Venus was once a different planet than it is now. The environment we see today was caused by a runaway greenhouse effect 500 million years ago. The evolution of planetary environments can be modeled using the study of Venus, which can serve as a reference for what could happen in the future.
NASA plans to send missions to Venus in the coming years to explore the atmosphere above the cloud tops, where temperatures are stable and atmospheric pressure is1-65561-6556. The engineers at West Virginia University are working with NASA to develop software that will allow balloon-based aerial robots to survey Venus' atmosphere in small fleets.
The research is being led by Guilherme and Yu Gu, two associate professors in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at West Virginia University. They were joined by two PhD students in mechanical engineering and a master's student in mechanical engineering. The research is supported by a grant from NASA.
The cloud tops are explored.
Venus is similar to Earth, which makes it fascinating to scientists. Venus is also a rocky body composed of silicate minerals and metals, which makes it the "Sister Planet" of Earth. The atmosphere of Venus is very different. The atmosphere is over 90 times denser than Earth's and the average temperature is 464 C.
The atmosphere of Venus is similar to that of Earth at an altitude of 70 km above the surface. There are opportunities for atmospheric research using lighter-than-air vehicles. NASA has a series of concepts for a 30-day crewed mission that would explore Venus's upper atmosphere using large lighter-than-air craft.
NASA and its commercial partner, Northrop Grumman, are working on a hybrid airship called the Venus Atmosphere Maneuverable Platform (VAMP), which is inspired by this project. These concepts rely on aerodynamic life to control their altitude, and use solar energy to power their batteries, and float at night to save energy.
There have been no attempts to create software that would allow these craft to act autonomously. Prof. Pereira explained in a recent press release.
The main goal of the project is to propose a software solution that will allow hybrid aerobots to explore the atmosphere of Venus. We are not aware if any software has been created for hybrid vehicles. One of the ideas of our project is to extend the battery life of the vehicle by planning energy efficient paths, so that it can fly during the night as well.
Figuring out Venus' Atmosphere.
The software suite being worked on will have three main goals: improve travel routes, coordinate fleets of aerobots, and localize the aerobots in Venus' atmosphere. The creation of a motion planer that will run on the aerobot's computers is the first goal. As the NASA science team commands the aerobots to travel from one position to another, the software will select routes that minimize the amount of energy used and take advantage of the local winds.
The motion planner will be created by understanding the dynamics of the aerobot, the properties of solar panels and batteries, and the Venus atmosphere. The dynamics of the vehicle will only be considered by the planners if certain inputs to the aircraft, such as thrust coming from the propellers or the control surfaces, are feasible.
The software needs to account for the interoperability of the craft's solar panels, batteries, and solar intensity. It will be possible to determine how much charge the vehicle needs to power its systems and what the rate will be. The motion planner will calculate the most energy efficient routes for the aerobot with these models.
The quantities of wind direction, magnitude, pressure, temperature and solar intensity are provided by the understanding of the atmosphere. We are trying to come up with a strategy. The vehicle will be in the atmosphere of Venus in four days. It will be exposed to long periods without light on the dark side of the planet and it needs to have enough energy to survive these periods.
The solar panels on the side of Venus would be charged every two to three days. The CRASH Lab is at the University at Buffalo.
Information on the position of the aerobot, its desired goal location, and atmospheric conditions between these two positions will be compared by the motion planner. If the wind is blowing in the same direction as the aerobot's path to its destination, it will pick the route that is more resistant to wind resistance.
From the initial position, the planners will model different movements the aerobot could make and associate costs for each of them with the quantities mentioned before. After that, the motion planner will keep propagating the movements of the aerobot with smaller cost, creating a tree of possibilities until we reach our destination.
Localizing the aerobots in Venus' atmosphere is more complicated than the first goal. There are no satellites in the area around Venus. The software suite being designed by Pereira and Gu will allow them to use information from other vehicles and maps of the planet. This will allow the aerobots to keep track of their positions.
The third goal is to coordinate the vehicles so they can better estimate Venus's atmospheric conditions. NASA created wind models of Venus' atmosphere from data obtained by missions like the Pioneer Venus missions. They plan to equip each aerobot with a wind sensor.
Black Swift Technologies won a NASA contract to develop a drone. Credit: Black Swift Technologies.
By sharing data from multiple locations, a fleet of aerobots will have a better idea of the wind patterns.
The importance of the wind flow is related to the fact that it can be taken to desired locations. When sprinters get better marks if they experience tail-wind, it's the same thing. The path will be more efficient if the wind is directed towards the aircraft's goal.
The two men plan to develop a Venus atmosphere simulator to evaluate their software and the aerobots. The data of wind, temperature, pressure, and air density were collected by exploratory missions to Venus. This information was used to create a simulation where we can see the forces acting on the vehicle.
The vehicle will have a lifespan of several months to a year, thanks to the fact that it will not descend below an altitude of 30 km. The data obtained by this and other missions to Venus are expected to shed light on the evolution of the planet's atmosphere, the possibility that Venus is still volcanically active, and provide clues for dealing with the greenhouse effect here on Earth.
Further reading: WVU
