1. MEAM 610 BLIMPS Mohit Bhoite and Saurabh Palan

2. Introduction Blimps Anatomy Design Control Sensing

3. Anatomy of a Blimp “A blimp, or non-rigid airship, is an airship without an internal supporting framework or keel.” - wiki Stabilizers Envelop Motors Gondola Propellers

4. HELIUM - Calculating Lift At standard temperature and pressure, mass density of Air : ρair= 1.293 kg/m3 Helium : ρHe=0.178 kg/m3 Neon: ρHe= 0.9 kg/m3 Wload = [(ρair– ρHe) x volume – Wenv] Kg Grade A Helium gas = 99.995% He and 0.005% Ne Wload= [(ρair-0.99995ρHe - 0.00005ρNe) x volume – Wenv] Kg

5. HELIUM - Calculating Lift Wload= [1.1149 x volume – Wenv] Kg Thumb rule : 1m3 of helium can lift 1.1 kg of load

6. Latex Balloons vs. Rigid Envelops Which one is better? Balloons have internal pressure much higher than atmospheric => unnecessary helium mass => no extra lift Rigid envelops will have pressure equivalent to atmospheric pressure => better efficiency

7. Envelop Designs

8. Envelop Designs Off-the-shelf Options Cost $25, 7cu feet $12 $13, 5cu feet $4, 3’ dia

9. Propulsion DC Brushed motors + Propellers Flapping wings/fins !

10. Propeller Placements

11. Propeller Placements

12. Propeller Placements

13. Controller Architecture Sensors Main Controller (uP, uC) Motor Driver Motors, Servos Camera Wireless Link

14. Sensors Gyros Acceleros GPS Digital Compass Ultrasonic Pressure sensor IR Vision

15. Sensors Gyros Acceleros GPS Digital Compass Ultrasonic Pressure sensor IR Vision

16. Digital Compass Devantech, acroname.com, $57

18. 2.7 to 5.2V supply range

19. 1 to 20Hz selectable update rate

20. True drop-in solution

21. 0.5 degree heading resolution

22. 1 degree repeatability

23. Supply current : 1mA @ 3VSparkfun.com, $60

24. Pressure Sensors Barometric pressure sensing for altitude measurement Can achieve resolution of about 10cm at sea level Pressure decreases at the rate of 100 millibars per 800 meters $55

25. Thank you!