Google Interested in Wireless Bandwidth Balloons

An anonymous reader writes "Google is reportedly looking into investing in or buying a company called Space Data, which provides wireless voice and data services to remote areas with a fleet of weather balloons fitted with transceivers." My mind is sorta tripping over how something like this could work, but I gotta admit that the idea is really cool.

Comments

Rural area

[esocid]

Space Data's business model is to provide low cost platforms for rural and remote data and voice communication applications via its high altitude SkySite network, which basically consists of an array of balloons equipped with a box of transceivers and other gadgets.

This does seem pretty cool, except since they probably have a short lifespan, as well as being manipulated by weather and wind, that these won't be extremely reliable. It's well intentioned but I am just not sure how this will get off the ground (no pun intended).

Balloon-borne transceivers are launched every 8 to 12 hours and last for about 24 hours before bursting and floating gently back down to earth. Each box of tricks carries a $100 reward for whoever finds it and returns it safely.

So they are sending out a constant stream of weather balloons that may or may not cause concerns with air traffic (I'm not sure how high these go) that will end up just sitting in remote areas when they crash. It kind of seems like a pipe dream to me.

Re:Rural area

[KublaiKhan]

If they're the same weather balloons that the NOAA folks use, they float well above commercial air traffic lanes.

Re:Rural area

[apdyck]

I can't help but wonder about the costs. If they are paying $100 per baloon found, that's a huge chunk of change - for every baloon, 36,500/year (100/day, 24 hour float time). I would think that having tethered baloons would be a better idea, as they would not have to try to find them. Of course, you're still looking at occupying air space, and real estate on top of it if you secure them. Perhaps a better model would be to pay individuals $100/month to have a baloon tied out in their back yard, or some such.

Re:Rural area

[SatanicPuppy]

Yea, it seems like it should be a lot easier to get more endurance out of these things than they're getting...The balloon idea is mainly interesting as a jump off for some basically autonomous station keeping signal platforms...A small blimp covered with solar cells or powered by a large betavoltaic battery or something...

As long as they're just spamming platforms that last for a day or two, the idea is pretty much doomed. The loss rate is going to be astronomical, and sending guys out in a truck to pick 'em up is in no way cost efficient.

Re:Rural area

[Thansal]

wait, I got it!

Why don't we set up these polls that will have the hardware on top!

We just need to space them out nice and evenly, and we wouldn't have to worry (as much) about weather effects. Heck, why limit our selves to just just traditional internet access. I bet I could rig up some sort of portable radio that could make use of these polls.

I could call them PollRadios!

Yah! I am going to make MILLIONS!

So, seriously, what is the point of these balloons? I mean, I could see usages for it where you need to saturate an area with radio for a temporary time (for an always on type thing this just sounds way to cost prohibitive). Something like when if you have a manhunt (lost person/criminal/I don't care) going on in a wilderness area you could set up some sort of network with these things so that searchers could be in constant contact, and such.

Re:Rural area

[Anonymous Coward]

I would have modded you up, but you misspelled pole.

Re:Rural area

[mikael]

The Japanese experimented with incendiary devices that used the jet stream to travel across the USA. To maintain the correct altitude, the balloon would either dump ballast or vent hydrogen. It might even be possible to make of the fact that wind direction and speed can be completely different depending upon altitude.

* Building a balloon that could survive a three-day trip across the Pacific and then automatically drop its warload was technically challenging. Since a hydrogen balloon expands in the sunlight and rises, then contracts at night and falls, the Japanese engineers had to develop a battery-operated automatic control system to maintain altitude. When the balloon descended below 9 kilometers (29,500 feet), it electrically fired charges to cut loose sandbags. The sandbags were carried on a cast-aluminum four-spoked wheel, and discarded two at a time to keep the wheel balanced. Similarly, when the balloon rose above about 11.6 kilometers (38,000 feet), the altimeter activated a valve to vent hydrogen; the hydrogen was also vented if the balloon's pressure reached a critical level.

