In my last update, we were facing several struggles adding weight to the hover craft. We then realized that the size of the holes we punctured underneath the craft may have been to large. We punched around dime sized holes in the shower curtain to allow the craft to actually hover. The holes we previous had were about the size of a pencil and it just wasn’t enough to get off the ground. By creating larger holes we were able to not only inflate, but also lift the wooden sheet wood off the ground. When we began to add weight, the air that was being propelled from the blower into the air-chamber began to release out through the holes and the wood would slowly go to the ground. We decided if we had more smaller holes the craft may be able to absorb more weight. we approximated it as is to be able to hold around 100 lbs. currently. We will need to buy a new shower curtain if we want to fix the holes or tape over them. This final change will be discussed in the conclusion.

After we purchased the materials, the building phase commenced. We used the OSU work shop lab as a resource to assist us in cutting, screwing and putting together our first model. With the help of supervisors at the lab, we used a CNC machine to turn our rectangular plywood into an oval shape. It was great experience for us to watch how a CNC actually works and how taking measurements are key when entering them into the system. We also had to cut a perfect circle with the diameter of our PVC pipe into our wood to allow air flow from the blower.

Our next goal was to cut the shower curtain, which will act as our air chamber, in such a way that it fits comfortably and even around the wood. Once we positioned the wood on the curtain, we folded the edges and began stapling, cutting, and taping down the edges. We decided to puncture a few test holes into the tarp about the width of a pencil and fill the chamber with air. To no surprise, the tarp blew off and the staples and tape came un-done. We didn’t have nearly as much holes as we thought we would need. Once we added more holes we were able to fill the chamber with the blower and have it “hover” on its own. It could not carry the weight of a person yet and we will look into creating more holes or patching ones that allow too much air out when pressure is added. These updates will be available in Update Post #2.