Hovercraft Group #1

Matt Walker
Travis Smith
Melissa Huynh
Mark Reimer
Jason Rubin
David Duncan

Design Process
First couple of meetings were spent brainstorming and
voting on ideas.
Decided to first build a prototype to test ideas on so that
we dont have to worry about perfect dimensions and
appearance.
Final version is the one where we carefully measured
everything and used color coordinated materials.

Base Design
1st - Meat packages.
Found that it wasnt
aerodynamic enough
and the lip wasted the
lift by having to fill up a
larger volume for the
same distance off the
ground.
Also, it just didnt look
that cool!

Base Design
2nd - Pointed Nose

This design was

inherently
unstable and
had issues with
directional
control.

Base Design
3rd - Rounded Nose

This design proved

more stable and
much easier to
control the side to
side motion but it
wasnt quite what we
needed.

Base Design
Final Design

This final model is the

perfect balance
between weight and
stability.
The longer body adds
stability and extra
room for components.

Number of Fans
Originally, we considered having 2 fans.
1 down for lift and 1 backwards for thrust.

Then, we thought
about using each fan
for both thrust and lift
by dividing the air
stream.

Really Big Motor!

We finally decided to
use a larger motor for
thrust and a fan for lift.

Number of Fans
Since the new motor and its battery weighed
considerably more, we decided to use two fans for
lift.

Fan Placement
We originally thought of two fans, one in front of the
other. This caused the craft to be unstable and too
long.
The side by side design gives good stability and allows
for a shorter length.
Lastly, we had to move the fans a couple of inches
forward because the thrust of the large engine pushes
the nose down.

Skirt Design
We considered an open, full, and tubular design.
The tubular design was too complicated.
The open design didnt hold enough air in.
We finally decided on a full skirt with holes to let
some of the air out because it is simple and reliable.

Rudder

QuickTime and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.

We decided to add a rudder

because we already had all the
parts and it greatly increased
the maneuverability and
control.

Learning to steer

Appearance
For the final design, we
chose an all black and
yellow appearance.
When we looked at the craft
from above it reminded us
of Pac-man so we
decorated accordingly.

Challenges
Greatest challenge was working as a team
Exchanging ideas without stepping on others
Not killing each other.

Burning out the smaller motors (we went through 4)

Having the batteries charged when we needed them.
The two batteries have different connectors.
Shorted out the receiver and had to replace it.
Finding the center of gravity.

Equipment List:
2 sheets of core board

$1.86

5 motors

$12.50

1 switch

$2.86

1 battery connecter

$1.60

1 rudder kit

$2.10

1 big motor

free

2 batteries

free

Radio controller and receiver

free

Total: $20.92
OU Engineering: Priceless

FINISH
START

QuickTime and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.

Version 1.0

QuickTime and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.

Final Version