Need ideas for my blimp project

[BobK]

I guess those motors will have to tilt to push the craft up/down
I wonder how accurate the phones will be with the GPS determining altitude...

I doubt that that would work well. I think you need to control buoyancy and monitor the altitude somehow.

bob

 

[Gryd3]

I doubt that that would work well. I think you need to control buoyancy and monitor the altitude somehow.

bob

Do you have any ideas on how to control buoyancy two ways? You could simply dump helium, or dump weight, but those tricks will only provide limited flight time. Other than that... heat, but that would be hard to implement.
Using simple methods, the OP only have 4 analog channels he can use.
He could go a little more complex and rely on DTMF to allow the use of multiple digital outputs, but he would be limited to how many he could control simultaneously without the need to alternate back and forth.. ie, stop the motors while the buoyancy is adjusted then start the motors again.

 

[BobK]

Yep, those and more.

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071206210307AAVO04h

I think the best thing for this project would be to make it a little heavier than air then use a fan to provide lift.

Bob

 

[dR.eXntriK]

Yep, those and more.

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071206210307AAVO04h

I think the best thing for this project would be to make it a little heavier than air then use a fan to provide lift.

Bob

"50 ft off the ground" was a rough estimate guys. I am gonna fill it up with helium which is gonna create the lift and I am gonna add some weights which is gonna balance the lift. Slight changes in altitude is manageable. I just don't want it to keep floating away.

 

[dR.eXntriK]

AWWW SHUCKS!!
Today my team-mates and professors told me that the $100~$150 budget is too high and they told me to build a blimp with a Remote Control with a range of about 30ft would be the most economical option :'( So all the programming and stuff is out of the picture. Thanks for all your help guys, I might use this info for a personal project of mine sometime in the future.
However, I still welcome advice and instructions for building the RC blimp. Coz you know..N00B here

 

[Gryd3]

At least it didn't blow up in your face
Step one would be to get your hands on an RC device. 30' might be a stretch with the cheap AA powered cars you buy from display countertop at RadioShack, but considering it will be a line of sight control, this is going to be a reasonable range.
Once you have a volunteer, you can crack it open and use the guts inside to control your blimp. The sacrifice will determine how you will control your blimp.
RC cars that operate at half speed for example may be slightly harder to interface to the blimp depending on the control mechanism inside. The easier route would be car that has a left / right control stick/button and is either on/off.

Keep us posted on devices you have already, or devices you are considering