Control algorithms could keep sensor-laden balloons afloat in hurricanes for a week

Controls engineers have developed practical strategies for building and coordinating scores of sensor-laden balloons within hurricanes. Using onboard GPS and cellphone-grade sensors, each drifting balloon becomes part of a ‘swarm’ of robotic vehicles, which can periodically report, via satellite uplink, their position, the local temperature, pressure, humidity and wind velocity.

(via WSJ)