MAI: Ecodisolar Aeromobile

"Ecodisolar" project MAI is an aerostatic hybrid aircraft for eco-corridors transport along the off-road Russia and the Arctic, performing large rescue operations in case of fires and floods, carrying out night stealth airdromless delivery of swarms drones and special cargo with energy-efficient electric power helium-hydrogen installations with superconductivity, film solar panels and innovative graphene composite technologies^[1]

2022: Airship development

Scientists and students of the Moscow Aviation Institute (MAI) have developed a solar-powered airship that can be used for search work in the Arctic and other hard-to-reach regions of Russia. This became known on August 8, 2022.

Ecodisolar Airmobile
Photo source: MAI

The Ecodisolar airmobile is equipped with solar panels and resembles an airship. It uses lifting (surfacing) force, which, unlike conventional drones, saves energy for vertical movements.

The body of the apparatus is made of strong gas-tight thin elastic materials in the form of two hemispheres closed on a composite hoop, which is filled with helium and non-flammable hydrogen.

The innovation of the development consists in a hybrid electric power plant, which MAI specialists are developing together with the P. I. Baranov Central Institute of Aviation Engine Engineering, - said the press service of the NTI Platform.

Unlike conventional airships, the development of MAI has a gyroscopic stabilization system, which allows it to be used for flights at speeds up to 130 km/h. Such a device can be used not only for rescue operations, but also for the delivery of goods and medicines in regions with complex terrain, the authors believe^[2].

According to representatives of the Moscow Aviation Institute, Ecodisolar does not require the involvement of a large number of volunteers to search for the missing due to the possibility of using mobile systems in the automatic robotic mode of flight-search for people from the air at low speeds and altitudes. One or more observer operators with a digital computer analytical base ("Big Date") will be enough. At the same time, the search can be carried out in any territories, in any weather conditions and around the clock.

The flight speed can be different and set by the search operator, and the duration of the search from the air is not limited in any way, unlike drones, unmanned helicopters or aircraft (engines must expend energy to aerodynamically maintain the vehicles in the air and count for minutes to hours) due to aerostatic unloading and the device becomes "weightless," which requires only the horizontal component of thrust, - says the presentation of the Ecodisolar project prepared by the Moscow Aviation Institute.

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