Working in vacuum (depressurization)

[dnascimento]

Hi,
Does anyone tested the raspberry pi in a vacuum environment? Does it work?

[DougieLawson]

I think the closest you'll get is the folks who've flown their Raspberry Pis on high level balloon flights.

http://www.daveakerman.com/
http://www.weber.edu/academicaffairs/eca_harbor.html (they have an article in MagPi issue #23)

[mahjongg]

Probably not as not all the components on the PCB are vacuum safe, specifically elco's are not, they will explode in vacuum.
Also in vacuum the only way a component can get rid of its heat is through conduction (to other parts of the board) and radiation, but not through convection.

[Burngate]

Probably not as not all the components on the PCB are vacuum safe, specifically elco's are not, they will explode in vacuum

Since Dave Akerman's Pis worked at over 30km, I would guess those elcos didn't explode, and the presure there is <2% of surface pressure, which ain't far from vacuum

I can't find any info on his site about the SoC's internal temperature, but again it survived, so empirically it must be ok

[mahjongg]

Since Dave Akerman's Pis worked at over 30km, I would guess those elcos didn't explode, and the presure there is <2% of surface pressure, which ain't far from vacuum

I can't find any info on his site about the SoC's internal temperature, but again it survived, so empirically it must be ok

Maybe, but there will also be a difference between sudden decompression (rocket) and slow decompression (balloon).
That reminds me that the PI must also be able to withstand many tens of G's of acceleration, the elco might be ripped from the board before it has a chance to explode!

Also even a very thin atmosphere will still allow some convection cooling.

[LinuxUser42]

Probably not as not all the components on the PCB are vacuum safe, specifically elco's are not, they will explode in vacuum.
Also in vacuum the only way a component can get rid of its heat is through conduction (to other parts of the board) and radiation, but not through convection.

I know what you mean, but sometimes images come to mind. The PI might not stand up to the generated electricity on the carpet, let alone survive the vacuum cleaner. (Lego's came to mind)


Thanks for the laugh.