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AssigneeGoogle Inc.
InventorsEric Teller, Richard Wayne DeVaul, Joshua Weaver, Clifford Biffle
Estimating the term…
A balloon is provided having an envelope, and a payload positioned beneath the envelope, wherein the envelope has an exterior shape adapted for directing sunlight towards the payload. The balloon may further include a control system configured to cause the balloon or payload to rotate to cause a first portion of the balloon envelope or a first portion of the payload to be positioned facing the sun. The first portion of the balloon envelope may be asymmetrical with respect to a second portion of the balloon envelope, with the first portion angled to direct sunlight towards the payload. The balloon envelope may include a transmissive or translucent surface adapted to direct sunlight towards a lower portion of the envelope, which in turn is adapted to direct sunlight onto the payload. The balloon may also be lens-shaped to focus sunlight onto the payload.
A computer-implemented method, comprising:
A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored therein instructions executable by a computing device to cause the computing device to perform functions comprising:
An airborne balloon, comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.