NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #27/NN_1992_27.iso/spool/comp/robotics/2403

Text File | 1992-11-24 | 1.9 KB | 47 lines

Newsgroups: comp.robotics
Path: sparky!uunet!munnari.oz.au!newsroom.utas.edu.au!hilbert!piggy
From: [e-mail] (La Monte Yarroll)
Subject: Re: Table top Hovercraft know how wanted.
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Sender: [e-mail]
Organization: University of Tasmania, Australia.
References: <[e-mail]>
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 23:17:50 GMT
Lines: 35

[e-mail] (John Yee) writes:

>Hello robot builders, have you any experience making small, say 6" diameter
>maximum, hovercraft?  If so, please post/email your experiences.

I built a 12" hovercraft for operation on extremely smooth surfaces.

Rather than a fan, I used compressed CO^2.  I used the oxidant
regulars from two mini tourches (the butane/nitrous oxide tourches
that Radio Shack used to sell).  The CO^2 cartriges were of the type
used in selzer bottles.

The base of the hovercraft was a piece of plexiglas, about 1/8" thick,
cut into a circle and carefully polished.

I drilled a small hole in the center, just large enough to fit the
fine tip of the tourch.  I made a shallow indentation on the bottom of
the base about 1" diameter around the hole in the center.

Setting the regulators at a very low setting, the device would move
freely accross a level lab table for several minutes.  Setting higher
pressures would allow movement accross slightly rougher surfaces (like
a clean floor), though the CO^2 tends to turn into dry ice at higher
pressures.

This device was bulit as an entry in a mousetrap-propelled vehicle
race.  The mousetrap pushed a rod backwards against a wall for the
initial thrust.  The device worked well in tests on a large sheet of
linoleum, but irregularities in the floor of the contest arena caused
the device to spin in a circle.
--
La Monte H. Yarroll    Home:        [e-mail]
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