Hybrid Drone-Blimps Could Be Future Flying Billboards

Drones do seem to get into plenty of bad press in recent times, but this does not mean that drones should be banned outright, don’t you think so? After all, the first Drone Prix in the world recently saw a teen pick up a sizeable amount of dough as the winner, and a Swiss company intends to look into drone-based advertising to change the face of advertising.

How do they achieve this? The answer is pretty simple, through the use of a new kind of unmanned aerial vehicle which is one part blimp, and the other part being a quadcopter. This rather unique spherical creation will be known as Skye, where it moves about in a slow, lumbering manner, which makes it safe to be in the presence of crowds.

Aerotain is the company behind Skye, and it has described Skye as this – a 10-foot-diameter helium balloon that is propelled by a quartet of electric motors, where each drive will come with an encased propeller. There will also be an onboard computer that ensures the vehicle remains stable and moves around in the right direction. As helium is the “ingredient” that offers majority of the lift, the drone will be extremely energy efficient, and is touted to remain aloft for approximately a couple of hours on a single charge – as opposed to half an hour, tops, for majority of the consumer quad-rotor drones out there.

Edwin Kee
Categories: Robots
Tags: Drones