Noiseless and vibration-free Ionic Propulsion technology for indoor surveillance blimps

We present in this paper a novel indoor blimp that is propelled by a propulsion technology that uses no moving mechanical parts and thus is noiseless and vibration free. In our prior work reported at IEEE/ASME AIM 2007, we demonstrated several prototype propulsive units (with asymmetric capacitor configurations) that lift themselves into air. Using these basic propulsive units (“Ionic Flyers”), we have recently developed an indoor flying blimp that has a propulsion system with no moving mechanical parts and thus generates no noise or vibration - the Ionic Propulsion Blimp. The key to successfully create this novel indoor flying system is the development of a power generation system that includes an 11.1V battery which is capable of generating ∼20kV DC voltage continuously over time for a load in the MΩ range. The architecture of this ionic power system will be presented. A detailed parametric analysis and an optimal design methodology of the Ionic Flyer are also discussed. Initial experimental results of the Ionic Propulsion Blimp are also summarized in this paper.