How-To: “Sub Micro” R/C Blimp

 

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Inspired in part by the Plantraco Nanoblimp, Instructables user masynmachien built this impressive 3-axis ultralight R/C blimp gondola. With an 11″ latex balloon filled with helium, it will carry its own weight of about 10g; with a 14″ balloon, he reports, “it has a payload capacity for a miniature camera.” The thrusters are driven by subminiature R/C servos that have been stripped down to bare motors with dangling circuit boards and potentiometers. A tiny 80 mAh lithium-polymer battery is the heaviest single component at 2.5g.

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I am descended from 5,000 generations of tool-using primates. Also, I went to college and stuff. I am a long-time contributor to MAKE magazine and makezine.com. My work has also appeared in ReadyMade, c't – Magazin für Computertechnik, and The Wall Street Journal.

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