Project Loon: Almost four years ago, Google started a project that aims to bring Internet coverage to remote areas with specially designed balloons. Since then until today there has been steady progress with numerous studies, but today the company has announced an important breakthrough that will greatly facilitate the development of the service.
Until today, the balloons were flying around the world in rings, and they moved up or down the stratosphere depending on the winds. When a balloon is dragged away from an area that requires connectivity, another will immediately follow to replace it.
Η team behind Project Loon says it has figured out a way to send small groups of balloons to areas that can stay in place for months to a year. Below is one video which shows how such a thing can be done.
Astro Teller, who leads her experimental department A also known as X, explained that this will allow Project Loon to do incredible things.
"Τώρα τρέχουμε ένα πείραμα προσπαθώντας να δώσουμε services σε συγκεκριμένα μέρη του κόσμου με 10 ή 20 ή 30 μπαλόνια, και όχι με 200 ή 300 ή 400."
To do this, Google's engineers spent a lot of time improving the height and navigation systems, but also to implement a new AI software that regulates how they fly balloons instead of using predefined navigation paths.
The team reported that this translates into a reduction in 100x of the total number of balloons that should be used to make Internet access available. This will lead to a drastic reduction in costs, and the possibility of launching Project Loon services will take place much faster than expected.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHCKL-fCmk8
