Real-time flight control design for a spherical blimp

Abstract

This paper develops a real-time software written in LabVIEW code to test a novel flight control strategy for a spherical blimp. Such a blimp will have an spherical hull filled with helium. Four tetrahedrally-arranged driving units (DU) were designed and constructed, with each DU having a thruster with propeller with the ability to rotate, due to the action of a DC servomotor. Such DU will be mounted on the blimp for locomotion. The mechanical design is aimed to make the blimp near NBP (Neutral Buoyancy Position). Starting from any NBP, the proposed flight logic strategy permits the blimp to move in any direction: up, down, right, left, forward and backward.