Airships to support rural broadband

Unknown

The University of York (UK) has announced a new project that aims to make Broadband internet available to remote rural areas through the use of airships.

[blockquote]Scientists will build High Altitude Platforms (HAPs): airships or solar-powered aircraft, which are permanently located in the skies at an altitude of 20 kilometers, above aero planes but below satellites. The project will deliver broadband connections which are 2,000 times faster than by a traditional modem and 200 times faster than ‘wired’ ADSL broadband.
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[link=http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/22/34992.html]The full report[/link]

drasnor

So they finally are building those things? NASA ERAST Pathfinder has been around forever, I even have one of the original promotional posters. The original idea had them being like intra-atmospheric satellites doing environmental research, though communications makes sense too.

BTW, last time I checked, airships are lighter-than-air fliers (eg blimps). Heavier than air fliers are called airplanes.

-drasnor

Norge

They call em airships in Final Fantasy games. Maybe they just wanted to sound cool so they copied that.

Norge

kanezfan

every few months we get the promise of super fast, affordable broadband delivered through some new means. To this day, the only for of broadband available to us is DSL, cable, and expensive crappy satellite. it doesn't matter if it costs them $.01 per terabyte to bring this new technology to us, they will still charge us an arm and a leg to do so and it wont be for another ten years at least.

Madball

Kanezfan nailed that one. Where I live, 90% of the state is rural. It would be nice to find a inexpensive, reliable source for broadband.

Enverex

Norge wrote:

They call em airships in Final Fantasy games. Maybe they just wanted to sound cool so they copied that.

Norge

Airships have been around for years, so has the wording, so I highly doubt they copied a FF game for it.

CaffeineMe

This type of solution for broadband access has been discussed for years, so far no one has managed to point an airship/plane/craft up providing broadband on any sort of large scale. Call me a pessimist, but believe it when it happens.

Templar

If that thing can perpetually stay in the air (or at least a month at a time) I wouldn't be surprised to see people try to live on a modified one. That would be fun

drasnor

Templar wrote:

If that thing can perpetually stay in the air (or at least a month at a time) I wouldn't be surprised to see people try to live on a modified one. That would be fun

You have a strange idea of fun...

The prototype has a 120' wingspan and 12' length with 8' of that being wing. The wing is less than a foot thick, and the aircraft is propelled along by 8 electric motors powered by 7500W worth of solar cells. Maximum payload for the prototype is 150lb. It cruises at 20mph.

Production models will differ primarily in payload weight and wingspan, but other than that they'll be essentially the same. The big deal with these is that they never land.



-drasnor

panzerkw

What do they do during the nighttime? Or cloud days?

Thrax

Photovoltaic cells store energy. It's not a direct conversion from sun -> power, and no worky when cloudy.

You go from cell -> storage -> dispensing of stored energy. They work when cloudy.

panzerkw

I'd be surprised if they could make a battery that could power the thing all night, and yet not be too heavy for it.

dodo

wouldnt they be above the clouds?

drasnor

Did I not link that? Looks like.

Altitude:

NASA wrote:

During 1998, the Pathfinder was modified into the longer-winged Pathfinder-Plus configuration. On Aug. 6, 1998, the modified aircraft was flown to a record altitude of 80,201 feet for propeller-driven aircraft on the third of a series of developmental test flights from PMRF on Kaua'i. The goal of the flights was to validate new solar, aerodynamic, propulsion and systems technology developed for the Pathfinder's successor, the Centurion/Helios Prototype, which was designed to reach and sustain altitudes in the 100,000-foot range.

Specs:

NASA wrote:

Wingspan: Pathfinder 98.4 feet (29.5 meters); Pathfinder-Plus 121 feet (36.3 meters)
Length: 12 feet (3.6 meters)
Wing chord: 8 feet (2.4 meters)
Wing Aspect Ratio: Pathfinder -12 to 1; Pathfinder-Plus-- 15 to 1
Gross weight: Pathfinder about 560 pounds (252 kg.); Pathfinder-Plus about 700 pounds (315 kg.).
Payload: Pathfinder—up to 100 pounds (45 kg.); Pathfinder-Plus up to 150 pounds (67.5 kg.)
Airspeed: Approx. 17-20 mph cruise.
Power: Arrays of solar cells, maximum output: Pathfinder—about 7,500 watts; Pathfinder-Plus—about 12,500 watts.
Motors: Pathfinder, six electric motors; Pathfinder-Plus, eight electric motors, 1.5 kW maximum each.
Endurance: About 14 to 15 hours, daylight limited with two to five hours on backup batteries.
Glide ratio (power off): Pathfinder—18 to 1; Pathfinder-Plus—21 to 1.
Manufacturer: AeroVironment, Inc., Monrovia, Calif.
Primary materials: Carbon fiber, Nomex, Kevlar, plastic sheeting and plastic foam.

http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Newsroom/FactSheets/FS-034-DFRC.html

-drasnor