Portable Operations Deployment System

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  Inside the PODS Design

Inspiration

The Portable Operations Deployment System (PODS) design was inspired a team member on our team noticing the umbrellas outside while waiting for the food truck outside of The Ion, and found a creating way to utilize said design for barricading particulates from entering unwanted areas.

What it does

The PODS design creates a safe working space for astronauts working in the machine shop, containing particulates of all sizes in a small area. This enclosed space will prevent particulates by utilizing filters, and will allow the astronaut on the inside to control the process to setting up the PODS design.

How we built it

The construction of the PODS system consists of several factors in order to ensure that the system is able to properly protect the crew at task. We first decided on the components that would be needed to solve the problem, which would be filters to remove the particles, as well as a way to contain the particulates in an area until the operation is finished.

In order to create the prototype, the team utilized parts from around The Ion and other components readily available. In the prototype, some components available to notice are the fabric, frame, filters, and computer system.

Challenges we ran into

Some challenges that the team ran into was finding answers to all of the questions utilized to create the design, as well as asking the right verification questions and validation criteria in order to determine the validity of the product. An additional problem was finding a way to create a prototype to visualize the design to participants in the competition with limited materials and time.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Some of the things that the team is proud of is the encouragement behind this product. Although the initial idea was rough, the team kept asking questions to see if there were ways to improve the design.

What we learned

The learned to design and prototype from scratch on a limited time budget and material constraints. In addition (since the team was relatively new to space concepts), the team spent time researching available Commercial Off-The Shelf (COTS) products that could be used to solve the problems.

What's next for Portable operations deployment system

Verification tests could be done to measure the performance of an actual model of the PODS system. In addition, different materials could be compared and considered, as well as determining the amount of budgeting that will be needed to make such a product in real life. The prototype available will also needed to be scaled up to the proper metrics. In addition, finding ways to improve the storage of the unit could also be considered.

Built With

• available-materials
• conceptual-thought