User:Ablomme2125/enes100/glorious

Link back to Glorious

This is where work on my Hover Craft project exists.

Give instructor top 3 project choice list
My 3 choices consist of Gas engines, Electric Car, and Car Hack. I was put into hovercraft because its a combination of car hack and electric car because we have to use electric motors to propel the hovercraft, and car hack because we have to hack the arduino to make it do what we want it to do. Which is we want the arduino to accept a USB remote control.

Write problem statement
Make a HoverCraft that can be controlled with a remote control that is controlled by RF signals and have the arduino on the hovercraft so we can have it host the receiver.

Assign Task1
My assignment for the week is to come up with the overall functionality and design of our hovercraft. The reason i picked this job is because i like anything dealing with mechanics and design.

Compare actual work done to Task1
The work i have done this week consists of drawing a schematic that shows the layout and position of the motors, fans, and skirting. The design i came up with has an oval shaped platform that has a hole in the bottom that houses the induction fan that will be from an old computer. This will push the air down underneath the rubber skirting creating an air cushion. Then on top of the platform/deck it will house one central motor to control the angle of the fans to make the hovercraft turn. Then attached to the central motor, 2 motors with fans on them, these will control the propulsion of the hovercraft. Then the propulsion motors will be connected to the central motor by 90 degree gears that will convert the central motors power from horizontal to vertical. There will be a picture posted later.

Week1 Narrative
Started first initial design concept. Found a flaw in the design upon completion of the design. The way i had the turning mechanism on the hovercraft would not cause it to turn. The way i had it set up is i was going to have it so when you turn it would pivot, the propulsion motors on the back, up or down. I then realized that it would be much simpler if i could just adjust the amount of current going to each motor that way one would be pushing more than the other, causing it to move forward and turn.

Week1 Peer Review
I found that James is doing a great job with the team wiki page, the only thing i think that could be improved is adding more pictures of the parts were using and some links of the resources were using to figure everything out. Other than that everything looks great to me so keep up the work James.

Assign Task2
What i plan on doing over the weekend is refining our design concept, im going to try and come up with a more efficient way to turn the hovercraft and to power its propulsion mechanisms.

Compare actual work done to Task2
What i have done is come up with a more efficient design concept that gets rid of the added weight from the central and the other motors. Ive decided that having a device adjust the current to each motor when we press the direction would be a better route that would allow it to turn easier.

Week2 Hovercraft Project
What i did on this new concept is, i add a different fan for the lift of the Hovercraft, and just have stationary propulsion motors. I found from testing, that the turbine fans work the best for the lift because as the pressure builds up beneath the craft, it wants to escape through where it came. Using a turbine eliminates that because the fan is constantly forcing air into the bottom and there is no where for the air to escape. Then by having the fans on top of the platform to push it stationary, it allows easier turning and maneuverability.

Week2 Peer Review
Go to each team mates weekly summary wiki page. Read their activities and narrative. Then go the associated discussion page. Say something positive on this page. Try some constructive criticism. Add your name and 1sfoerster 13:32, 28 August 2011 (UTC) to create a time and date stamp. Create a new category if another team mate has already commented here.

Assign Task3
Im going to work with the Arduino to see if I can get it to operate with the Hovercraft.

Compare actual work done to Task3
Instead of using the arduino to control the functions of the hovercraft, I decided that it would be a better idea to use the Curcuit boards off of the RC cars we received in class.

Week3 Narrative
I decided To use 2 Different RC Cars to control the Propulsion and lift motors via remote control. I first disassembled the small green car , then upon doing that i found that the green car used an electromagnet, that would change its polarity (depending on which way the user turned on the remote)that would then repel a magnet that was attached to the front suspension of the car. Causing it to turn.



Week3 Peer Review
Go to each team mates weekly summary wiki page. Read their activities and narrative. Then go the associated discussion page. Say something positive on this page. Try some constructive criticism. Add your name and 1sfoerster 13:33, 28 August 2011 (UTC) to create a time and date stamp. Create a new category if another team mate has already commented here.

Assign Task4
What we plan on doing for week 4 is to try out some different power supplies because using regular C 9volt batteries drains them too fast. So we need to explore different alternatives as far as power is concerned. Mr. Forester has some 11.2 V batteries that are lithium Poly, so they should last longer. But we will only know with future tests.

Compare actual work done to Task4
Rationalize differences

Week4 Narrative
Upload photos to wikimedia. Upload video to youtube. Convert all spreadsheets, documents, and presentations to wiki format and create wiki subpage of your page for each of them. Link to them here in a narrative that tells a story. High light the problems (engineering problems) you had and how you solved them.

Week4 Peer Review
Go to each team mates weekly summary wiki page. Read their activities and narrative. Then go the associated discussion page. Say something positive on this page. Try some constructive criticism. Add your name and 1sfoerster 13:33, 28 August 2011 (UTC) to create a time and date stamp. Create a new category if another team mate has already commented here.

Complete Project Page
Follow the "project done" format.

Start Next Project Week0 activities
During this week you will perform the week0 activities of the next project.