The Red Frontier: the embodied energy of Martian architecture
Journal Title: Architectus - Year 2017, Vol 21, Issue 4
Abstract
The purpose of this publication is to present the problem of determining the costs of creating extreme space architecture using autonomous robots based on the example of the theoretical manned mission to Mars scenario contained in the NASA Mars Reference Mission document. The author focuses on strategies that can determine the embodied energy contained in architecture made from local materials, using additive manufacturing processes – 3D printing. Embodied energy is the sum of the energy invested in the process of producing any service or good, including the energy consumed to obtain raw materials for its production and transport. Procedures to optimise the work of robotic agents will be crucial during manned Mars missions with limited access to resources, including electricity. Using robots to work on the surface will precisely determine the amount of energy used to complete the given job, which will enable optimisation and the determination of the embodied energy of these works. As part of the strategy discussed by the author, the scope of work and tasks are grouped into four divisions that coincide with the gameplay structure of 4Xtype strategic computer games. 4X computer games get their name from the brief description of the gameplay elements: “explore, exploit, expand, exterminate”. During the game, the user focuses on managing and developing a civilisation or city, where resource acquisition and management play a central role. The author considers such a structure to be a promising starting point for the strategy of optimising the process of building a Martian architecture using robotic agents. Procedures that can determine the embodied energy of the described processes have been grouped into the sections Exploration, Extraction, Exploitation, and Expansion, and have been included in the simulation model for the manned mission to Mars in the form of a 4Xtype computer game prototype. This simulation could be used to create a tool for optimising procedures for the needs of an actual mission to Mars, using embodied energy as an indicator. Such a tool would have the potential to reduce costs during the first manned missions to other planets. In the longer term, the use of such a solution for the collection of data on embodied energy will preserve all environmental footprint data of the colonisation of Mars.
Authors and Affiliations
Leszek Orzechowski
Keywords
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- EP ID EP262032
- DOI 10.5277/arc170405
- Views 61
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