The balloon had to carry about 900 kilograms (1,000 pounds) of gear, which meant a hydrogen balloon with a diameter of about 10 meters (33 feet). At first, the balloons were made of conventional rubberized silk, but there was a cheaper way to make an envelope that leaked even less. An order went out for ten thousand balloons made of "washi", a paper derived from mulberry bushes that was impermeable and very tough. It was only available in squares about the size of a road map, so it was glued together in three or four laminations using paste derived from a tuber with the Japanese name of "devil's-tongue".

Balloons in warfare

The Internet as a Mesh Network

[DigitalisAkujin]

The beginning of the end for ISPs.

The internet will eventually become a self propagating mesh network. (Case and point: One laptop per child)

Re:The Internet as a Mesh Network

[zienth]

The internet is a series of balloons...

Zienth

Dear Google

[Archangel Michael]

I have a BB Gun.

Re:Dear Google

[Anonymous Coward]

Sorta like shooting swamp rats back on Dagoba, yeah?

I was going to correct you but realized that being a pedantic Star Wars nerd is more embarrassing than being an inaccurate one.

Re:Dear Google

[trollboy]

This has been done before. When there wasn't enough coverage you got a verbal warning msg.
"Spawn more overlords"

Re:Dear Google

[Zerth]

Red Ryder, of course.

Why?

[ShadowsHawk]

I love Google as much as the next slashdotter, but I have to wonder where they're going with this. Android, the dark fiber, Wifi balloons, etc. It doesn't really tie into advertising.

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

i have to admit it seems like the idea of a stoner... "dude... we're going to send people wireless internet from a balloon... "

Re:Why?

[the4thdimension]

Possibly just a publicity stunt? We know that google shot themselves into the limelight and now they must try to stay there. Creative ideas to bring internet access to rural areas keep your good name alive among many. I believe they are attempting to continue to be seen as the "good" company where as many tech-oriented folks look at Microsoft as the "bad" company. Image is everything and I think they are trying to keep it together. However, I agree that this seems to be a bit out there.

Re:Why?

[peacefinder]

Google bidding in the FCC bandwidth auction in progress + balloon-based cell transceivers + dark fiber = cheap new national cell network for Android.

Of course, there remain one or two technical obstacles...

Re:Why?

[westlake]

I believe they are attempting to continue to be seen as the "good" company where as many tech-oriented folks look at Microsoft as the "bad" company.

Microsoft is underwriting the development and launch of a communications satellite for Africa. Cameroon: Microsoft Partners With Schools for IT Development You can not be more "out there" than that.

Google's day of reckoning coming soon

[peter303]

The stock market has stopped believing Google's undisciplined business model will be that profitable and driven the stock price down considerably.

Be sure not to paint 'em red

[KublaiKhan]

We all know what happens when 99 red balloons are floating in the summer sky.

If they're carrying data, well, so much the worse...

Only a 24-hour lifespan?

[smooth wombat]

From the article:

Balloon-borne transceivers are launched every 8 to 12 hours and last for about 24 hours before bursting and floating gently back down to earth. Each box of tricks carries a $100 reward for whoever finds it and returns it safely.

That's an awful waste of resources not to mention what happens if someone is transmitting a signal when the balloon in your area pops? How much does all this constant launching and recovering cost compared to just putting in a tower despite the remoteness?

I can see using these balloons for limited times, such as emergencies, or battlefield conditions where there are no cell towers (as the article intimates) but for every day use? I don't think so.

And what is this 'floating gently back down to earth' stuff? Unless they have a parachute, the tranceiver will not be floating gently back down to earth when the balloon pops. It will be plummeting.

Re:Only a 24-hour lifespan?

[bugs2squash]

I think this is why HALE (High-Altitude Long-Endurance) Aircraft have been proposed as a more reasonable solution

Re:Only a 24-hour lifespan?

