Hovercraft

Week0 Activities

Write problem/project Goal

Create a hovercraft that can travel at least 10 feet in 15 seconds

My First Task

What are you going to do for the team this first weekend?

Week1 Activities

Summary of actual work over first weekend

This weekend, i decided to look into different types of batteries to see if there was any way to keep our current power while decreasing weight. Unfortunately, weight is usually not included with stats for batteries, so the focus now is to increase power while not increasing weight, which means looking for batteries of similar weight, but with more voltage/amperage. This information also depends on how much weight the hovercraft will have with its new styrofoam body which is replacing the frisbee. If the new body is light enough, we will not have to change the current circuit we are using.

Week1 Narrative

This weekend, i looked up 9-volt batteries to see if there was any weight difference. As stated already, there is no specific listing of weight for most of these batteries, since weight is usually not a concern with the devices used for them.

Therefore, i have decided to look for similar sized batteries, but ones that have a higher voltage or amperage, again as stated above. However, the more important requirement with these batteries is acquiring them, since we only have 4 or 5 9 volt batteries, and getting another kind of battery would require either shipping it here, or going out and buying it. It is important to consider that the batteries are also not the only thing contributing to weight, and we have already found ways to lower the weight of the hovercraft as a whole, so it might not be necessary to reduce the weight of the power supply, and if we can reduce the weight significantly (compared to the weight of 3 9-volt batteries) it might just be possible to get a more powerful power source that weighs a little more than our current power supply.

My Second Task

This week, i plan to find a way to increase the power/weight ratio in any way possible, and then see if it is possible to increase the weight of the power supply within reason, so that we have more power for the weight. This will require the styrofoam body of the hovercraft to be complete, but at that point, i will be able to find a way to make the hovercraft have enough power to meet our goal.

Week2 Activities

Summary of actual work over second weekend

The main difference between what i planned on doing and what was actually done is that we found that the one fully charged battery that is currently being used provides a large amount of power compared to the three batteries being used before, so there is a possibility of getting a very large amount of power from 3 fully charged 9-volt batteries, if we choose to go that way with the design.

Week2 Narrative

This week, we focused on actually getting the hovercraft in one piece. We cut out the styrofoam we were going to use for the main body, and on friday, the hovercraft was assembled. As for wiring, we punched small holes in the body of the hovercraft for the air pumps wires, and the wiring for the battery(s) and the switch are on the top of the hovercraft.

My Third task

This week, i plan on making sure the hovercraft has enough power while not putting on too much weight, and this focuses on whether or not one 9-volt battery produces enough power. if it does, then it will be very easy for us to get the hovercraft working the way we want it to.

Week3 Activities

Summary of actual work over third weekend

How is what you did different than what you planned?

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.

Week4 Activities

Summary of actual work over fourth weekend

What we had planned to do was way different than what actually happened. On monday, we discovered that our ho9vercraft design was significantly flawed, and that we needed to change the design in order for it to work. on Wednesday, we started this process, but did not have enough time to complete it. Therefore, we got together on friday to work, and had several failed attempts at trying to get an effective skirt design.

Week4 Narrative

Mainly, i was there for ideas and to help implement them into the design. At this point, this was all i could do since we had no real plan to go off of and we were more or less putting ideas on the table and seeing what would work.

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).