High-Level Project Summary
Our project is the Chloroplast™ Plant Support System. It is an innovative way to grow plants in long-duration space missions. It includes features such as a hybrid irrigation method (hydroponics+soil), humidity regulators, heat control, UV sterilizer, and water filtering. Each block consists of ~3-4 seeds. Multiple blocks are combined to form a grid of plants. The grid can be scaled up as per the requirements of the crew. Each row in a grid is interconnected by HydroExpress™, a smart hybrid irrigation system, made up of hydroponics and drip irrigation combined. The water used is continuously filtered and its temperature and nutrient contents are regulated intelligently using AI and ML.
Link to Project "Demo"
Link to Final Project
Detailed Project Description
The Chloroplast™ Plant Support System (PSS) is a closed system for intelligently and safely growing plants in long-duration space missions. In this system, a grid of plant blocks are present. Each block is isolated from other blocks, and consists of around 3 to 4 seeds. Multiple blocks are arranged in a grid. This grid technique makes the system very flexible: more blocks can be added to scale the system output as per the requirements of the crew. Extra, unnecessary blocks can be removed. Since each block is isolated, it prevents the spread of plant diseases, enhancing the safety of the plants.
The irrigation subsystem is called HydroExpress™. In this technology, blocks in a row are interconnected by irrigation pipelines. The pipeline consists of internal physical filters after each block. The irrigation system is a hybrid method: some rows are powered by drip irrigation, whereas others are hydroponic based. The temperature and nutrient content of the water is regulated intelligently using AI and machine learning.
The temperature subsystem consists of sensors and heating elements, which intelligently adapt to the surroundings to provide the plants a habitable environment. The temperature is regulated using heating elements and fans.
The humidity subsystem is made up of a humidity controller, which sprays mist onto the plant blocks.
The illumination subsystem is also a hybrid model: sunlight is used when available (since the plants face the outside of the space vehicle, within a dome), and when sunlight is not present, LED lights are used.
The plant health subsystem is made up of various water filters and UV sterilizers. The water filters and purifiers clean the water and prevent the spread of plant diseases from water. Occasionally, a UV light sterilizer kills microbes on the plants and the soil/water.
The selected crops were lettuce, potato, pepper and radish. They were seen to fulfill the nutritional requirements of the crew, while lasting for long durations at the same time.
Space Agency Data
We used data from plant growth on the ISS, which gave us information on plant habitats and their environment for supporting their growth. Crops were also selected from ISS data, based on nutritional value and their life. We researched various articles and worked with NASA plant data to understand the required technology and to select the crops.
Hackathon Journey
Each team member was assigned a few tasks. Then, we worked on these tasks/questions for 2 days. After this, we met regularly and discussed our results and information gathered. We collaborated in the team design, project demo, and project submission. This was an amazing experience, we will definitely participate in the upcoming hackathons!
References
- https://www.nasa.gov/content/growing-plants-in-space
- https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/01/plants-flowers-international-space-station-moon-mars/581491/
- https://www.nasa.gov/feature/space-farming-yields-a-crop-of-benefits-for-earth
- https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/veggie_fact_sheet_508.pdf
Tags
#water #have-seeds-will-travel
Global Judging
This project has been submitted for consideration during the Judging process.