[dorkbottac-blabber] UrbanXchange fashion show/benefit needs tech ideas!

[Andrew Becherer]

On 7/5/07, Laura MacCary <laura at maccary.com> wrote:
>
> Here is the original message from Julie of UrbanXchange about the fashion
>________________________________
> From: urbanxchange at comcast.net [mailto:urbanxchange at comcast.net]
>
> think the idea of the remote control blimp flying above the models and using
> the remote camera to show them on the big screen would be uber cool.

So this is interesting. If Laura is looking for low budget, high
impact it could be done for $80 + a person running the blimp hooked up
to the projector. That might actually work best for her purpose (@ a
fashion show you probably want to try to train the camera on the
models as much as possible) but doesn't really excite my emotions.

I get excited at the idea of a behavior based autonomous blimp with
obstacle avoidance logic and surveillance capabilities. I know where
to start with the software but where to start with the hardware. RC
blimp platforms that can carry more than just an once or two seem
expensive (based on simple google searches). I'm not really
intimidated by creating my own payload & motor undercarriage. Where
can one find affordable "blimp like" floating bodies?

The Blubber Bot Robotic Inflatable over at the Make Store looks like a
platform ripe for hacking. Alas, it too appears a little small for any
significant payload. The creators of the Blubber Bot Robotic
Inflatable kit also created larger blimps but there is no information
posted about the lifting bodies.

There is some info about gluing or welding Mylar and other materials
on the internets. Does anyone have experience with making balloons?

-- 
Andrew Becherer
Undergraduate, Computing and Software Systems
University of Washington, Tacoma