Category Archives: balloon

Balloons and Bubbles Make for Kid-Friendly Robot Deathmatch

Posted on March 17, 2018 by Fernando Gomes

Because nothing says “fun for kids” like barbed wire and hypodermic needles, here’s an interactive real-world game that everyone can enjoy. Think of it as a kinder, gentler version of Robot Wars, where the object of the game is to pop the balloon on the other player’s robot before yours get popped. Sounds simple, but the simple games are often the most engaging, and that sure seems to be the case here.

The current incarnation of “Bubble Blast” stems from a project [Niklas Roy] undertook for a festival in Tunisia in 2017. That first version used heavily hacked toy …read more

Continue reading →

Posted in arduino, balloon, battle bot, bubble, deathmatch, robots hacks, trackball | Leave a comment

Remotely Controlling a Not-So-Miniature Hot Air Balloon

Posted on May 7, 2017 by Fernando Gomes

Calling [Matt Barr]’s remote controlled hot air balloon a miniature is a bit misleading. Sure, it’s small compared with the balloons that ply cold morning skies with paying passengers and a bottle of champagne for the landing. Having been in on a few of those landings, we can attest to the size of the real thing. They’re impressively big when you’re up close to them.

While [Matt]’s balloon is certainly smaller, it’s not something you’d just whip together in an afternoon. Most of [Matt]’s build log concentrates mainly on the gondola and its goodies — the twin one-pound camp stove-style …read more

Continue reading →

Posted in aerostat, arduino, balloon, burner, hot air balloon, lighter-than-air, misc hacks, nRF24L01+, propane, propane accessories | Leave a comment

Living High-Altitude Balloon

Posted on February 10, 2017 by Fernando Gomes

High-altitude balloons are used to perform experiments in “near space” at 60,000-120,000 ft. (18000-36000m). However, conditions at such altitude are not particularly friendly and balloons have to compete with ultraviolet radiation, bad weather and the troubles of long distance communication. The trick is to send up a live entity to make repairs as needed. A group of students from Stanford University and Brown University repurposed nature in their solution. Enter Bioballoon: a living high-altitude research balloon.

Instead of using inorganic materials, the Stanford-Brown International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) team designed microbes that grow the components required to build various tools …read more

Continue reading →

Posted in balloon, biology, chemistry hacks, high altitude balloon, high altitude research, iGEM, synthetic biology | Leave a comment

New Record for Balloon: Duration Aloft

Posted on November 19, 2016 by Fernando Gomes

High-altitude balloon flights have become somewhat of a known quantity these days. Although it’s still a fun project that’ll bring your hackerspace together on a complex challenge, after the first balloon or two, everyone starts to wonder”what next?”. Higher? Faster? Further? Cheaper? More science? There are a variety of different challenges out there.

A group of Stanford students just bagged a new record, longest time in flight, with their SSI-41 mission. In addition to flying from coast to coast, on a track that went waaaay up into Canadian airspace, they logged 79 hours of flight time.

The secret? Val-Bal. A …read more

Continue reading →

Posted in balloon, high altitude balloon, misc hacks, stanford, students | Leave a comment