Conclusion

The final product of the hovercraft did not turn out as the team had pleased.  It was able to hold the weight of a person momentarily, but it would tilt and lose its balance.   However, the team was able to discuss what we would have fixed had we created a second model.  The first improvement we would make on the final model would be to use a cordless leaf blower so it would be able to function without the restriction of being near a power outlet.  We would also use a different material for the bag other than the shower curtain.  We believe that the shower curtain we picked had too rough of a surface which created unnecessary friction.  We would also make the volume of the airbag smaller, creating less space for the air to stay inside of the hovercraft and forcing the air out of all the holes faster, maximizing the power of the leaf blower.  I believe this was our biggest issue and the main reason that the hovercraft would tilt and lose balance when a person would put their weight on it.  We also think that using a piece of cardboard rather than a wooden plank at the bottom of the base would have helped make the hovercraft slightly lighter and would have worked just as well.  Another idea we would have liked to test was using a circular base for the hovercraft with the leaf blower placed directly in the center to create a more even airflow.  The biggest issue with this would be finding room for the rider to sit on top of the hovercraft, but it may be fixed by adding a chair that would sit over top of the leaf blower.  This would create more weight, but it may be fixed if the other ideas discussed above were successful in limiting friction and maximizing the force of the air released.  While the project did not turn out as we had pleased, it was not a complete failure.  It exposed the team to designing, building, and testing processes and introduced us to challenges that we needed to solve.  We believe that after completing the capstone project on our own, we are much better suited to conquer a new project in the future with the knowledge that we gained.

Update 2

Since my last post Corey, Alex, and I have made a prototype of the hovercraft.  The hovercraft is functional, but it does not glide well and it can barely hold a person.  We plan on testing the hovercraft on a smoother surface, because there was a lot of friction due to the wood chips on the floor of the shop we tested in.  Our biggest issue currently will be finding a solution to support more weight on top of the hovercraft so it can comfortably hold a person without tilting in a direction.  Once we are finished with testing we will begin to work on the final presentation of  our research.

Update 1

So far we have researched multiple designs for our hovercraft.  We decided on what design would work best for us, made a few sketches, and even created the hovercraft in Solidworks.  We drove to Home Depot and bought our supplies which cost us each about $30.  We are ready to build our design and put it to the test.

Planning The Hovercraft

We created a budget of $150 to spend on the whole project and we will use the machine shops across campus provided to us to build the hovercraft.  First we will research different designs.  Next we will make a shopping list and will go to different stores and compare the best prices to lower the cost as much as possible.  Once we have all of our materials we will build the hovercraft.  We will test the model and make necessary changes to ensure that the hovercraft works how it is supposed to.  When we are satisfied with the final product we will still test multiple times to ensure consistency.  Finally we will present our final model to an audience.

Introduction to Hovercraft Capstone Project

My name is Nathan Cathell, and I am working with Corey Dennis and Alex Borla.  We are second year STEM EE Scholars students tasked with creating our own capstone project.  We decided to think outside the box by making a hovercraft.  The goal of the hovercraft is to slide across the floor while holding the weight of a person.  We thought building the hovercraft would improve our design and machine shop skills as mechanical engineers.

Notre Dame Fire

The Notre Dame Cathedral recently caught on fire.  The spire faced the most damage, as it completely collapsed due to the fire.  The cathedral was in the middle of a renovation project, which may have caused the fire.  The cause of the fire is undergoing investigation currently.  The investigation is determining whether the fire was caused intentionally by somebody, one of the companies working on the cathedral not following proper procedures, or if the fire was completely coincidental.  It was required that contractors using electrical tools or working with heat had to stay on site for an extra two hours after finishing.  The cathedral was not given automatic sprinklers and the attic space did not have fire-breaking walls, which could have prevented the spread of the fire.  The information above was written by the New York Times at the following link.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/notre-dame-appears-structurally-sound-after-fire-as-investigators-look-for-cause/ar-BBVYTqC?ocid=spartanntp#image=BBVYTqC_1|1