[Cyberax]

Weather balloons do not 'pop' like common toy balloons.

If you make a tear in balloons fabric - it will slowly descend as the helium inside the balloon leaks.

Of course, if you tear balloon apart - it will fall lake a lead weight. But it's rather hard to do.

Re:Only a 24-hour lifespan?

[redxxx]

well, that and the whole being able to keep a HALE on station. Balloons get pushed around by the wind, so even if they stayed afloat, they would end up where they were you didn't need them.

Re:Only a 24-hour lifespan?

[Zach978]

Wall Street Journal has a much more complete article about these balloons, and a video.

According to the article:

The electronic gear they carry, encased in a small Styrofoam box, then drifts gently back to earth on tiny parachutes.
[..]
While the balloons are cheap and disposable at $50 a pop, the transceivers they carry are worth about $1,500. Once a transceiver is released from its balloon to parachute back to earth, there's no way to predict where it will land. So Space Data has hired 20 hobbyists with GPS devices to track them down.

Re:Only a 24-hour lifespan?

[dargaud]

If you make a tear in balloons fabric - it will slowly descend as the helium inside the balloon leaks. No.

I spent a year launching weather balloons from Antarctica. They take about one hour to reach 20~30km altitude, then the latex tears up (remember, as the pressure decreases, the volume increases) and the plummet to the ground in less then 10 minutes. In rare cases what's left of the latex will form a parachute shape and they will drop slower.

If you fill them more, they go up faster and blow up earlier (as the latex reaches its maximum thinness earlier). If you underfill them, you get less buoyancy, and they can float for a long time if they don't go up to where they'll pop, which is probably what you want here.

But I have to remind you that:

• latex is expensive (at least for daily balloon launches, you are OK with your S&M fantasies).
• helium is very expensive and world quantities are limited and will run out before petroleum does.
• a standard weather balloon can lift only about 200 grams, which pretty much limits the quantity of battery and thus the wifi power range you can carry.

All that being said I think it's a neat idea, but not as much as solar powered ultra-light drones.

Re:Only a 24-hour lifespan?

[westlake]

And what is this 'floating gently back down to earth' stuff?

How many of the packages can they realistically expect to recover?

"Rural and remote" suggests difficult terrain, dense cover, lakes and ponds, and very few people. I don't think we are talking about the cornfields in Nebraska.

What most puzzles me is why Google wants to enter a market difficult and expensive to service, and with so little prospect of a significant return.

Why not tethered?

[TripMaster Monkey]

It seems that if this company simply tethered their balloons to the ground, they could minimize losses, and thus could afford to deploy far more robust balloons, which could last significantly longer than 24 hours. If a balloon exceeds its life span, sustains damage, or requires maintenance or updates to its payload, it could simply be reeled in as a replacement is reeled out.

Re:Why not tethered?

[Anonymous Coward]

Nope - tethering is a non-starter.

If you tether the balloon, the altitude has to be very low or else the cable would be a hazard to aircraft. The whole idea is to put these up so high that they are well out of the way of air traffic. Also, the higher you go, the bigger the area you can cover.

Think of these as cheap, low altitude satellites.

Re:Why not tethered?

[Yarrr]

Aircraft under VFR flight rules do fly hither and yon, where ever they want (in class G airspace) and flight plans are not always required or even need to be approved. Thats just how SAR finds you when you have an "unplanned landing". There is no requirement for contact with ATC, and you can fly as low as 500 feet AGL, and even lower if the weather is closing in. Sending up 2-3 balloons a day would not be a big deal but making a mesh network of weather balloons, say 20 a day would cause a hazard. Maybe going as far as switching a large area to restricted airspace. Which would require printing of new maps/NOTAMS.

It's a Niche Business Model

[StaticEngine]

When people's Android cellphones are reporting their every move via a network of wi-fi weather baloons, Google will have totally cornered the market of Paranoid Schitzophrenic consumers.

