grow fish/vegetables in space, brainstorming graphene uses, and so on
Tags
#aquaponics #graphene #aquaponics graphene system #food in space #shrimp #tilapia #vegetables
Global Judging
This project has been submitted for consideration during the Judging process.