Flying around the globe

heck! thats nice clean blog and Thats definlty not spam furthermore gives me an idea to use mine in same way 😀

The basic question what is arising in my mind is how do you intent do control the craft?

Hi!
If with the control of the craft you mean how to communicate through long distances, it will use the GSM network where available, or even an option is to use satellite communications (for example the constellation Orbcomm, since it's M2M chips are relatively light).
If you refer how to control its propulsion and height, it will have solar powered propellers. I'm not sure yet how to control height, but the way I like most right now is a system that varies the volume of the airship, controlling it's density and hence its height. Simulations show it could work.

I hope I answered your questions! 😀

Nice initiative my friend! 😀

I can't speak for the aeronautics part (which I am unfortunately clueless about), but I guess the biggest hurdle would be the solar power and the type of communications you plan on using.

What is the current power budget you have? That would probably determine the choices of electronics you plan to choose. For solar panels, you might want to look into thin film solar cells that you can line your balloon with 😀 Also, there are more efficient GaAs cells that you could get free for sponsorship purposes.. I've seen some university projects getting theirs for free from germany. Lucky guys!

Other than GSM, I highly suggest you look into amateur radio as well for both control and telemetry.

Also, you mentioned the use of cameras for manual control. Image and video transmissions consume a lot of bandwidth, so you might need to find another way. But it is possible to use the amateur radio backbone to transmit a crude video to a ground station and have it sent to your own ground station over the internet.

I would love to be part of this project, but I've got a lot of other commitments at the moment 😔

I hope I'm not going off-topic - but hasn't Burt Rutan's 'Challenger' already done this sort of thing?

@ghgr - You are awesome! !

Excellent work ghgr...really appreciate your endeavour. Keep it coming.

I'll try to answer your questions as long as I know the answer (and if I don't know I'll recognize I have no idea, yet) ;-)

Ash, first of all thanks for your encouragement! Don’t worry if you can't join at the moment. When you can and if you still find it exciting I'll be glad to count on you!

I've been messing around with the telecommunications part (to date all my simulations were oriented to the physical performance in a standard atmosphere, since I haven't yet received what I need to make progresses in communications).

I decided to buy an integrated module (I try not to say any trademarks, I don't know if I shall) that combines GSM (with GPRS) and GPS in only 19 grams (0.67 ounces if you use the imperial system). With GPS the localization issue is solved (and that would have been a very big deal). The main limitation of GSM is that is not available in some countries, oceans and deserts, so I also think about satellite communication (which is very expensive).

I thought on using HF, too, but I thought on two problems. First is the weight of the station and its antenna (that may be solved by deeply understanding how it works and discarding all that's not necessary); the second is that I read it's reliability is quite low, so I'm not sure how to manage data connections.
But I guess these problems are a fair price to pay for free (well, except licenses, which I don't know how expensive they are) communications with an almost global coverage.
I will study that proposal, thanks!

About the cameras to make manual control, I thought on the bandwidth that it consumes, so they will only be sending when they are really needed (especially the video, since a picture can take the time it needs to be sent). I guess that the quality of the image has to be lowered and maybe combined it with other options, like radio altimeters (anyway, when landing in a non-emergency situation will probably be people watching and controlling the process).
I will consider what you say, ash, about transmitting the video to a ground station and have it sent to me oven the internet, but I'm not sure yet if would me more reliable (and faster) to send the image through satellite.

The power budget is still unknown, but I can make estimations. The GSM-GPS chip requires 3.8 V and a peak current (impulsive) of 1.9 A, and a max average of 400 mA. The satellite communication chip (I don't even know if I'll finally use it) requires 8 V and a peak current of 2.0 A. I found solar panels that are quite light and can supply their average requirements, but not their peak currents, so I think I'll need a battery to supply those intensities during short periods.

The_Big_K, silenthorde, thanks for your words! What Burt Rutan did was an aerodyne, and I'm sure his budget was much higher than mine ;-).

Of course, I haven't said it explicitally, but this is something I can't do alone! ;-)

Edu, hows your progress man? 😀

ash

Edu, hows your progress man? 😀

hey dude how did you post this message? plz tell me!!!

n4nirave

hey dude how did you post this message? plz tell me!!!

Your post shows you are able to post yourself *grin* Kidding. Which message are you referring to? My signature?