DEFYING CONVENTION

With the application of rapid prototyping as a support tool for wind-tunnel testing, designers of unconventional autonomous airships have the ability to analyze multiple configurations and effortlessly change geometry to increase stability, reduce drag, or fulfill mission requirements.

The need for environmentally clean transport systems significantly favors lighter-than-air vehicle (LTAV) technologies using massively distributed solar panels to produce the necessary power for their propulsion systems. As a result, interest in unconventional airships is increasing, and several new unconventional shapes have been proposed by architects, industrial designers, and engineers.

The conceptual design process of an unconventional airship is fairly complex, involving activities such as weight breakdown and sizing, aerodynamics, power propulsion systems and energy management, and automatic control. New trends also introduce concepts such as a cruiser/feeder airship systems-an integrated design composed of a mother airship cruising at high altitude and a small airship that acts as a lifter feeding the cruiser passengers and commercial goods to be transported to and from ground level.