Control unit of monitoring airship and his communication interface

Because there are many things which need to be monitored (for example traffic jams, demonstrations, sports events, floods, etc.), we have started project of monitoring airship. This paper deals with the control unit of the monitoring airship and its communication with ground base. The main control board is equipped with many sensors. It provides the ground base information about altitude of flight, azimuth of airship, tilt in both axes, air temperature and air humidity. In cooperation with other units, it enables measurement of battery voltages, current consumption, recording of GPS data and many other functions. The Xbee PRO modules and RFM12B are used for wireless communication between the ground base and the airship. Currently, the airship allows only manual control, so this paper does not deal with flight control.