Patent ID: 6857601

Claim:
An airship system comprising: an airship having communication means and propelling means that operates according to instructions that are given; a base station having control means and communication means capable of communicating with the airship; and earth-based position measuring means for measuring a position of the airship, wherein: the control means comprises instruction forming means for forming, based on the position of the airship that is measured by the position measuring means, the instructions including a flight instruction for controlling a route of the airship, and causes the communication means to send the instructions to the airship; the position measuring means measures positional relationships between the airship and a plurality of measurement points; the position measuring means comprises distance measuring means for measuring distances between the airship and the measurement points; the distance measuring means comprises an ultrasonic wave generator or generators provided in the airship or at the measurement points for generating ultrasonic waves and an ultrasonic wave detector or detectors provided at the measurement points or in the airship for detecting the ultrasonic waves emitted from the wave generator or generators, and calculates distances between the airship and the measurement points based on times from generation of the ultrasonic waves by the ultrasonic wave generator or generators to arrival of the ultrasonic waves at the wave detector or detectors; and the airship comprises obstacle detecting means for detecting an obstacle located ahead of the airship in a traveling direction, and the airship system further comprises obstacle avoiding means for controlling the propelling means so that the route of the airship is changed and the airship will thereby avoid an obstacle when the obstacle detecting means detects the obstacle.