MELISSA
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MELISSA stands for MICRO ECOLOGICAL LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM ALTERNATIVE The MELiSA project is about the development of an indoor Life Support System for long term space flights such as towards Mars planet or a lunar base.
The loop Melissa is responsible for providing the breathable air, water and food necessary for the crew, from organic waste and carbon dioxide produced by the crew. This is possible through a combination of bacteria and plants.
Within a consortium of European / Canadian managed by ESA, Sherpa is responsible for all the hierarchical control system and its implementation in PLCs. Control technologies for predictive model allow to tackle with the complexity of the system. MELiSSA loop mimics the natural ecosystem of a lake. |
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High power plant control : the mastering of plant growth is obtained by controlling nutrients, the environment of the plant (temperature, humidity, CO2, pH) and the light for photosynthesis.
More info on the project MELiSSA on the ESA website : http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Melissa/index.html
A succession of reactors degrade human wastes into fatty acids, ammonium and nitrate to feed compartments producing oxygen into nutrients and CO2.
System Architecture with 5 MELiSSA biological reactors and greenhouses of higher plants to ensure important recycling efficiency.
The objective is to achieve a high percentage of recycling for each of the major elements (C, H, N, O, S, P) circulating in the loop. |
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BIORAT PROJECT
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Biorat is a demonstrator, dedicated solely to the treatment of the air by photosynthesis, as part of the complete loop MELiSSA.
The predictive control law developed by Sherpa monitors the air in compartment acting on the brightness of a photo bioreactor with Spirulina. The crew is represented here by one or two rats according to the desired consumption of oxygen |
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Dynamic control of the greenhouse : Control of the plants growing by handling the food, plants environment (temperature, humidity, CO2, pH) and light for photosynthesis. |
