Blimp drone

While drone manufacturers like DJI are figuring out ways to make their drones smaller a company called Spacial is developing a large helium filled blimp drone capable of safely flying over crowds for up to 3 hours.
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[@arun_kumar0]

great idea but just one question... what if there is a sudden gust of wind... will it still stay in control after a whip or will it go crazy?

[@Slipperypotato365]

I'm thinking about making a drone like this but more agile with more speed I like the idea that if it runs out of batteries it'll just float down instead of falling out of the sky

[@ue5768]

Maybe you can start using hidrogen instead of helium.

[@MsHojat]

You can't have agility and speed if you want it to float (or almost float); they're mutually exclusive.

[@greenwoodorganics4681]

@@MsHojat the balloon could be aerodynamically shaped

[@thesauce1682]

Add solar panel to it so the camera and propeller can stay for weeks

[@SlavTiger]

I am working on a similar design that incorporates solar cells and fins for aerodynamics. I plan on 2 layers for the balloon, an inner helium balloon, and an outer atmospheric balloon that, controlled by a ballast and ardupilot, wil maintain a neutral pressure gradient on the inner helium balloon to keep it from leaking over time. using two barometers for parity in the atmospheric balloon and a one way valve with air compressor for monitoring and maintaining neutral pressure, and dual barometers with ardupilot offer hull failure detection with parity (if barometer 1 is out of acceptable range, and barometer 2 reports nominal, assume barometer 1 failure and vice versa. if both barometers report critical pressure, or one is, and the other barometer is assumed fault, then it assumes hull failure and returns to base and lands as a sort of "panic mode." Other triggers for panic mode are if 2 out of 4 rotors report failure, if the solar array is putting out zero volts "(there should be a detectable voltage under moonlight, not enough to charge, but enough to determine the array is still functional), and also if signal is lost. base location will be programmable thanks to ardupilot, and I even plan on giving it a "sunbathe mode" where it rises above the clouds during low battery, and return to baser mode when cells are full. I think my idea can be used to charge an internal lifepo4 battery, as well as carry an external bay for charging 18560 standard cells. For my personal use, this guy's gonna be going out to charge batteries, and returning home when they're full so I can swap out for depleted cells. I also plan on having an idle mode, so if i don't grab the batteries, the drone will idle until batteries are low again, then goes back into sunbathe mode. If signal is lost, i plan on using gps to return to base last known location, where it idles and returns to while looking for the signal from base, where it then leaves a log of losing signal and returning to normal duties. I plan on a mylar membrane for both balloons, the pixhawk 4, and pla+ composite for a 3d printed frame to latch onto the balloon, and toroidal propellors for each rotor. It's just a concept for now, but this could be capable of indefinitely hovering and carrying all sorts of payloads be it telemetry or mesh networking. I call this concept Bumblebee, because it reminds me of how various bee species slowly fly around gathering resources to bring back home. Any thoughts or suggestions for improvement are welcome. I am still in the conceptual phase.

[@SlavTiger]

i want this to be as open source as possible.

[@midgetman4206]

@@SlavTiger Even though buoyancy control is cooler, I don't think they are worth the effort in the small scale. There is a novelty to the sophisticated, but beyond that it will just be a pain to optimize. Lift is cube-ly proportional, anything small (around the size of a person and lower) will have negligible working payload. Smaller craft are also going to be very susceptible to the breeze, so anything done outdoors will be much more difficult and energy hungry, even more so with high altitude wind. Not saying this to dissuade you, I'm just advising you to rein in you're ambition. Unless you have the money for larger scale projects, you may want to stay away from them. A winged drone would be better suited for cloud soaring, it will do so easier and cheaper for a given (useful) payload. So if you do bring it down a notch, you can still aim for buoyancy control. For that, you should probably take a note from RC subs. Have a dedicated closed rigid cell (a syringe) that will allow you to control the density of the air inside. This method is tried and true, and most likely more robust and reliable. The PV panels and added components needed will pretty much max out the payload. Pretty much a hobby level piece, but much more do-able.

[@naveen1328]

​@@SlavTigerI'm trying to find things that could help me with understanding these helium drones, might you help me out?

[@BronzeOrwin]

So if it runs out of battery it never comes down? I really hope it's weighted to slowly descend. Also how do you get it into buildings, considering how big it is?

[@midgetman4206]

maybe it can release a small amount of gas?

