Lighter than air (LTA) aircraft are energy effective and a safe method for transportation, surveillance, and monitoring. However, current methods of controlling these balloons' altitude are significantly heavier than 680 g, cost more than \$100, or expel the lifting gas. These problems result in solutions that are unable to scale down and can not obtain multiple desired heights in one mission. This paper proposes an alternative method by manipulating the volume of the lifting gas container. By controlling the size of the container, the density of the lifting gas inversely changes and affects the buoyancy of the balloon. To change the volume, a Mylar balloon is rolled through PVC pipes that compress the lifting gas to one side of the balloon. This method has the potential to provide a solution that is less than 680 g, costs less than \$100, and can be used for smaller applications without decreasing the amount of lifting gas throughout the mission. With these changes, the versatility of ballooning can expand to smaller applications such as environmental monitoring, surveillance, and construction.

Creator

• Mohapatra, Meha

Contributors

• Popovic, Marko B.
• Rasmussen, Winola L.
• Nemitz, Markus

Degree

• MS

Unit

• Robotics Engineering

Publisher

• Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Identifier

• etd-65366

Advisor

• Popovic, Marko B.

Committee

• Rasmussen, Winola Lenore
• Nemitz, Markus

Defense date

• 2022-04-25

Year

• 2022

Date created

• 2022-04-28

Resource type

• Thesis

Rights statement

• In Copyright

Last modified

• 2023-10-09