Google’s Loon balloons provide internet connectivity to tens of thousands of people in Kenya, Mozambique, and Peru.

Helium-filled balloons launched into the stratosphere by Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOGL) subsidiary, Loon, relay internet signals from an earth station to thousands of subscribers’ devices on the ground.

AI from Loon and Google AI keeps these balloons, which float at a height of 20 km, on course. (NewScientist)

AI controls the balloon in the face of winds

A big challenge for Loon was how to keep the balloons safely in position when they are constantly being buffeted by winds in the stratosphere. These winds can push the balloon off course resulting in a disruption in Internet connectivity.

“Driving a super pressure balloon through the stratosphere has only two simple options: go up or go down,” says Salvatore Candido, Loon’s Chief Technology Officer, in a Loon post on Medium.

The solution was to develop an AI-based controller that could adjust the height of the balloon by modulating its pressure.

The balloon could be made to navigate in the desired direction by releasing air to descend, or adding it to ascend, thus using the optimal atmospheric currents to keep on course.

AI technique

Google and Loon used “deep reinforcement learning” to train the balloons’ controllers. “This is perhaps the world-first deployment of reinforced learning in a production aerospace system,” says Candido.

The algorithms in the controller learn from historical data on winds, current local wind patterns, and weather forecasts. They are then able to plot the best route for the balloon.

The system also optimizes the use of power and helium in the balloon’s operations.

For example, during harsh weather conditions, the AI system will carefully husband the resources of the remaining helium and power charge.

Loon found that the new controllers did a far better job of keeping the balloon on course. It is required to be within 50 km of its ground station to enable reliable relay of signals.

Sometimes, high winds knock a balloon off-course. The AI controllers were also able to restore the balloon to the desired position quicker.

Earlier this year, an AI-controlled Loon balloon stayed up in the atmosphere for a record 312 days. The previous record, set by the old controllers, was 223 days.

That’s a significant accomplishment.

Says Candido: “To ape Neil Armstrong, this seemingly simple small step for RL-based balloon flight is a giant leap for Loon.”

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