How come they don't make drones using helium balloons
- Thread starter brainhulk
- Start date
- Sep 14, 2007
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Cool, how do they get them down? Remote pressure valve or something?
Can they stay in the air for hour(s)?
MagnusTheBrewer
IN MEMORIAM
- Jun 19, 2004
- 24,122
- 1,594
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Neutral buoyancy, they descend using ailerons. Yes, they can stay in the air for hours.
Thebobo
Lifer
- Jun 19, 2006
- 18,574
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Anyone remember this robotic drone from the docudrama Alien Planet? It was filled with some sort of lighter than "air" gas providing it buoyancy in the alien planet's atmosphere while it searched for life. Seems like a cool idea. Wonder if could be done on mars with its thin atmosphere? Also the full docu drama is on Youtube now, pretty entertaining if you ask me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHzPEpHYtXQ
Probe Davinci
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHzPEpHYtXQ
Probe Davinci
Helium's expensive!
Use hydrogen, easy to make.
And on this day, fill a 15' weather balloon with a mix of H and O2, tie off about 50' of kerosene soaked hemp rope, light and release.
Thump heard across town, dogs barking, car alarms for miles.
Good stuff!
I suppose you could use one of those little blimps the car dealers use and mount some servos and such controlling a laser or two and point them through the smoke from the fireworks displays at night.
Use hydrogen, easy to make.
And on this day, fill a 15' weather balloon with a mix of H and O2, tie off about 50' of kerosene soaked hemp rope, light and release.
Thump heard across town, dogs barking, car alarms for miles.
Good stuff!
I suppose you could use one of those little blimps the car dealers use and mount some servos and such controlling a laser or two and point them through the smoke from the fireworks displays at night.
the same reason we don't fly around in dirigibles: they're slow and hard to control in high wind
Interesting thought about an RC dirigible. Never knew they had those available. Id venture to say they have far different battery failure behavior than drones. When a drone runs out of battery, it simply falls. With an airship, the thing just keeps floating and you could lose it. Also, the endurance on an airship must be epic compared to a drone. They are not using battery power to generate lift. It stays aloft though buoyancy. Battery is simply there to power the propulsion motors. I wonder if there is a pressure release/manual release valve functionality built-in to dump gas overboard (or even water ballast) as airships are more sensitive to warm weather and will rise faster/higher on hotter days.
Rumpltzer
Diamond Member
- Jun 7, 2003
- 4,815
- 33
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Not unthought of. Long-dwell airships have not done well in recent times....
http://aviationweek.com/blog/airship-programs-not-so-buoyant-says-gao
http://aviationweek.com/blog/airship-programs-not-so-buoyant-says-gao
sdifox
No Lifer
- Sep 30, 2005
- 98,982
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lulz, op is asking about a toy and you guys are bringing real dirigibles.
Thebobo
Lifer
- Jun 19, 2006
- 18,574
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There are plenty of hobby RC blimps for sale. My friend use to Fly RC blimps at the Washington Capitals games even back in the day when the used heavy nicads and ferrite motors. Worked great and use to drop coupons on the crowd. Tried to get me to do it but the games were on too late for me and then go to work.
Get yourself a flying fish for around $30.
Get yourself a flying fish for around $30.
Paratus
Lifer
- Jun 4, 2004
- 17,436
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I've got that one. It's kind of cool but a pain to store after you play with it for an hour.
OK, I've had NO experience with a blimp and only about 10 times as much with drones but....
Couldn't you take a small drone and a counter weight and mount the drone on top and the weight on the bottom (for balance) and make it just ever so slightly negative buoyancy? Then the drone would provide the tiny bit of lift needed but would NOT need to even support it's own weight, much less the weight of the balloon or counter-weight. So if you had a drone that weighed 4oz and a counter-wight that weighed 8oz and a balloon that had a lift capacity of 11.5oz, it would stay on the ground normally (or slowly sink to the ground if the batteries died.) But the drone would only lift 1/8th its own mass and thus remain flying for 8 times as long (more or less.)
Couldn't you take a small drone and a counter weight and mount the drone on top and the weight on the bottom (for balance) and make it just ever so slightly negative buoyancy? Then the drone would provide the tiny bit of lift needed but would NOT need to even support it's own weight, much less the weight of the balloon or counter-weight. So if you had a drone that weighed 4oz and a counter-wight that weighed 8oz and a balloon that had a lift capacity of 11.5oz, it would stay on the ground normally (or slowly sink to the ground if the batteries died.) But the drone would only lift 1/8th its own mass and thus remain flying for 8 times as long (more or less.)
kage69
Lifer
- Jul 17, 2003
- 30,285
- 44,552
- 136
Balloons are great, for kids. As a mode of travel, I can't help but dwell on their abysmal record dealing with inclement weather. Unless small scale propulsion and power storage both take a couple huge leaps and bounds, I don't see that situation changing.
And helium is a finite resource, we should relegate it to important uses. You know, like car dealership sales promotions.
And helium is a finite resource, we should relegate it to important uses. You know, like car dealership sales promotions.
Red Squirrel
No Lifer
I wanted to get into the hobby of building drones but the new rules here in Canada make it very restrictive and risky. They are being treated like guns more or less. Have to have a special license, and each drone has to be registered. That's kinda hard to do if you are building them as a hobby as you might end up with like many of them, and they may not even fly more than a few times before you move to something else as you might use parts for another build and so on.
But the rules only apply to drones 250g and up (35kg technically but there's other rules for heavier ones). So I was thinking, I could try to build a drone blimp. The height restrictions would also not apply so I'd be able to go higher than 100m. Obviously would want to put proper beacons and maybe even ADS-B on it. Could be cool for photography. I would use hydrogen though since helium is kinda in a shortage. I'm surprised they still sell that stuff for party balloons. Once we run out, we run out, it's gone. MRI machines and other equipment with superconductors use it.
But the rules only apply to drones 250g and up (35kg technically but there's other rules for heavier ones). So I was thinking, I could try to build a drone blimp. The height restrictions would also not apply so I'd be able to go higher than 100m. Obviously would want to put proper beacons and maybe even ADS-B on it. Could be cool for photography. I would use hydrogen though since helium is kinda in a shortage. I'm surprised they still sell that stuff for party balloons. Once we run out, we run out, it's gone. MRI machines and other equipment with superconductors use it.
zinfamous
No Lifer
- Jul 12, 2006
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FeuerFrei
Diamond Member
- Mar 30, 2005
- 9,144
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Too susceptible to wind. I can only see balloons/blimps used as a tethered camera platform. Must be problematic to keep the camera oriented in the chosen direction - otherwise they'd be a thing. (Though with the advent of 360-degree cams ... hmm)
The MetaFly RC bird shown in the video above, seems to be the same-old same-old repackaged for marketing to a modern audience. The video emphasizes the imitation of live birds but fails to inform us how this new rendition offers any mechanical advancement over what's been flying for decades. Notice the video says it has "bumpers to protect its body" from collision. Sounds like they want to sell a crap-ton of replacement wings and tails.
The MetaFly RC bird shown in the video above, seems to be the same-old same-old repackaged for marketing to a modern audience. The video emphasizes the imitation of live birds but fails to inform us how this new rendition offers any mechanical advancement over what's been flying for decades. Notice the video says it has "bumpers to protect its body" from collision. Sounds like they want to sell a crap-ton of replacement wings and tails.
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