I do not see any bias in the article.  The writers were upset that the cathedral suffered damage but did not try to blame any specific person or group for the fire.  The article is only giving an assessment of what some of the safety features put in place were and included some of the effort to fundraise to rebuild the cathedral.  This is an important article because the Notre Dame Cathedral is centuries old.  The cathedral survived revolutionaries and world wars before burning, and it is still not completely gone.  The cathedral will require a massive amount of money to rebuild, due to how big the cathedral is and the artwork inside of the cathedral.  The wood used is very hard to find in France now and the stone used is some of the best available.  In addition, any stained glass that was destroyed will be a lot of money.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/notre-dame-cathedral-rebuild-in-paris-could-take-40-years/

Many people are donating to help the cause, but the costs required to build the cathedral could hurt France.  If the investigation determines that the fire was caused by the engineering company in charge of the renovation, more requirements may be put in place to prevent this from happening again.  It also impacts the engineering of other ancient buildings, because countries may pay to have other building renovated to put better fire systems, walls that prevent the spread of fire, and security inside of them.  The fire affects France, potentially engineering requirements, other national treasures, natural resources needed to rebuild, animals that may get pushed out of their homes due to the natural resources needed, companies that are being brought to rebuild the cathedral, and the catholic church.

I believe that the cathedral does need rebuilt.  It has been a symbol of France for so long and represents their country as much as the White House or Statue of Liberty represents America.  However, I believe that France should research what they will need to rebuild the cathedral before they go in to such a massive project.  While many people have already donated to help, the project will cost France a lot of money, so they should make sure that rebuilding it too quickly will not hurt their economy.  I also believe that they need to consult environmental engineers to ensure that they will not hurt the environment by trying to get too many resources too quickly.  It is also important that if the investigation finds that the company doing the renovation did not follow proper procedures, proper consequences are given to show other engineers or construction workers that saving time or money in one place could have consequences so it does not happen again.

Leadership Council

This semester I was elected to the STEM EE Scholars leadership council.  While I have been in leadership roles before, I have never been in a position that I had to create events for such a large number of people.  Being in the position taught me how to take charge, properly use time management, and work with a council of others to put together large-scale events.  At the beginning of the semester, everybody was new to the position, so the first event put on was slightly disorganized and not ready by the time people were showing up.  However, by the end of the semester we were planning events weeks in advance so we could have everything ready by the time the event would happen.  I was required to take harder classes this semester than in the fall, so sometimes it was challenging to get to events and help plan them.  However, as a group we decided the times that would work best for everybody and met every other week so the council members would still have time to get their coursework completed.  We also had to work well as a council rather than making decisions by ourselves.  This was helpful due to having to plan and supervise many events.  The council planned events together and one or two people would take charge to supervise and get any materials needed to run the event.  This also helped with time management, because if one person had a busy schedule that week they were not required to attend or supervise the event, and they could take responsibility of another event.  Finally being in the council taught me how to improvise.  I was the Game and Sports Coordinator, so I tried to put together a volleyball team for the scholars league.  However, not many people were interested in volleyball and the other scholars programs did not put together teams either.  This gave me the idea to host a march madness bracket challenge with the members of our scholars program instead.  We had about twenty people join and many people enjoyed following the games in hopes to win a gift card by the end of the tournament.

My First Semester of College

I have developed in many different ways over the semester, whether it be academically, socially, or personally.  I have definitely become more responsible since coming to college.  In high school, if the homework was optional I did not do it.  I waited to study until the night before the exam and usually did fine.  Since coming to college, I realize that my study method in high school would not work here.  I do all of my assignments as soon as possible in order to stay on top of my work.  I do the past midterms that are posted to prepare for the tests.  While being more responsible academically, I have also had to be more responsible as an individual.  In high school, all of my classes were back-to-back with a lunch break, and my mom made me breakfast and dinner.  Now I have to plan when to study, when to eat, and when to leave to make all of my classes on time.  My schedule can be planned however I want it to be and I do not rely on anyone else.  Professors do not care if you don’t go to their lectures anymore, so I am able to skip whenever I please, but I go to class to learn the material because I know that it is my responsibility to learn and get a good grade on the tests.  I have also grown socially.  I have met new people from my dorm, classes, and intramural teams.  It is a new environment, so it was originally hard to meet new people, but as the semester comes to an end I am slowly meeting more and more people.  I plan to continue growing by joining more clubs.  I want to join more clubs that have an emphasis on mechanical engineering so I can get more experience.  As the semester has gone on, I have been keeping on top of my work, but I have procrastinated slightly more.  Next semester, I will figure out a way that I will not burn myself out in the beginning of the year.