{"id":143,"date":"2024-11-29T23:14:09","date_gmt":"2024-11-30T04:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.stgeorges.bc.ca\/vincentz\/?p=143"},"modified":"2025-03-25T16:31:12","modified_gmt":"2025-03-25T20:31:12","slug":"the-design-proposal-of-all-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.stgeorges.bc.ca\/vincentz\/2024\/11\/29\/the-design-proposal-of-all-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Space exploration design proposal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

11\/29\/2024<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Team ‘Sigma’ definition Statement<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n


Our mission is to design a human operable transportation vehicle capable of a reliable 10-kilometer round-trip journey. This vehicle will navigate Titan\u2019s dense atmosphere – 50% more than earth\u2019s – and surface gravity of 1.35 m\/s\u00b2 efficiently, allowing for stable travel to and from an assumed habitat. By using Titan\u2019s natural resources for fuel, the vehicle will operate sustainably, maximizing range in this extraterrestrial environment.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The Ideation Phase<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

During the ideation phase, our team brainstormed a variety of potential solutions that could fulfill our definition statement. Below is a list of ideas we explored:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our fun list of ideas<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
    \n
  • Catapult<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Jetpack<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Angry Birds slingshot<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Spider-crawling vehicle with legs<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Hover drone<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Jet plane<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Rocketship<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Ice drill-powered propulsion<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Magnetic rail train<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Compressed gas propulsion pack<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Launch pad from Fortnite<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Flamethrower propulsion<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Fire extinguisher thrust system<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Human excrement force pushing using newton’s third law<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Balloon-like vehicle using helium\/methane for lift<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Paraglider that catches Titan\u2019s strong winds<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
    \n
      \n
    • A giant hamster ball for rolling across the terrain<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Hovercraft on methane lakes<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Boomerang-shaped glider<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Kite system tethered to the habitat<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Submarine for methane lakes<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Glider with folding wings for compact storage<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Amphibious vehicle with retractable wheels<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Bungee propulsion system<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Methane-powered pogo stick<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Slime cannon that slides the vehicle across ice<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Energy-efficient sled pulled by robotic dogs<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Self-inflating air mattress for floating over lakes<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Heat ray that vaporizes ice to create thrust<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
      \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      Reflection on the list<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

      Key Takeaways<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

      The brainstorming process, informed by our own spontaneous ideas, showed that traversing on a foreign natural satellite requires innovative science based solutions. While many ideas were impractical, they encouraged thinking outside the box; in fact, most of – if not all – of the ideas, had a fundamental and logical basis, and if extremely further built upon, are able to become an actual idea. This process ultimately reinforced our original choice of a hover drone<\/strong>, which exploits Titan\u2019s dense atmosphere for efficient lift and mobility while addressing the 10 km round trip requirement efficiently and feasibly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n

      The ideas range widely in their methods of solving the problem, from mechanical like a catapult or spider-crawling legs to more fun ideas like human waste propulsion. This variety demonstrates the sigma team’s creative thinking and a willingness to explore outside the box<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Environmentally considerate:<\/strong> Many ideas partially adapted to Titan\u2019s unique environment. For example, the balloon-l ike vehicle and paraglider take advantage of Titan\u2019s dense atmosphere, while the submarine and hovercraft could be used for the methane lakes. We understood the constraints posed by Titan\u2019s terrain and atmosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Propulsion:<\/strong> A significant number of solutions, such as compressed gas propulsion, flamethrower, and fire extinguisher thrust, focus on movement over a variety of higher terrains. There is a core problem of achieving mobility in Titan’s low-gravity, icy environment while considering movement through more mountainous terrain<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Hybrid function: <\/strong>Some ideas blend different functionalities, such as an amphibious vehicle or glider with folding wings, which were an effort to account for Titan\u2019s varied landscapes, including solid ice and liquid methane\/ethane lakes.<\/p>\n<\/div>

      \"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
      <\/div>\n\n\n\n

      What the Vehicle Design is Intended to Test<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
      \n

      The hover drone prototype is designed to test the feasibility of aerial mobility relevant to Titan-like conditions. Specifically, this prototype shall be used to evaluate a drone’s efficient lift-off, sustaining controlled flight, and making a 10 km round trip, bound to constraints similar to the low gravity and dense atmosphere of Titan. It shall also assess stability in simulated wind conditions and energy efficiency for longer distance travel.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

      <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      How we’re going to test<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
      \n

      We intend to test the efficiency and effectiveness of the drone by performing smaller scale experiments on Earth and mathematically adjusting the results to account for Titan\u2019s conditions, such as low gravity and a dense atmosphere through a preconstructed obstacle course where we code the vehicle to navigate through.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

      \n
        \n
      1. Conduct the Earth test<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        Perform a coded flight over a self created obstacle course, such as 50 meters, with or without some added weight (simulating some payload)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Measure the energy consumed during the flight, recording values like battery percentage drop<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Use these measurements as the baseline for Earth conditions<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        2. Adjust for Titan\u2019s gravity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Titan\u2019s gravity is 1\/7th that of Earth\u2019s, needing significantly less energy for lifting payloads. We will divide the energy consumption related to lifting by 7 to mirror this reduction in gravitational needs<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        3. Adjust for dense atmosphere<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Titan\u2019s atmosphere is approximately 1.5 times denser than Earth\u2019s, making horizontal flight more energy-efficient. We will divide the energy consumption for horizontal flight by 1.5 to simulate this added efficiency<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        5. Calculate adjusted efficiency<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Efficiency will be calculated as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Adjusted energy consumption will include the reduced lift energy and horizontal flight energy based on Titan\u2019s conditions<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        6. Multiply and extrapolate<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Using the scaled test results, we will extrapolate to the full 10 km round trip required on Titan. We can simply just multiply the Titan-adjusted efficiency by the actual distance (10,000 meters) to estimate total energy requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        <\/div>\n<\/div>
        \"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

        <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        11\/29\/2024 Team ‘Sigma’ definition Statement Our mission is to design a human operable transportation vehicle capable of a reliable 10-kilometer round-trip journey. This vehicle will navigate Titan\u2019s dense atmosphere – 50% more than earth\u2019s – and surface gravity of 1.35 m\/s\u00b2 efficiently, allowing for stable travel to and from an assumed habitat. By using Titan\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stgeorges.bc.ca\/vincentz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stgeorges.bc.ca\/vincentz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stgeorges.bc.ca\/vincentz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stgeorges.bc.ca\/vincentz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stgeorges.bc.ca\/vincentz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stgeorges.bc.ca\/vincentz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":209,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stgeorges.bc.ca\/vincentz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143\/revisions\/209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stgeorges.bc.ca\/vincentz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stgeorges.bc.ca\/vincentz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stgeorges.bc.ca\/vincentz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}