Project Overview

This was a project was part of the 2021 NASA Techrise Challenge. In this competition, teams of students across the country were challenged to design experiments that would revolutionize space exploration. Our project proposal, Orbital Renewable Bio Spheres (ORBS), aims to make space travel more sustainable by replacing bulky plastic pouches with flexible, biodegradable pods to hold liquid. Our experiments were limited to 4x4x8 inch boxes and had many volume and weight requirements. As one of the two winning teams from Califronia, we received a $1500 grant to build our proposal which will be launched via Blue Origin's New Shepard Rocket. My role as Mechanical Design Engineer meant that I prototyped the suborbital fight box to house our experiment, designed camera, microcontroller, and lighting mounts, and fabricated the biodegradable pods.

Pods

We wanted to test how biodegradable pods could withstand suborbital conditions and see the viability of replacing single-use plastics in space exploration. To do this, we needed to design compartments for the pods that would prevent any liquid damaging our electrical components while also allowing us to monitor their status throughout the launch and flight. Various shapes and layer counts were tested (e.g. 1-3 layers of biodegradable cling wrap, triangular shape, spherical shape) and food coloring was used to differentiate each variation.

Biodegradable Pod Creation Process:
1. Compostable cling wrap
2. Food dye an baby oil
3. Cling wrap folded and filled
4. Pod sealed via heat press

Flight Box

Our initial idea was to house each pod within its own compartment. However, this was far too hard to 3D print and was not space efficient.

We decided to switch over to compartments that contained multiple pods, similar to how they would be stored if they were actually shipped to the international Space Station.

One compartment housed pods with variable layer numbers an the other compartment housed pods with variable pod shapes. The boxes had acetate side panels that were sealed with clear caulk to allow for the cameras to have unobstructed views while also being protected from any leakage.

To increase visibility within the completely dark rocket cabin, we added an LED strip to one side and used aluminum foil as a reflector. Both the LED and the spy cameras were controlled using an M4 Metro Microcontroller that was powered by the rocket. We used C++ to write a script that turned the LED and the cameras on upon flight and recorded from ascent to descent.

Camera System

Our cameras were mounted onto the bottom of the compartments via a 3D-printed camera mount. We attached wide-angle lenses to the cameras to allow for a wider field of view within a confined space.

Pictured from top to bottom:
1. Camera mount components
2. Camera mount assembled
3. Camera mount on flight box