{"id":11324,"date":"2017-03-22T12:42:21","date_gmt":"2017-03-22T19:42:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/?p=11324"},"modified":"2017-03-22T12:42:21","modified_gmt":"2017-03-22T19:42:21","slug":"cubesats-airplanes-made-of-batteries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/cubesats-airplanes-made-of-batteries\/","title":{"rendered":"CubeSats, Airplanes Made of Batteries?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr. Luke Roberson, Dr. Ryan Karkkainen, and Dr. Xiangyang Zhou are now collaborating on \u201cCreating a structural battery material [that] could revolutionize the way NASA operates small payloads.\u201d \u00a0Batteries now take up 20 to 35 percent of the volume in some CubeSats, 10 centimeters (3.97 inches) \u00d710 cm. \u00d7 11.35 cm (4.47 inches) cubes, as the name implies.\u00a0 Each CubeSat can weight up to 1.33 kilograms (2.93 pounds).<\/p>\n

Normally made of aluminum, CubeSats carry batteries for communication, storing energy collected from solar cells on their host vehicles, or powering sensors, cameras, and providing environmental norms for science experiments they carry.\u00a0 Obviously, their small size dictates using every square centimeter wisely.\u00a0 Replacing their inert walls with a structural battery could free up invaluable space that would allow \u201cresearchers to perform more science,\u201d according to Roberson.<\/p>\n

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Graduate student Daniel Perez with potential wall for CubeSat. Photo:\u00a0NASA\/Dimitri Gerondidakis<\/p><\/div>\n

Roberson is a senior principal investigator for Flight Research within the Exploration Research and Technology Directorate at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.\u00a0 He collaborates with Karkkainen, a composite material expert at the University of Miami, and Zhou, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, also at the university.\u00a0 The three combined sets of expertise enabled them to develop a two-to-three millimeter thin battery<\/p>\n

Daniel Perez, a Ph.D. candidate in mechanical engineering from the University of Miami visited Kennedy\u2019s Prototype Lab to learn how to make the structural pieces for the battery prototype. \u00a0He layered several pieces of small carbon fiber squares in a vacuum bag, then attached a vacuum hose.\u00a0 The vacuum draws air from the bag and squeezes the fibers together in a debulking process.\u00a0 After about an hour, he uncovered the squares and then placed them in a 250-degree oven for curing.\u00a0 Several such layers comprise the structure for the battery.\u00a0 \u201cBack in Miami, two other students are working with Dr. Zhou on a prototype of the solid-state structural battery layers that will be placed between the layers of compressed carbon fiber squares.\u201d\u00a0 The researchers will begin testing the composite reinforcement and mechanical properties at Kennedy \u201cin the near future.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Daniel Perez lays up carbon fiber for vacuum bagging. Photo: NASA\/Dimitri Gerondidakis<\/p><\/div>\n

Roberson foresees applications beyond CubeSats.\u00a0 “This technology could be used on satellite structural trusses, the International Space Station, or to power habitat structures established on another planet,” said Roberson. “Commercial applications could include automobile frames or tabletop battery rechargers.”<\/p>\n

Further, according to the report, \u201cIf this type of battery could be added to current homes or buildings or included in the walls during construction, they would be an added or alternate source of power. With the proper structure elements, the batteries can be made to be impact and moisture resistant, and flame retardant.\u201d\u00a0 Like Tesla\u2019s PowerWall, this technology would help homeowners store their own solar- or wind-generated energy and avoid power fluctuations.<\/p>\n

Daniel Perez concludes, “We have a great team working on this project, and I hope this technology will become a safe and efficient method to store energy while replacing electrically inert structural components in a wide variety of applications. \u00a0We’re all working hard for this technology to improve our spaceflight systems and contribute to the advancement of this industry.”<\/p>\n

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Quadrotor on which battery and structure are one and the same<\/p><\/div>\n

Structural batteries have been pursued for several years. Researchers at NASA have characterized the various materials plausible for such applications.\u00a0 London\u2019s Imperial College has made strides in creating structural energy-storing car parts for Volvo.\u00a0 NASA\u2019s Kennedy efforts seem to have created the thinnest, lightest and most open to aeronautical use so far.<\/p>\n