A method for launch of an airship includes connecting a cargo airship to a second airship that is not positively buoyant at the launch site, launching the cargo airship, transferring lifting gas from the cargo airship to the second airship where said lifting gas is carded by the cargo airship while aloft; and releasing the second airship from the cargo airship. A high-altitude airship launch system is also provided.

The invention features an apparatus for airborne transport of cargo. Such an apparatus includes a controller and an airship having a hull, an airframe that supports the hull, and at least one ballast chamber. The controller is configured to actively ballast the airship by causing the ballast chamber to contain a variable mass of air. The controller thus controls the mass or weight of air in each ballast chamber. In some embodiments, the ballast chamber's mass is the sum of a fixed mass and a variable mass. The variable mass is that of air that has been pressurized by some variable amount to a pressure above atmospheric pressure. The controller causes the variable mass to change by changing the number of air molecules in the ballast chamber, either by causing that number to increase or decrease.

The invention features an apparatus for airborne transport of cargo. Such an apparatus includes a controller and an airship having a hull, an airframe that supports the hull, and at least one ballast chamber. The controller is configured to actively ballast the airship by causing the ballast chamber to contain a variable mass of air. The controller thus controls the mass or weight of air in each ballast chamber. In some embodiments, the ballast chamber's mass is the sum of a fixed mass and a variable mass. The variable mass is that of air that has been pressurized by some variable amount to a pressure above atmospheric pressure. The controller causes the variable mass to change by changing the number of air molecules in the ballast chamber, either by causing that number to increase or decrease.

A method for launch of an airship includes connecting a cargo airship to a second airship that is not positively buoyant at the launch site, launching the cargo airship, transferring lifting gas from the cargo airship to the second airship where said lifting gas is carried by the cargo airship while aloft; and releasing the second airship from the cargo airship. A high-altitude airship launch system is also provided.

A method for launch of an airship includes connecting a cargo airship to a second airship that is not positively buoyant at the launch site, launching the cargo airship, transferring lifting gas from the cargo airship to the second airship where said lifting gas is carried by the cargo airship while aloft; and releasing the second airship from the cargo airship. A high-altitude airship launch system is also provided.

The invention relates to a multipurpose airship and, more particularly, to a hybrid dirigible. The airship comprises a body (2) having a parallelepiped shape and docking means (8) comprising four rods connected by a frame and designed to be extractable from the body (2), the ends of these rods being provided each with at least one vacuum cup for adhering to a substantially vertical surface of a building. The docking means (8) are provided with grips adapted to engage with the docking means (8) of another airship of the same design. The invention also relates to a set of airships including at least two said airships. The proposed airship does not require a lot of space for its take-off and provides fast and secure evacuation of people from tower buildings. In addition, the invention provides the possibility of varying the airship payload directly in flight depending of specific needs.

An aircraft comprising a hydrogen-containing envelope, a water-collection system for collecting water from the envelope, an electrolyser to convert the water collected using the water-collection system into hydrogen, and a hydrogen-replenishment system for replenishing the envelope with hydrogen generated using the electrolyser. In one embodiment, generated hydrogen is also supplied to a hydrogen-fueled propulsion system for propulsion of the aircraft.

The disclosed invention describes a method for determining a lift of a gas cell of an airship. A computing device receives depth measurements of an interior surface of the gas cell comprising a lifting gas using a lidar sensor positioned outside at the top of the gas cell. The computing device performs a particular integration on the depth measurements and estimates a volume of the gas cell based on performing the particular integration. The computing device determines the lift of the gas cell comprising the lifting gas using estimated volume of the gas cell. The computing device sends the lift of the gas cell comprising the lifting gas to a control module of the airship.

The disclosed invention describes a method for determining a lift of a gas cell of an airship. A computing device receives depth measurements of an interior surface of the gas cell comprising a lifting gas using a lidar sensor positioned outside at the top of the gas cell. The computing device performs a particular integration on the depth measurements and estimates a volume of the gas cell based on performing the particular integration. The computing device determines the lift of the gas cell comprising the lifting gas using estimated volume of the gas cell. The computing device sends the lift of the gas cell comprising the lifting gas to a control module of the airship.

The disclosed inventions include and apparatus and method for providing a universal Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) system configured with fly-by functionality. Such system may be configured to work in a plurality of modes including a walk-bay, drive-by, fixed network, and fly-by mode without hardware modifications. The system is configured to automatically calibrate so that the water meter transmitter operates at a minimum transmitted signal power level. Additional features include automatic hardware self-healing features where the system continues to function after certain hardware failures occur.