Re:It's a Niche Business Model

[rootofevil]

cornering paranoid schizophrenics?

that doesnt sound like a good idea to me.

at least not if you want to live.

Helium Shortage

[Ilan Volow]

I wonder how Google plans to deal with the rising cost of helium?

http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/14/0219246&from=rss

Re:Helium Shortage

[DrData99]

Just use hot air...

Re:Helium Shortage

[Zach978]

According to the WSJ they use hydrogen.

I wonder what they'll call it?

[Kelbear]

Let me be the first to suggest:

"Skynet"

Cost Analysis

[maokh]

Every 8 hours means 3 launches a day, or 1095 launches a year.

With even the cheapest base station hardware, helium, balloon (at say, $5000 per unit), costs would exceed $14.6M/year per site.

This does not include the labor to continuously manufacturer, transport, and launch equipment.

At a rate of $50/month per subscriber, you would need about 25,000 to break even on base station--hardware alone. This does not include the uplink facility, bandwidth costs, and business administration costs.

I have seen quite a few telemetry balloon launches and return of balloon hardware has never happened even once. Balloons seem fall in the most remote areas, getting caught in trees, landing in the ocean, etc. If a human ever encounters the hardware, they certainly are not very honest about returning it. Even at a modest recovery rate of 1%-5%, it wouldnt be worth the trouble. This sounds like a major environmental hazard too.

Whoever wrote this business plan is on crack. $15 million a year for the equivalent of 14 base stations?! In a rural area? Instead of using grain silos?

And what is this 'floating gently back down to earth' stuff? Unless they have a parachute, the tranceiver will not be floating gently back down to earth when the balloon pops. It will be plummeting

The FAA has quite a few requirements for balloons, including a) payload to have a parachute apon balloon failure b) radar reflectors so ground controllers and aircraft can see them c) remote "self destruct system" to release balloon, among others.

Re:Cost Analysis

[aaarrrgggh]

From the WSJ article, the shoebox is $1,500, launch is $50 (they use H2 rather than He), and recovery $100. They pay farmers to launch them and adventurers to recover them, included in that cost. With 5% mortality, the cost per balloon is $225, or cost per year $82k. Since the boxes are so cheap, they can distribute 20-30 to different farmers to launch when requested. The recovery is aided by GPS coordinates, but I will admit it wouldn't be worth $100 to me to go out and find one.

The coverage should be ~50 mile radius.

To build a base station to do the same thing you would need at least a 300' mast and microwave links between them, plus you have to lease the ground. I don't think you can pull it off with less than a 3-year payback; you also need more prime airwaves.

Whatever colour, we're screwed

[TheEmptySet]

The colour of the balloons is just an artefact of the translation from the song's original German where they were just "99 Luftballons" (actually the German lyrics tell a much better story as the translation changes a lot). So the world is over whatever colour they make them.

The begining of the end of nice ping rates

[headbulb]

Mesh networks are interesting, but a wireless one that would be required would have way too many hops. Then the congestion on each hop would be high too.

Ping rates would go down the tubes.

To the US Government...

[Piranhaa]

At least if Google loses contact with the balloon, it's still in the earth's atmosphere and won't necessarily need missiles to shoot it down, but merely a sniper rifle would suffice

Alt:~25-30Km, Coverage:~500Km with 802.16*

[OldHawk777]

This is a possible reality.
http://www.worldskycat.com/markets/skycom.html

Airships are the way to go.

[blankoboy]

These disposable balloons, while a cute idea, are simply too hobby/garage level. Google, with giant coffers, need to think on a grander 'Bladerunneresque' scale. They should instead deploy manned/autonomous airships (blimps) to serve this purpose.

These airships could serve multiple purposes (among many others I'm sure Google's clever folks could come up with):

- Photography for Google Maps.
- Airvertising as another revenue source.
- Weather.