Term 252

HARPLO: High Altitude Regenerative Platform for Long Operations

Project Type: Self-Initiated

Project Description

Operations) is a multidisciplinary senior design project that develops a staged proof-of-concept for a long endurance lighter-than-air platform supported by a regenerative solar-battery-hydrogen energy architecture. The project integrates Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Chemical Engineering to address one of the main limitations of persistent aerial systems: restricted operating duration due to onboard energy constraints. Rather than attempting a full stratospheric vehicle at this stage, the project presents a safer and more practical prototype consisting of two coordinated parts: an airborne blimp subsystem and a ground-based hydrogen-generation subsystem.