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.

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.

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.

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.

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.