Could Airships Make A Comeback With New Hybrid Designs?

Airships. Slow, difficult to land, and highly flammable  when they’re full of hydrogen. These days, they’re considered more of a historical curiosity rather than a useful method of transport. Hybrid …read more Continue reading Could Airships Make A Comeback With New Hybrid Designs?

Let’s Take a Closer Look at This Robotic Airship

It’s not a balloon, however shiny its exterior may seem. This miniature indoor robotic airship created by the University of Auckland mechanical engineering research group [New Dexterity] is an asymmetric system experimenting with the possibilities of an open-source helium-based airship.

Why a helium airship, as opposed to a fixed wing …read more

Continue reading Let’s Take a Closer Look at This Robotic Airship

Detect Elevated Carbon Monoxide (Levels)

The molar mass of carbon monoxide (CO) is 28.0, and the molar mass of air is 28.8, so CO will rise in an ambient atmosphere. It makes sense to detect it farther from the ground, but getting a tall ladder is not convenient and certainly doesn’t make for fast deployment. What do you do if you don’t care for heights and want to know the CO levels in a gymnasium or a tall foyer? Here to save the day, is the Red Balloon Carbon Monoxide Detector.

Circuit.io generates the diagram and code to operate the CO sensor and turn a …read more

Continue reading Detect Elevated Carbon Monoxide (Levels)

Remotely Controlling a Not-So-Miniature Hot Air Balloon

Calling [Matt Barr]’s remote controlled hot air balloon a miniature is a bit misleading. Sure, it’s small compared with the balloons that ply cold morning skies with paying passengers and a bottle of champagne for the landing. Having been in on a few of those landings, we can attest to the size of the real thing. They’re impressively big when you’re up close to them.

While [Matt]’s balloon is certainly smaller, it’s not something you’d just whip together in an afternoon. Most of [Matt]’s build log concentrates mainly on the gondola and its goodies — the twin one-pound camp stove-style …read more

Continue reading Remotely Controlling a Not-So-Miniature Hot Air Balloon