A Modern Autonomous Agriculatural Collector

A major limitation on the economy of agricultural production is the ratio of yield to fuel costs. This is especially apparent in the production of biomass for biodiesel production, where the fuel cost of transportation can potentially negate the value of fuel produced.

AgriLift aims to produce a viable alternative method to using large-bed trucks for the transportation of biomass to regionalized processing facilities. By utilizing Lighter-than-air technologies, solar power and natural atmospheric air currents, an AgriLift collector can autonomously transport biomass while remaining completely self-sufficient for fuel consumption.

To design an autonomous airship capable of lifting up to 350 kg bales. Using the effective mass calculation:

buoyant mass = mass × (1 − ρ_air/ρ_gas),

And the following assumptions of gas density:

Air (ρ_air) = 1.292 kg/m3.
Hydrogen (ρ_H2) = 0.090 kg/m3

1 cubic meter of hydrogen is effectively -1.2 kilograms. Therefore, to completely offset the weight of a single 350 kg bale, ~291 cubic meters of lifting gas is required.