E-balloon: A propellerless flight control system

• Main Authors: Coronel, Patrick Ross S., Duenas, Rafael Antonio S., Gabriel, Efi Mikhael B., Hartigan-Go, Kyle Austin B.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2022
• Subjects: Balloons—Control systems; Controls and Control Theory
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etdb_ece/17; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1023&context=etdb_ece
• Institution: De La Salle University

An alternative to drones, this paper seeks out the feasibility of the usage of controlled propellerless balloons in order to see potential alternatives or assistance to unmanned flight development. Making use of lighter-than-air gasses such as helium as an alternative to horizontal flight in lieu of propellers which conserve energy and offset the weight of the engine. While still being a controllable navigation system making use of radio frequency communication. and microcontrollers. A big balloon that is made up of mylar was made in order to be the main balloon that will be used for testing and the center of this research. The researchers then have to put components onto the main balloon that would be helpful during the flight of the balloon. In order to create the balloon, the researchers bought a sheet of mylar that has a size of 160cm x 210cm. The mylar is then folded in half lengthwise. Deciding on what adhesive to use with the mylar has to be decided carefully but the researchers ultimately went with contact cement as it has the best results other than different kinds of tape, super glue, etc. The adhesive, which is the contact cement, will be used to seal around the mylar that is folded in half lengthwise. A self-made valve that is also a mylar is connected to one side of the balloon with the use of contact cement. After connecting the valve it is the perfect time to seal the balloon. Filling up the balloon with air will result to have a pillow-shaped balloon. The second step is putting the necessary components that would be useful in controlling the balloon. Knowing the physics behind aerial flight control the group first created wings that would be helpful in flight as well as a rudder that could be helpful in controlling the direction of the flight. Ultimately, the wings proved to have been heavier than expected when helium is filled up inside the main balloon and thus was removed from the main balloon. A nano Arduino will be connected under the balloon in order to control the rudder. Another component should also be connected in order to control the up and down movement of the balloon which is an additional servo motor that has a hook that can release an extra balloon. An RF transceiver which is NRF24L01 is also connected to the nano Arduino in order to control the rudder and the extra balloon at different distances. The goal of the testing of the balloon was to control the flight of the balloon from point A to point B. Multiple tests have to be made and achieve the point A to point B tests 80% of the time. The tests resulted to have an 85% accuracy, meaning the tests were completed 85% of the time which is 17/20 tests.