4 ms·
Drones are loud and pretty energy inefficient compared to hydrogen balloons. I understand large balloons like Zeplins cost a lot of lives, why can’t we make min
by nojvek 6y ago
Drones are loud and pretty energy inefficient compared to hydrogen balloons. I understand large balloons like Zeplins cost a lot of lives, why can’t we make mini Zeplins for <1kg payloads. Or <5kg payloads. That should scale right?
A drone could be attached to the balloon and it would help reduce the energy needed to fight gravity and could probably cruise for a much longer distance.
- sgtnoodle 6y agoThat would be pretty cool. I question how practical it would be in real world weather conditions, though. Also, with that much surface area to mass, I can't imagine it could go very fast efficiently. A big benefit of Zipline's vehicles is the capability for emergency just in time deliveries.
- roksenhorn 6y agoThese drones are pretty close to silent
- Nasrudith 6y agoSquare cube law says no it doesn't scale well I am afraid. The weight of the skin scales on surface area and the lift scales on volume of the displaced air. You can tweak for thicknesses and pressures some - but hydrogen is also corrosive in addition to being flammable and explosive.