Gadget Freak Case 139: The Autonomous Blimp

Design News Staff -- Design News, April 27, 2009

Here's a blimp with its own ideas of flight. Nick Wagner and his fellow classmates at Colorado State University designed their infraLED Zeppelin to maneuver in two modes. The first is remote control mode where a transmitter sends directional commands (forward, back, left and right) to the blimp and the blimp responds accordingly. The second mode lets the blimp chart its own course to a predetermined destination. In the autonomous mode, the blimp flies to an infrared (IR) beacon. IR transmitters on the blimp receive a signal from the beacon, and the transmitter facing the beacon receives the most pulses. The blimp then goes in that direction.

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• Nice Project! Looks like a lot of fun. Aesthetically, it could look a lot better, but I understand the time crunch to get it done on schedule, plus the limited budget. Overall, good job!

  
  Ritchie Williams - 2009-27-4 16:50:12 EDT
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