User:Jjenkins1028/hovercraft

Write problem/project Goal
Our team goal at first was to build off of the robot car idea but because of the already built hover craft and the passion we all shared for building a better craft we decided to change our idea. With our new change we decided to change the hover craft to our specific designs. We plan to have the craft hover about 12 inches about the ground. Also we expect the hover craft to be able to move from a designated point to another using the ardunio program.

My First Task
This weekend we decided to each make a prototype of a hover craft since the one we already had did not work very well. I had purchased some toy fans and connected them to the side of a paper base to create a small hover craft. My task is to finish building my prototype and present to the team on Monday and the improve it to hold more weight since it's only paper.

Summary of actual work over first weekend


What I didn't plan to do was research different ideas of the hover craft. What I realized was that most of the crafts hovered for about 1 inch to a few centimeters above the ground and usually have wind propellers on the back to cause to move. What I planned to do was to build a hover craft using a Frisbee and small fan to cause it to float 12 inches above ground. On FridayI had purchased small fans with a battery to make the paper base float except that I had to remove some of the piece to get to the battery and the wires connected to the battery broke. With out being able to test if the fan could levitate the paper base I had to just sketch out what the final project will look like and solder the wires on the battery in class tomorrow.

Week1 Narrative




During the first week my team decided to change for the first task we had been given, robot car, and change to the hover craft. We felt that the hover craft was more interesting to innovate and build than the robot car and that we could go further in the design process. Two out of the four of my team member had worked on the hover craft in the last project so they had more experience and the old prototype to help us. The prototype wasn't working as well as we hope so for the first day we tried to improve it but it resulting in only minor fixes. What we then planned to do was to sketch out different ideas we could do instead. With this idea I decide to take it a bit further and start building the prototype with what I could buy and make at home. I was inspired by hover craft ideas form the Avengers and Jimmy Neutron where the craft has a fan on the bottom and and side causing it to move. I bought two toys fans at CVS and dissected them to get to only the fan and battery part. Unfortunate I broke the wires connecting to battery, this causes me to have to wait for school on Monday to solder the wires back on. The rest of the weekend I put all the pieces I've been working on together so that I can finish with the correct equipment on Monday in the work room. I also looked at different example of hover crafts I could model the craft after.

My Second Task
This week I plan to finish my prototype let my group decide if they like the idea and then make the craft hover 12 inches above ground.

Summary of actual work over second weekend
We needed a better power supply from the beginning so I experimented with syncing batter to increase volts and power. I linked 9volts to 9volts and 9volts to triple A's. the best solution I've found so far was linking tree 9v batteries.

Week2 Narrative
Tell a detailed story describing what you did for your team over the weekend.

My Third task
Record what you are planning on doing for the team during the third weekend.

Summary of actual work over third weekend
This week i worked on a new skirt. I tried to find the most level light weight one i could. The rope skirt was to uneven where the ends met. What i found was a sheet of thin foam that i cut into 2 rings that i layered.

Week3 Narrative
Tell a detailed story describing what you did for your team over the weekend.

My Fourth task
''Record what you are planning on doing for the team during the final weekend of project work. ''

Summary of actual work over fourth weekend
with kyle being sick i had to pick up the slack and start working on the directional motors.

Week4 Narrative
We had several motors but not many fans i experiment with different fans blades on different motors. i tried to find the combination that moved the most air. i also had to think about how the motor need to be mounted. Joe suggested that the motor should be mounted at a slant because that what designs we researched did. Slanting the motor not only pushed the air behind the craft but also the ground behind it giving it a solid surface to push off of.

Complete Team Page
Fill out the Team Form (should have already copied the form, created the team page, linked to it and started filling it out).