Patriot LIAM Makers - Space Apps Challenge

Patriot LIAM Makers| Purify the Air Supply

Purify the Air Supply

Has your time spent indoors increased during the COVID-19 pandemic as a result of stay-at-home and shelter-in-place policies worldwide? Your challenge is to use the International Space Station (ISS) as inspiration and develop a system to monitor and/or purify indoor air. It is entirely up to you whether the system you design is able to be used on Earth (for example in homes, businesses, transportation, etc.) and/or in space.

Sensing a Covid19 Virus Free World by Using Sensor-Induced Air Purifiers

Summary

Sensor-Induced Air Purifier (SIAP) is composed of 2 phases:detection and prevention measures.1st phase integrates 3 sensors: detecting a person's temperature, audio sensor to monitor coughs and sneezes; and tin-oxide sensor to collect ambient readings. Once the prototype detects any of these, 2nd phase will be triggered.This consists of mist machine to be used as a way of distribution for disinfectant and HEPA purifiers to maintain the quality of air and reduce the presence of virus (if any).

How We Addressed This Challenge

The COVID19 Pandemic is mainly transmitted by Air. In this regard, various means have been instituted to diminish such manner of transmission e.g. by the wearing of face masks and personal protectors.

Such precautionary measures have not been that effective as the minute virus still finds a way to penetrate the body's external and internal defenses. Once inside, it creates havoc on a person's internal organs; causing death in a matter of days.

A measure of effective response is needed to immobilize or keep the virus from engaging with a person's sensitive well-being.

Then, comes our project: the Sensor-Induced Air Purifiers (SIAP). The SIAP stops the virus dead in its tracks by emitting short bursts of purifiers induced by highly sensitive sensors placed at strategic points of the enclosure. Equipped with three (3) kinds of sensors which detect high temperature, cough and sneeze; and the virus itself, the SIAP is the ultimate weapon against the Corona Virus.

Likewise, data from space e.g. on population mobility and rainfall supplement and enhance the functionality and capability of the technology embedded in the SIAP. With such data, virus-induced thrived situations can be predicted and addressed. And in the process, its efficacy and usability is magnified a couple of notches more.

Applicable to any enclosure, the SIAP will not only be handy in application to homes, hospitals, restaurants, offices and classrooms, it can be modified and applied to mobile transports such as ships, air planes, trains and buses.

Finally, an app for remote monitoring is also embedded in the prototype. It can be downloaded in the csv format for data processing and thus, set the parameters of the magnitude in the app like Normal Temperature, Sound Level for Cough and Sneeze, and TVOC (RNA Covid) Part Per Billion Magnitude. So basically, the SIAP is a complete killing machine for the COVID19 virus.

How We Developed This Project

What inspired your team to choose this challenge?

The COVID19 Pandemic has taken the world by surprise and at current we can’t directly fight the virus but we can prevent the spread by following the safety protocols implemented. These include the wearing of face masks, social distancing, community quarantine and many more protocols. But even with these protocols in place there’s only so much we could do. Technology and knowledge are among the things we can use to make the necessary gatherings safer and give people the peace of mind they deserve. By limiting the virus count in the air through air purification and disinfection, we hope to reduce the number of potential transmissions and make gatherings in enclosed spaces safe again.

What was your approach to developing this project?

An agile approach was used for the development of the project. From finding the challenges and their probable solutions then integrating them into one system, the agile method was the best approach since we can tackle new challenges as they arise. The local parameters collected from the sensors which are thermal, acoustic and ambient in nature were put into consideration and processed accordingly. These parameters were put in place so as to detect possible fever, a cough, a cold, a strain of the virus in the air. Using the symptoms as a local trigger for the disinfection, we hope to stop the virus in its tracks.

See more details at: https://patriotliammakers.wixsite.com/spaceapps

How did you use space agency data in your project?

The space agency data used are the rainfall data collected by JAXA and mobility data on the possible number of direct contacts that a person may encounter. These datasets will help us regulate the needed amount of disinfection of the enclosed space. The more a person has direct contact with other, the more it’s possible that the person has been exposed to the virus. By using this data we can at least keep the surfaces disinfected and the air purified at the appropriate amount.

What tools, coding languages, hardware, software did you use to develop your project?

Coding languages:
- C++

Hardware Components:
- Arduino Mega

- CCS811 Tin Oxide detecting TVOC and Temp for Ambient Readings

-Sensors

-Priming Diaphragm Pump Spray 12V Motor

-5V – 12V Power Supply

-LCD Display

-Relay Expansion Board

-Breadboard

-Jumper Wires

-Black Hose

Software:
- Arduino IDE

What problems and achievements did your team have?

Project problems mainly consist of the team's efforts to come up with a substantial project that will protect the people from the Covid19 pandemic. The culling of essential resources and materials, the gathering of data, the processing of technologies into the prototype, the arguments which way to go, the brain-draining group chats and basically, just the hang of it are some of the difficulties that we have encountered.

Our achievements focused on the meeting of the minds to achieve something great; to come up with a solution for the land to heal from the sufferings of the people, to provide hope to the grieving population and beat the virus in its own game. With a game-changer prototype such as ours, the COVID19 virus may have meet its waterloo and soon, we will have emerged victorious over it.