Design of a Blimp Based Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for Surveillance

This paper describes the design and development of Blimp Based Air Vehicle with the ability to perform vertical take-off and landing that can serve the purpose of surveillance in an area dangerous for humans. The design uses vectored thrusting to propel the blimp. Software is developed for visualizing the mechanical design of the blimp given its design parameters. The blimp is then developed by utilizing Polyurethane as fabric and helium gas is used for lifting the blimp. Brushless DC motors are used to generate thrust for lifting the blimp and servo motor is used to shift the motion axis of blimp by rotating the assembly of gondola carrying the propellers. A wireless camera is mounted for the purpose of surveillance and control. The video data is received at the base station where it is recorded and afterwards analyzed for the presence of certain object. The control signals for the motors are generated and transmitted by an AT89C52 microcontroller through a 6-channel transmitter. The receiver present on the blimp decodes these signals and controls the motors accordingly.