Balloon Stabilisation is the use of positive- and negative-power Balloons to provide stabilisation.
This requires NoBounds.
Background[]
Balloons always push directly upwards, and so in the absence of other forces they will always rotate whatever they're attached to so that the center of mass is directly underneath them (i.e. the highest possible position they can achieve). This effect can be seen on airships and flying vehicles that use them as a primary source of lift.
On their own, positive-power balloons are not a good general-purpose stabiliser, as their power depends directly on how much mass they're required to lift.
However, there is an effective solution to this.
Balloons with negative power will always push directly downwards. This can be used to cancel out the lifting force of a positive-power balloon - and allow both balloons to be cranked to as high a power as physically possible, maximising the stabilisation effect.
Applications[]
Balloon stabilisation is most commonly used for VTOL aircraft stabilisation, due to its two main advantages - it can be toggled, and it's strong (in contrast to VES, which is quite weak). It also isn't rigid - in fact, it has a lot of give depending on the power.
In the past, it was used for more applications (e.g. gun stabilisation, walker stabilisation), but it has been superseded by other forms of stabilisation in these areas (such as BES and Flat Block Stabilisation) which are both stronger, more rigid, and less fragile.
Usage[]
There are two forms of general balloon stabilisation - the basic non-toggleable form, and a more complex toggleable form.
Non-Toggleable[]
Place a balloon on a grabber pointing upwards. Place another balloon on a grabber pointing downwards directly underneath it.
Set the power of the top balloon to +200, and the bottom balloon to -200.
It is possible to set it higher, depending on your needs and the strength of the grabbers.
Toggleable[]
A toggleable form can be created by placing the above non-toggleable form on a rotating block, such as a steering hinge. The aim is to set it up in such a way that the balloons cancel each other out in one orientation, but do not in the other.
