The sky is our ocean
In continuation on the material preparation and its assessment we prepared the first workshop test matrix for the Phase II TPU envelope material. This update focuses on the next step: what we are testing, why the current targets changed, what the active plan is, and the first recorded outputs from the strip-loop tests. What we Continue reading Material testing update
As per our Phase II planning we reached moment where some material decisions needed to be done also to prevent Phase I material fiasco. One of the main ones was the envelope material. This was not really a glamorous design decision, but it was one of those practical decisions where the rest of the project Continue reading TPU material for Phase II
As part of our Phase II envelope design, we wanted to understand how the interface between two adjacent hulls affects turbulence and parasitic drag. Mk1, Mk2 and Mk3 variants were developed to explore how these envelope shapes behave within the CFD (Computer Fluid Dynamics) modelling The short version: Design Workflow For each iteration, we:1. Modelled Continue reading Phase II Envelope Iteration:…
Long story short, we ended visiting The Museum of Military History in Vienna on the 2nd of January and it was great! To my surprise, my passion for airships followed us there too. The first encounter ended up with an image of Imperial and Royal Military Airship M.IV, Boemches system, 1912. Apparently, the Imperial and Continue reading Visit to Museum of Military History Vienna
Being a happy Creality owner for years, using it as a workhorse for our project prototyping in a good and bad days. It sort of worked out to the point when now where we are moving to the Phase II, I decided to keep up with this brand and expand on our manufacturing with some Continue reading When an “Official” Upgrade Breaks a Working Workflow: My Ender-5 Plus Saga
Over the weekend we finally achieved something worth reporting! As part of our airship design and Phase II scale‑up (see our Carbon Fiber Tube Sizing conversation around the H2Use project), we need to develop a new 19 m long, Ø 400 mm carbon‑fiber tube that can withstand the loads and deflections defined in our sizing study. Specs recap: Continue reading CF Tubes – Phase II: Heating Rig Test First…
We replaced fragile copper with UART-over-fiber between Arduinos, eliminating EMI jitters and preparing our MQTT hub-and-spoke control plane for Phase II.
In 2021, I wrote a blog post Helium vs. Hydrogen atom size exploring why I prefer hydrogen over helium for lighter-than-air applications. One of my key arguments was that hydrogen molecules, being larger (kinetic diameter 289 pm vs. helium’s 260 pm), should leak more slowly through the airship envelope. I likened this to a tea Continue reading Effusion “Helium vs. Hydrogen Atom Size” Review
It s been a journey. From experiments with hydrogen balloons, to actual hydrogen lifts and a full-blown demo flight, Phase I of the H2Use airship project is officially wrapped. Let’s rewind for a sec. Our roadmap has been public from the start – our Trello board laid out Phase I goals and, give or take a Continue reading Phase I Wrap up
FYI Original quick debrief report here. It started quietly on a Friday. I had taken the day off to give our project, the space it needed to finally become airborne. Over the past four to five years, what began as a spark of curiosity turned into a deep obsession (Sebi likes saying that to all Continue reading H2Use Airship Phase I The Big Story