- 4/24/2001 - The Blimp has made two more
flights since the last update. It was launched in King's Court on 4/13 to
provide further practice with the control systems. It successfully hovered
and used the horizontal control surfaces to adjust pitch. It was launched
again on 4/23 in the Hollenback Annex warehouse, initially under manual
control, and flew around the warehouse several times on tether, using the
control surfaces to turn. A flight also took place outside in an exposed
location. The blimp was then returned inside again for tests of the
computer system, and successfully made a brief flight using the computer
interface to the servos and engines. Work continues on tuning the engines
to achieve maximum power and tweaking the computer control
system.
- 4/8/2001 - The Blimp was successfully
launched under tether yesterday! Several flights were made in the new
storage area in the King's Court/English House courtyard, the longest
lasting for about 5 minutes and reaching about 60 feet in altitude.
Pictures will be made available shortly. While minor repairs need to be
made to one fuel line, the blimp is essentially ready for computer
integration work. Computer control of the servos has already been written
and was demonstrated before the SEAS Overseers on April 6. Congratulations,
Blimp Team!
- 3/24/2001 - All components of the blimp have
arrived. In a change of plans, the blimp is now being assembled in Towne
11; inflation will take place in Athletic Department facilities behind the
Palestra. The four frames and rudders have been built by Ben Tang and his
crew; much of the blimp assembly will take place this weekend. Scott
Currie and the Computer Science team are beginning to write the code for
each device, now that the devices are available. Furthermore, Blimp Team
members will give a presentation on the project before the SEAS Overseers
on April 6.
