Electronics > Projects, Designs, and Technical Stuff
In need of a fresh perspective- remote inflation and release of balloons
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Zero999:

--- Quote from: IDEngineer on May 01, 2019, 10:55:16 pm ---I suppose children can always go back to playing with lawn darts.

Everything fun from when I was a kid is either banned or politically incorrect these days.

--- End quote ---
I don't have a problem with lawn darts and other toys which carry risks, such as chemistry sets, but plastic balloons are totally different. A responsible adult wouldn't allow their child to drop litter, so why is releasing a balloon any different? It may not be so immediate, but the effect is the same: rubbish dumped randomly in the environment. I'm not even advocating a total ban on releasing balloons, just those which contain non-biodegradable materials.
james_s:
I don't advocate dumping plastic all over but in the grand scheme of things I have to wonder if balloons are really that big of a problem. I think I've stumbled across the remains of a balloon on the ground maybe 4 or 5 times in my life, compared to things like cigarette butts, beverage containers and shopping bags it's insignificant.
ebastler:

--- Quote from: M4dsc1enti$t on April 30, 2019, 04:23:08 am ---For those that are curious,I'm planning on making fulgerite from silica with lightning,hence the remote activation.

--- End quote ---

I see the need for remote release. But is the remote filling worth the extra hassle? I would tend to manually prefill the balloons and set them up in a simple remote release mechanism.

Granted, once prefilled, the balloons won't last forever. You may have to discard a few when the thunderstorm does not show up as planned. But you would save yourself a lot of development hassle and parts cost. (And probably also a lot of lost gas and lost balloons due to an unreliable mechanism...) And you could simply knot the balloons up, avoiding the cost and weight of valves.
GreyWoolfe:

--- Quote from: james_s on May 01, 2019, 11:39:34 pm ---Lawn darts were great, we played with them all the time when I was a kid. I find it rather sad that they were banned over a very small number of accidents involving improper use. I know I probably sound like an old geezer lamenting the state of the world but it really seems like we have become obsessed with protecting everybody from everything, thus bypassing natural selection and creating a generation of even more idiotic idiots. People who are shielded and protected from every threat the world has to offer never really grow up and never learn to deal with failure. Some of the most educational events in my life that left the most lasting impressions have been the occasional spectacular failures and times I had close brushes with death or serious injury. A bunch of my friends have kids and it's crazy the stuff I see, it makes the most neurotic and paranoid overprotective parents I ever encountered in my childhood look almost reckless.

--- End quote ---

I lived to become an adult and I have the scars to prove it.  Of course I can no longer differentiate between the childhood and adult scars, they all blend together.
Zero999:

--- Quote from: james_s on May 04, 2019, 05:56:05 pm ---I don't advocate dumping plastic all over but in the grand scheme of things I have to wonder if balloons are really that big of a problem. I think I've stumbled across the remains of a balloon on the ground maybe 4 or 5 times in my life, compared to things like cigarette butts, beverage containers and shopping bags it's insignificant.

--- End quote ---
I agree in  principle. The difference is that packaging and cigarette butts in theory are fine if they're disposed of in a responsible manner and are the result of carelessness.  Releasing balloons is more of a conscience decision.

Also note that just because you don't notice balloon remains, it doesn't mean they aren't a problem or are insignificant. The usual kind of litter is more concentrated in places where people will go. Balloon remnants will be scattered more randomly. Awareness is another thing. I can't remember ever noticing balloon debris, until I got a nephew who's obsessed with balloons and frequently finds them, in the park, rivers and ponds, so I suspect there more of a problem, than many think.

The main argument against this is that there are plenty of biodegradable materials which could be used to make balloons. Natural rubber is the obvious one, but cellophane could be used instead of polypropylene film. I suppose the same could be said for packaging and I wholeheartedly agree, even if in some cases it makes certain items more expensive.
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