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Raspberry Pi Powered Blimp

Bill of Materials (BOM)

Many suppliers have these parts, but we mostly bought from Adafruit so those are the hyperlinks we are including.

raspberrypi-blimp

RC Blimp using Raspberry Pi and Explorer pHat

Instructions

  • install dependencies:
     $ npm install
  • run the Node.js app:
     $ DEBUG=raspberrypi-blimp:* PORT=3000 sudo npm start
  • NOTE: the PORT environment variable is optional, but sudo is not (wiring-pi needs it)

Software Design

Photos and Screenshots

photo of blimp mid-air screenshot of app on smartphone

After-Action Review (AAR)

  • it was much too heavy
  • recommendations for weight reduction
    • use Raspberry Pi Zero instead of Raspberry Pi 3 (saves ~32 grams, as the Pi 3 is ~41g and the Pi Zero is only ~9g. You'll need to add WiFi via a dongle or somehow
  • use pure helium
    • I heard most balloon helium is only 80% pure, but pure helium seems to be pretty hard to find
  • use a smaller battery
  • motors were not powerful enough to really push the whole thing around
    • recommendation: use bigger propellers and/or more powerful motors, especially drone motors

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RC Blimp using Raspberry Pi and Explorer pHat

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