We wanted to make you discover a video of a very astonishing airship RC, which you will see at the foot of the page. But front, to understand its functioning, more informations are essentials.

EMPA is a Swiss interdisciplinary research and services institution for material sciences and technology development.

Formed in April 2005, the "Materials and Engineering" lab of Empa section carries out innovative projects in the following research and development areas like Smart structures : New materials capable of serving as actuators and/or sensors are used to develop smart structures which lend themselves to mechanical engineering, transport or medical applications. Active fibre composites (AFC) and electroactive polymers (EAP) represent two focal technologies.

In 2006, the section's aim is to build interesting prototypes and technology demonstrators, such as a six-metre-long EAP blimp to be developed over the next two years. This is designed to showcase the bionics-inspired undulating locomotion concept ق€“ similar to the flapping action of a fish in water ق€“ to the expert community and a wider audience. This type of low-noise airship would be ideally suited for carrying television equipment, e.g. for sports transmissions.
Moreover, a single airship of this kind would offer the capacity to handle all mobile phone calls in the London conurbation, thereby making countless radio masts redundant.
More information about Fish-like propulsion of an airship based on electro-active polymers : http://www.empa.ch

As part of the the seventh time "Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften" in in the Peter Behrens Hall of the Aerospace Institute at Berlin, an Empa team headed by Silvain Michel was competed in a regatta with its innovative blimp. In the case of the blimp model, electroactive polymers take care of the altitude and horizontal steering.
"With a turning radius of two metres, we have achieved the optimum balance between manoeuvrability and flight stability", says Michel.

This has been achieved by fitting the electrically activated elastic polymer films as hinges in the blimp's fin assembly. EAPs are able to convert electric energy directly into mechanical work by expanding their surface area when an electrical voltage is applied. This occurs noiselessly and, with an efficiency rating of up to seventy percent, extremely efficiently with regard to energy use.
Thus this technology is suitable not only for steering, but also for providing propulsion, which, in the case of the current model, is supplied by an electric motor-driven propeller. In one of the subsequent versions, this film make it possible for the blimp to "swim" along through the air like a trout. The great advantages of such a bionic drive system would be quietness and economy

The 7th International Airship Convention take place from 9-11 October 2008 at Friedrichshafen

This convention was hosted by the DGLR (German Society for Aeronautics and Astronautics) and held in close collaboration with the Airship Association. In context of this convention, a RC Airship Regatta was carried out.

The LaChLuVe team presented in this regatta a airship RC it's one of the more unique and beautiful R/C blimps made to date, both from an aesthetic and a technical, propulsion design standpoint. Itق€™s called Fin-Fish blimp.

The servo actuated pectoral fins are used as control surfaces to both steer and control elevation. The tail serves dual purpose as well, providing propulsion and acting as a rudder during hard turns.

The next edition of this regatta of airships take place at the time of World Air Ranges of Turin, from the 6 to June 14, 2009. "to be continued"

Air Art from flip on Vimeo.