Remote control Airship

[RaptorSystems]

Hey,
Just starting this thread, I've only just started putting together an RC (steampunk) airship, I'm not going to even attempt to copy the guns of icarus online airships for multiple reasons.

I've done a very basic electronics (bar napkin) design (spelling mistakes all over the place, should be ruggeduino). 

I'm going to be using 3D printing for the structure to hold the electronics and laser etched paper to create a sort of visual look of an airship.

[Lord Dick Tim]

My iPad crashed when it started to load the concept layout, that's how awesome this is.

Thank you so much for sharing to with the community, I really hope this works, would love to see updates as it comes along, followed by a flight video!

[-Muse- Cullen]

Agreed- make sure to take progress pictures! I'm curious as heck.

[Coldcurse]

maybe a helium balloon on top, with a little brown rag around it.

just to finish it with style ^^

what will be the loadout for this ship?

[HamsterIV]

Perhaps you could convert on of those Air Swimmers to something more GOI like. They have a very ingenious pitch control system.

[ATeddyBear]

I noticed your fan for height is located in the middle of your ship. I'm going to assume your using a balloon of some sort too to maintain lift. This is going to cause an issue when falling as the air from the fan will be hitting the balloon.

[RaptorSystems]

I've now decided to use the Raspberry Pi which has been sitting on my desk, it has GPIO pins, and added hilarity of then becoming a flying pi(e) and if someone walks into it they get pi on their face.

ColdCurse, that's not a bad idea, I was originally thinking tea stained paper with an inside treatment, will want custom tabs.
I'm thinking it is going to be similar to a squid with the two air balloons (just bags of paper) below the hull. A few people want me to enter in a robot wars competition. I'm not going to but if I were, it would be harpoons all the way.

HamsterIV, I've thought about purchasing an air-swimmer for $25, but half the fun with this is making the actual design & electronics. I also want to put my final design up on thingiverse with instructions so others can make their own.

ATeddyBear, yeah I'm using the fan to attempt to attain some sort of vertical stability. The theory is if I use paddles to break up the air current a bit it might not hit the balloon so much, but that is part of the design I'm least happy with.

[Machiavelliest]

To be a true airship, you've got to use buoyancy, not propulsion to maintain altitude. Your difficulty is that a lift fan doesn't really change your buoyancy. You can't just use it to change altitude regardless of placement, since your ship will either rise or sink to its neutrally buoyant altitude when there's no thrust applied.

Also, using very small applications of thrust to maintain a non-neutrally buoyant altitude would be pretty tough. The differences in buoyancy are so minute for your build scale that the digital controls couldn't hack it.

I would suggest using a mock balloon, then using lift fans to actually maintain altitude. Not an airship proper, but an easier design concept.

EDIT: If you're using paddles on the craft at all, your airflow is not fast enough or over a large enough surface to benefit from turbulent instead of laminar airflow. Those paddles will still be exerting force etc etc and you'll have no benefit from their addition. A good bet would be a ducted fan with the duct extending through the mock balloon.

[Keon]

Do what most airships do, have a almost buoyant frame (say weighing in close to a gram or two) and gain the rest of the lift from your wings and elevators. That way you steer like an airplane but you fall slower.

[Pickle]

I'm thinking it is going to be similar to a squid with the two air balloons (just bags of paper) below the hull. A few people want me to enter in a robot wars competition. I'm not going to but if I were, it would be harpoons all the way.

Is the paper an outer skin for a mylar envelope? - if so, the weight it adds may be detrimental.

If you're expecting a paper envelope to hold your lift gas (I recommend hydrogen instead of helium - it's cheaper and more sustainable), you may be expecting too much. 

[Helmic]

I recommend hydrogen instead of helium - it's cheaper and more sustainable

ಠ_ಠ

[N-Sunderland]

I recommend hydrogen instead of helium - it's cheaper and more sustainable

[Pickle]

I know there's some paranoia in the US about hydrogen - but there's a limit to the amount of helium available (unusually for a gas, it's mined from the ground), using it for balloons instead of essential uses (e.g. medical equipment) is frivolous and wasteful.  And helium is harder to contain inside an envelope.

The US military is looking again at hydrogen for unmanned heavy-lift applications - using helicopters as towing tugs for MBT recovery operations, etc.  Commercial LTA is again looking at hydrogen - the price and availability compared to helium is advantageous, advances in envelope materials and admix fire retardant gases go some way to addressing the public consciousness tainted by Hindenburg.

You can find several modellers online using hydrogen they're generating themselves rather than buying in helium.

[N-Sunderland]

I know there's some paranoia in the US about hydrogen - but there's a limit to the amount of helium available (unusually for a gas, it's mined from the ground), using it for balloons instead of essential uses (e.g. medical equipment) is frivolous and wasteful.  And helium is harder to contain inside an envelope.

The US military is looking again at hydrogen for unmanned heavy-lift applications - using helicopters as towing tugs for MBT recovery operations, etc.  Commercial LTA is again looking at hydrogen - the price and availability compared to helium is advantageous, advances in envelope materials and admix fire retardant gases go some way to addressing the public consciousness tainted by Hindenburg.

You can find several modellers online using hydrogen they're generating themselves rather than buying in helium.

Salute, despite my previous post.

[Keon]

Hydrogen can be extracted from water, making it cheaper and more sustainable. On the other hand, you just know little timmy is going to make his voice all squeaky before he blows out the candles and accidentally charbroil his insides.

With the USA it's all about the lawsuits.