The computer blimp project continued with the group members finding solutions to previous airship design flaws. The Mark II airship was designed with improvements in control and ballasting. It made its debut at RoboFest 2.
A new envelope was constructed of raw heat-seal polyethylene. This greatly improved the tightness of the seams as well as the appearance of the machine. The new envelope was much larger in anticipation of providing the lift necessary for the improved undercarriage (approximately 5 pounds).
The motors were replaced with high RPM disc-drive motors and the small propellers were replaced with much larger, higher speed propellers.
The biggest improvement to the airship was the nature of the control system. The motor control was changed from relays to PWM (for speed as well as for directional control) using high current FET H-bridges.
A new program was written which accepted high-level movement commands via an RS-232 communications link to a ground based computer. A small cable linked the ground station to the Mark II.