Hyperblimp for Ogden Nevada lawmen?
The very impressive hyperblimp has fans in Ogden reports the Salt Lake Tribune. Perhaps aerostats will once again have their day as the persistance aspect has to be appealing. The hyperblimp is perhaps the most manouverable airship ever created.
Miami Dades interest in a T Hawk and several other US cities chomping at the bit to promote their own sons and daughters machines must be create pressure on the FAA.
Bring on the NRPM.
Really good to see this innovative platform hitting the mainstream.
Hyperblimp can be found here.
By Cathy McKitrick
The Salt Lake Tribune
Ogden • If all goes as planned, this northern Utah city could be the nation’s first metropolitan area to get its own inflatable sky cop.
This high-tech idea, being developed by the Utah Center for Aeronautical Innovation and Design (UCAID) at Weber State University, involves a helium-filled blimp that can fly for four to six hours before its electric batteries need to be recharged.
Ogden Mayor Matthew Godfrey unveiled the concept during a City Council work session this week, billing it as an unmanned aerial surveillance vehicle that would be effective and affordable.
“You’d have multiple cameras on one ship, and you’d have a visual of a much larger area. The cost savings that this can deliver is very significant,” Godfrey said, “and the deterrent factor, if this technology works as it has for the military, is huge.”
In other words, if people know there’s the eye in the sky and they’re out to break into cars, they’ll likely think twice, Godfrey said.
While Ogden’s new aerial toy might lack the pizazz of a Honeywell T-Hawk micro air vehicle that Miami-Dade’s police force intends to start using, Godfrey believes the 50-foot dirigible is a better fit for fighting crime in Ogden.
“We’re talking about something more stable that gives more time in the air and more maneuverability,” Godfrey said, noting that propellers at each end will allow it to easily change direction.
Weber’s UCAID, which focuses on research and development in the aeronautic and aviation industries, has designed small, unmanned airplanes and helicopters. Ogden’s cigar-shaped surveillance blimp, however, would be the first of its kind.
“This is our first venture in lighter-than-air unmanned aerial vehicle [UAV],” UCAID Executive Director Bradley Stringer said Wednesday.
Last August, Godfrey and Ogden Police Chief Jon Greiner approached UCAID to develop the device. The scope and terms of the contract are still under discussion, Stringer said, with final costs hinging on the cameras and electronics.
UCAID will also provide the ground-control station and software, Stringer said.
Ogden’s sky spy will likely include at least two cameras — one for daytime use and the other with infrared night-vision capability. They would transmit live video to a public-safety station on the ground.
“We’ve been looking at [UAVs] for several years, but most didn’t have a flying time of more than an hour,” Greiner said.
The fabric-covered dirigibles generally carry a payload of about 20 pounds, including batteries and cameras, Greiner said, and can hover or fly up to 40 miles per hour about 400 feet above the city.
Approval from the Federal Aviation Administration is required for aircraft that fly at 1,000 feet above urban areas or 500 feet above rural territory, Greiner said.
How precise the transmitted images will be also remains under discussion.
