Life control system for space applications

Abstract

This final degree project has the aim of designing and building a system capable of automatically control and act on any aspect related to the dynamics of living beings in space conditions. The flexibility of the system to work in extreme conditions, such as space, and on different types of living beings, among others: algae, plants or humans, should be its main characteristic. The study of algae and plants as a species to be incorporated into closed bioregenerative systems for possible space missions is interesting, thanks to its photosynthetic and filtering properties produce oxygen, food and other vital substances to the crew, as well as regenerate waste. This would be a save on refueling and makes it possible to extend missions out of the Earth. This project has worked both in hardware and software development, creating the circuits that make up the system with different devices, sensors and actuators, and designing an application so that the user can interact with the system: adapting it to his needs, checking data and sending action orders if is required. The designed algae system, has been verified in the laboratories of the EETAC first and then validated in the ESAB, successfully measuring the general variables of the algae tanks. The system has also been tested in the EETAC electronics laboratory with different dynamics, performing various experiments on plants and measuring the diverse vital signs of a person. The system has been built so that its essential characteristics are the versatility and robustness required in a space mission. For this, in each chapter, slight modifications have been introduced to demonstrate that the design can be adapted to future incorporations or variations, by making it easily scalable and modifiable.