Developemental Work

Rationale

Rationale Report

Alternate Solution 1: Compact Rectangular Probe

Introduction:

This solution features a small rectangular probe body. The body is vertically divided into two compartments. The left side being the expose tardigrade containment area, while the right being an enclosed electronics compartment. The internal pieces of the probe are accessed through hatches on the top of the probe.

Pros:

This design is extremely small. This means the probe will weigh much less than other designs allowing us to lift the balloon to higher heights. This design would also use less materials and be cheaper than some of our other designs.

Cons:

This design makes it difficult to access the tardigrades and electronic equipment due to the small hatches. Also the tardigrade exposure area is not as exposed as some of the other solutions. This design only has holes in the top while others are completely mesh.

Conclusion:

This solution is effective and cheap, but perhaps not the most accurate from a science perspective, and also not the easiest to access the interior.

Alternate Solution 2: Soyuz Style Probe

Introduction:

Much larger and heavier than solution one. The Soyuz Style solution features landing legs and a large square body with a horizontal division of compartments. The top compartment would be for electronics, while the bottom would be for the tardigrade containment.

Pros:

This solution is extremely safe during landing. The legs would protect the internal equipment in the probe. The areas for electronics and tardigrades are also much larger than in the first design. 

Cons:

This design is very heavy. The landing legs are basically dead weight for the balloons to lift. This would prevent the probe from reaching its maximum altitude.

Conclusion:

This design is low risk but a very high weight. This could compromise our science experiment because the probe may not reach a maximum height. This design requires more materials.

Alternate Solution 3:

Introduction:

This solution makes use of the fact that triangles are the strongest shape in nature. This probe uses the triangle idea to gain strength for landing and launch.

Pros:

The strength of this probe is definitely a positive feature. It also would require less materials due to its shape and less surface area.

Cons:

The clear con of this design is the loss of space due to the triangular shape. This means Connor Varley's cameras would be jam packed into the top point. We may even have to leave a camera out if we use this method.

Conclusion:

This design though strong and cheap makes it hard for us to use the amount of equipment we had originally planned.

Alternate Solution 4: Mesh Exposure Probe

Introduction:

This solution is a simplistic shape. The probe features a large area for both tardigrades and electronic equipment as well as a mesh exposure area for the tardigrade containment. The probe is horizontally divided with hatches on the sides to gain access to the interior.

Pros:

This solution best exposes the tardigrades to the elements. It has plenty of room for both the electronics and the tardigrades. The larger hatches allow easier access to the interior. The probe can be scaled to fit as little or as much materials we need to carry.

Cons:

This device uses a moderate amount of materials. The probe is a simplistic shape and lacks aesthetics.

Conclusion:

 

This probe design is possibly the best we have. The probe exposes the tardigrades exceptionally well and allows us to keep as much equipment in the hull as we need. The probe is also and easy shape to construct.

 

Final Choice:
I have chosen the Mesh Exposure Probe as the best design. The design wins out in the design matrix as it scores 26 and the second best (Triangle Probe) was not chosen because it does not have enough room for Connor's electronic equipment. The selected probe also exposes the tardigrade exceptionally well as it has numerous holes compared to the other designs. This design also features less angles and will allow us to construct the system with relative ease. This system however was altered slightly as we will no longer be using mesh. This is because to maintain structural integrity it is beneficial to have a solid bottom with holes drilled into the sides. The doors to this probe will also be sealed using insulation tape and dowels. The probe hull will be structurally supported by plexiglass sandwich sheets bolted together as shown in my 2D orthographic. This will keep all of the sections together and allow the balloon and parachute to be attached firmly to the probe.