[@BronzeOrwin]

@@midgetman4206 maybe

[@Steve_A_R]

Good tools for area surveilance, will be perfect combination with sollar cell for longer operation

[@grobbs666]

It's doubtful solar power would work/be enough. There's only about 1,000 watts per square meter. Solar panels are typically about 15% efficient. So if this could fit a 1 square meter panel, thats 150 watts. And that's under perfectly ideal conditions... no clouds, exactly at noon, etc. Small drones typically run on 200+ watts. They didn't say what this runs on, but adding even more weight to it by adding a solar panel would make it even more.

[@Steve_A_R]

@@grobbs666 We're talking about balloon, not a drone. Balloon is able to float by itself. So we need only small amount of electrical energy as pushing power

[@thesauce1682]

@@grobbs666 the blimp does the lift, solar cell for camera. And it can just float longer to recharge

[@billbush-t5x]

This drone isn't built for speed, it's built to find weed.

[@tobydz]

Why is this so funny???

[@xaroon9930]

Best for recording arial timelapses.. balloon should to be attached with regular drone. It will increase flight duration

[@OverlandbyEric]

My balloon video is still under editing. Coming up soon on “ overland by Eric” stay tuned and subscribe please

[@billbush-t5x]

Good for indoor arena, but wind will make it go far away.

[@ezalbenaernage2632]

What is the weight of the module attached under the blimp?

[@avionicstechshop7664]

Student kits. Where do I find student kits for this project?

[@OverlandbyEric]

check ,y up coming video in 3 days . ill list the all items i have used on mine . i came out of idea and built it then i saw this video. mine des not have motors at all

[@yoan4152]

Do you think i have seen a blimp. It was a sphere around 5 meters and no cord or any moving part on it. Just a smooth and clean sphere going in a straight line....

[@aimansees8574]

I would love to make my own version of this

[@OverlandbyEric]

i did , relatively low cost. video coming out soon . please check in 3 days to finish my editing , thanks .

[@jasongen]

What the gas is used in?

[@cappypyramsaudpate5535]

ok but whats the music tho?

[@newjerseylion4804]

Best of all it’s quiet.

[@ivana.medina3126]

¿¿¡¡¡Helium!!!?? That´s for cowards, i will fill it with Hidrogen, like a pro.

[@carapo66]

Ha, ha! Oh, the humanity! See you in Trenton, bro.

[@snow-puppetsofficial360]

And expect it to crash just like the great Hindenburg Disaster of 1937.

[@sameermohbe2670]

#dontbeapartofthehindenburgdisasterorelse

[@snow-puppetsofficial360]

@@sameermohbe2670 Uzi: It do not matter

[@midgetman4206]

you can carry a bit more, safety mechanisms are probably gonna suck to design though

[@JorgeL721]

What an irresponsible use of finite and precious helium. Perhaps there is an alternative?

[@moisesmartinez5703]

I've been working on something simmilar.

[@MRoh79]

Ja das ist ein Linienbus; und ich bin ein Omnibus.

[@diy-uvc-bot3119]

aerotain.com does a better blimp-drone with 6 DOF and full print ..

[@AngelLestat2]

Why just 3 hours? It is so damm hard to place 1 solar cell in the top? increase a bit the volume (or reduce the weiight) to make it completely buoyant with a helium release valve in case it rise too much? Nobody has even the brain to understand these benefits? Or even better, use the reversible fuel cell from horizon, use hydrogen (way cheaper) instead helium and you can reduce a lot the size of your heavy battery and just use it for peak power requirements, now this thing can fly even day and night. DUhh!

[@josephhannum4851]

I highly doubt safety regulations will allow for indoor use of gaseous hydrogen.

[@ekene345]

please am working on a project like this, would you help understand "the reversible fuel cell from horizon" part from your comment, please ([e-mail])my email

[@abikelife1481]

Well we will wait for your video of your project... they have this model indoors, so no solar cell there.

[@BharathwajK]

blimps drones are too slow ya than comparing to tri copters and quad copters such as DJI or any other drone manufactures

[@janslosn3019]

Bharathwaj Sujatha true, not to mention that they are easily affected by the wind. However the are some pros to this, they can fly longer, has better control (for indoors assuming smaller version is made) , and won't fall like a rock when it runs out of battery.

[@BharathwajK]

ya that's 100% true blimps can hover for long time and unlimited range but yet still payload remains a drawback

[@Renaldo015]

Yeaahh all people know that it's slower than any quadcopters. This will serve a different purpose like advertising and events.

[@BharathwajK]

advertising is not only that the blimps are used but more are there but we are unknown mainly research currently on anti-gravity technology

[@danielwillets2346]

Bharathwaj Sujatha payload? Problem with a blimp? Look up flute tests video of the fat shark blimp, it’s almost a 30 lbs payload

[@redersetim5401]

Fake this Can t fly un the Sky