01
Sense
Printed films and multi-modal sensing for moisture, VOC, and composition of a mixed stream.
Ei-I Research Institute GK
Closed-loop systems for space habitats.
Mass is the constraint. Physics is the language.
The constraint
On orbit, nothing disappears.
Crew trash is still bagged, stored, and burned on re-entry. Urine and condensate are recycled. Mixed waste is not. Commercial stations, Gateway, and a Mars transit cannot afford that upmass.
Tsiolkovsky
Δv = ve ln(m0 / mf)
Every unrecovered kilogram moves the mass ratio the wrong way.
Vis-viva
v² = GM (2/r − 1/a)
Orbital energy prices every resupply and every disposal burn.
Clohessy–Wiltshire
Relative motion
Rendezvous and multi-module habitats live in this frame.
Approach
A processor, not a policy.
Sense the stream. Process it under a real power and mass budget. Return water, gas, and a stable solid.
02
Process
Thermal compaction, drying, and gas management. Semiconductor-tool discipline, rebuilt for flight mass.
03
Recover
Water back to the loop. Gas made safe for cabin or vacuum. Solid stored as mass, not as a bag.
Demonstration
Separation under controlled forces.
Three fractions — water, gas, solid — start mixed. Turn separation on and each is drawn to its own well. Gravity, collisions, and a pointer force stay in the model.
A simplified 2D model of the dynamics a waste processor has to own: identify a fraction, apply a force, keep the rest from contaminating it.
Ei-I Research Institute
Hardware, then orbit.
Ei-I Research Institute GK is the Japanese research node for hardware spanning ultrasound transducers, navigation, and process equipment. Space systems work extends that foundation into closed-loop logistics for habitats.
We start from the equations that already govern the domain. The rest is process engineering and sensing, adapted to mass, power, and microgravity.