Embedded Files
We have chosen the Mars Trash Ejector for our project this year.
On the way to Mars and the return trip to Earth, the astronauts will accumulate a significant amount of trash. The mass and volume of that trash could be detrimental to the crew’s mental and physical health as well as be a significant impact on the fuel. Having a plan for dealing with trash for a long mission will be essential to success. There are many considerations that need to be made so that our first mission to Mars does not ruin the main goal with our trash nor damage current or future vehicles going to Mars.
Current Idea- Have a horizontal hatch and the exterior hatch be vertical. In order to get the trash out, we use a spring on the opposite side of the exterior hatch. To clamp the can, we use an adjustable jaw. In the interior of the cylinder, we have the adjustable clamp so different sizes of trash or cans will fit in our ejector. We will use some circuits to open the exterior hatch from the inside of the shuttle.
The new idea has a shooting mechanism as opposed to letting the nature of the space vacuum take the trash. Also, we found a way to hold the trash in the cylinder as opposed to letting it freely fall in there.
Current Problems:
The trip to mars will accumulate a lot of waste. Since the spaceship would not be allowed to stop, there needs to be a way to get rid of the trash while the spaceship is still moving. One problem would be figuring out the technology to transfer the waste from inside the spaceship to space. Also, finding a mechanism to shoot 5kg, 10kg, and 20 kg of waste. The trash should not be faster then 1 m/s when exiting the spaceship. There also needs to be a way to remove all the oxygen before the waste is removed.
We have made a small scale-prototype from simple materials
REsources
REsources
Onto building the physical prototype. We ordered an Arduino starter kit and have fully programmed it to suit our needs. In addition, we went to Home Depot and bought all of our other necessary supplies. While we didn't have a budget we spent upwards of $200 so far.
Resources Used
Fusion 360 Student Edition- Free
TinkerCad- Free
Arduino Starter Kit- $92
2x Super glue- $9.5
4” PVC Cap- $9.5
Metal Cutters- $15
Metal Sheet- $15
Hinges- $2.7
Hatch Lock- $3
2x 4PK of Springs-$9.5
4”x2’ PVC Pipe- $11.6
2x Round Rods- $10
Hacksaw- $7
Keyhole Saw- $11
Ardunio
Ardunio
We purchased and programmed the Arduino to open our exterior door.
Base Plate
Base Plate
These are some the materials that have been constructed for our prototype.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse