Lighter-Than-Air
(LTA) systems occupy a niche in Aerospace
systems owing to their special capabilities, such as the ability
to stay aloft even when stationary,
owing to the force of buoyancy. Airships
and Aerostats are two applications of
this technology that are finding increasing
application worldwide for many
tasks such as aerial surveillance, wireless
communication, product promotion,
and long endurance high altitude
platforms.
Airships provide a low
cost alternative for transportation of passenger
and cargo in remote areas, where surface
modes of transportation are difficult
to provide. They do not require long
runways and have very low fuel consumption.
The operation of the airship
produces low noise and vibrations thus
reducing crew fatigue and increasing
their working efficiencies, especially for
low speed long endurance operations
such as aerial photography, search and
rescue operations and relief operations.
As part of the LTA technology
development efforts at IIT Bombay,
aerostats and remotely controlled airships
have been designed, fabricated
and flight tested at various locations in
the country. A feasibility study of operation
and development of manned airships
for transportation of goods and passengers over mountainous
terrains in Uttarakhand has been completed.
Subsequently, several study projects
in LTA technology development
have been completed such as shape
optimization of aerostat envelopes from
aerodynamic, structural and manufacturing
considerations, application of
neural networks for design of control
system of indoor airships, assessment of
technical feasibility of airships as a high
altitude platform for precision navigation
system.
In an ongoing project,
sponsored by One World South Asia, the efficacy
of aerostats as an aerial platform for
wireless communication for rural connectivity
is being investigated. During
field trials conducted in May 2007,
wireless communication at a line of
sight of approx. 7.5 km from the aerostat
was successfully established. This
system is re-locatable, easily re-configurable,
and can be used for providing
low cost data and voice communication
in remote areas, especially for disaster
management.
Contact: airships@aero.iitb.ac.in
Visit: www.aero.iitb.ac.in/~airships.