Google Loon Takes Off to the Sky

Google is trying to give affordable Internet access to 4.8 billion people who live in rural and remote areas, with the help of Google Loon. Google loon is a device that has been made with polyethylene plastic sheets and looks like a hot air balloon.

            

This is a research project that started at New Zealand in June 2013 by Google Inc. and is supported by the company's own research department Google X. During its  first testing phase, they launched 30 balloons from New Zealand's South Island. These balloons were connected to each other in a circle via wireless Internet with a handful of ground station, and passed signals to one another in a kind of daisy chain.

The local people didn’t know about this project when it was launched for the first time, but they still allowed Google to attach the receiver (like a basketball) to an outside wall of their property in order to connect to the Internet.

The proposed scenario of Google loon is that, at high-altitude, a network of balloons will be placed in the stratosphere approximately at 20 km (approximately 65616 feet) above the earth, traveling at the edge of space moving with the wind (with speed Between 5 and 20 mph) at altitude of about 20 miles (32 km) to create an aerial wireless network with up to 3G-like speeds.

How Google Loon Works

Google Loon balloons are floating into the stratosphere twice as high as airplanes, but below the range of satellites and weather, handle by using software algorithms to determine where its balloons need to go. The balloons are filled with Helium gas and mixture of air. As they need to move with the air, the balloons can be arranged to form a large communications network. 

The ‘Google loon balloons' carry signal around the earth by winds and they can be steered by rising or descending to an altitude with winds moving in the particular direction. The Loon team can access the web- based control system from any computer or tablet. In the stratosphere the balloons are connected to each other, and the signals are bounced from one balloon to another, which forms global Internet on the earth. People will connect with this network by using a special Internet antenna which is attached with the user house as shown in the picture below.

Google Loon has three parts: Envelope, Solar panels and Equipment.

Envelope

It is the inflatable part made form polyethylene. This part is able to hold high pressure and low pressure (1/100 atm). This part is resistant to ultraviolet rays and is capable to working in low temperature like -58 °F.

Solar Panels

Google loon are outfitted with solar panels, which produce 100 Watts of power in full sun, the balloons run on solar power during the day and a battery at night. By moving (with wind) and charging (with sun) balloons are able to power itself to use renewable energy source.

Equipment

In equipment there are “circuit boards (for control the system), radio antennas (for communication with other balloons and with Internet antennas on the ground), batteries (to store solar power and balloons can operate during the night with this power) and weather instruments (to monitor the conditions and weather around them). The balloons and equipment can be re-used and life time of each Google loon balloon is approximately 2- years.