ENERGY MANAGEMENT

The EM team is minimizing inefficiencies to maximize Ice Cube's research time. Autonomous solar panel de-icing is currently being investigated to increase its energy generation. Moreover, supercooled salt hydrates might be able to preheat Ice Cube's battery before discharging, reducing the capacity loss in Antarctica's harsh environment. Next to solar panels, novel ways of electricity generation like wind turbines are currently being researched.

The energy management (EM) subteam concerns itself primarily with monitoring, modeling, and researching the energy balance of the Rover. In addition to this, it is also primarily responsible for the integration of sustainable energy generation systems, such as solar panels, into the vehicle. It serves as the informant on design choices in light of energy efficiency and aims at maximizing the available energy for the operation of the vehicle.

SUBTEAM GOALS

Protect:

This subteam prevents the occurrence of critical failure modes by…

… modifying the chosen technologies for energy generation in such a way that risks of system failure are mitigated, planned for, or eliminated during non-ideal/extreme scenarios.
… modifying the chosen technologies for energy generation in such a way that risks of system failure are mitigated, planned for, or eliminated during non-ideal/extreme scenarios.

Rescue:

This subteam will guarantee that the vehicle can be recovered by the protect statement by…

… choosing technologies for energy generation that can provide a minimum amount of energy even in failure scenarios, thereby allowing for the potential powering of emergency equipment.
… derive the lowest amount of energy required for the operation of redundant systems in case of emergency and provide strategies for dynamic component usage selection based on “emergency energy budget” estimates.

Regulate:

This subteam will ensure the vehicle will remain within internal operating conditions by…

… based on the expected energy conversion inefficiencies of several components, and provide an estimate of the extent of passive ohmic heating that can be expected. Thereby providing an estimate for how much additional heat should be transferred into or out of the vehicle by active climate control.

Maintain:

This subteam will guarantee that the rover can be sufficiently kept in a functional state during its expected lifetime by…

… designing the chosen technologies for sustainable energy generation in compliance with standard industry methods in consultation with maintenance personnel demands and available maintenance capabilities and resources.

Power:

This subteam will guarantee that the systems are sufficiently provided with the energy required for operation by…

… calculating/Modelling the vehicle’s expected energy budget, producing limits on maximum power usage at a given time by keeping track of the impact of all design choices on the energy budget.
… choosing methods of sustainable energy generation that will supply the rover with sufficient input power given the energy budget.
… modifying the chosen technologies for energy generation in such a way that they can be expected to function optimally in the selected environment of the mission during the most often to-be-expected weather scenarios.

Navigate:

This subteam will ensure that the rover is capable of navigating to set destination by…

… basing the energy budget on the estimated range that the rover needs to have to reach a specific location and perform its tasks comfortably.

Move:

This subteam guarantees that the vehicle can drive itself by…

… calculating and modeling the energy required given the environmental conditions and energy conversion efficiency.

Communicate with:

This subteam will facilitate long & short-range data transfer by…

… calculating the energy that should be left available for the equipment needed for this.

If you are passionate about engineering and want to work on cutting-edge technology in a dynamic and fast-paced environment, please apply to join our team.

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