Hovercraft

Project Title

Hovercraft

Project Area of Specialization Electrical/Electronic EngineeringProject Summary

Hovercraft is a vehicle or craft that travels over land or water on a cushion of air. A hovercraft also sometimes called an air cushion vehicle because it can hover over or move across land or water surfaces while being held off from the surfaces by a cushion of air. Hovercraft requires no surface contact for traction and it is able to move freely over a variety of surfaces while supported continuously on a self-generated cushion of air. Hovercraft are so versatile that their applications are as diverse as the people who use them. They are used for recreation, education, racing, rescue, military and a multitude of commercial uses. The major value of hovercraft is they can reach areas that are inaccessible on foot or by conventional vehicles. The purpose of this project is to design and investigate a fully functional hovercraft. The total weight of our model will be 5kg including payload. It will move at a speed of 2km/h. In our project, we will present electrical and mechanical parts of the hovercraft The processing unit of this model is Arduino Uno by using the remote control. The body of our hovercraft is made of thermopore. We will use four BLDC motors and propellers in the base that will help the hovercraft in lifting from the surface The propellers at the bottom blows air and inflates the skirt. Skirting is made of nylon fabric and it contains pressurized air which will give a lift to hovercraft. We will mount these BLDC motors on balsa wood. There is also a BLDC motor and propeller at the back of the hovercraft that will help the hovercraft to move in a forwarding direction. Steering is achieved by mounting movable rudders mounted behind the thrust propeller.The Servo motor will turn the rudders that will help the hovercraft in turning. We will design a wireless remote control that will operate hovercraft. Since our prototype should be functioning on all kinds of earth surfaces so we will test our model on different floor conditions. They include water, grass, cement and tile.

Project Objectives

The objectives of our project are:

• Analysis of motion and operation of hovercraft.
• 3D design of hovercraft.
• Mathematical calculations.
• Software Implementation (coding and simulations).
• Movement of hovercraft on different surfaces.
• To hover with a weight of 5kg (including payload).
• To move with a speed of 2km/h.

Project Implementation Method

1. Literature review.
2. Mathematical calculations and designing of hovercraft.
3. Components Selection.
4. Arduino coding and Proteus simulations.
5. Testing of motors.
6. 3D modeling of the hull of hovercraft.
7. Attaching skirting with 3D model.
8. Designing of a wireless remote.
9. Hardware implementation.

• Installing BLDC and servo motors on body of hovercraft.
• Installing propellers on BLDC motors and connecting ESC.
• Setting up Arduino.
• Interfacing of our wireless remote.

       6. Final testing of hovercraft on different surfaces.

       7. FYP report.

Benefits of the Project

Direct benefits of our project are in:

• Military
• Agricultural department
• Security Organizations
• Rescue Operations
• Environmental Testing
• Heavy load movement across difficult surfaces
• Wildlife and forestry department.

Indirect benefits of our project are: 

• Island-hopping
• TV and film companies
• Survey work
• Dive recovery teams
• Fishing
• Exploring the vast number of areas that cannot be reached by other vehicles

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

The final deliverables of our project are:

• Literature review

In the literature review, we will explain the complete summary of our project by giving the references of the research papers that we studied. 

• Calculations

We will deliver complete mathematical calculations of different design parameters of hovercraft.

• Components selection

We will provide a complete list of components that we selected for our FYP and we will explain with mathematical calculations that why we selected these  components

• Simulation and coding of circuit

We will deliver complete simulations of our circuit on proteus and we will also provide complete Arduino coding of our project. 

• 3D model.

We will present a complete 3D model of the body of the hovercraft.

• Hovering with weight of 5kg.

We will deliver a prototype that will lift a weight of 5 kg.

• Moving with a speed of 2km/h.

We will deliver a prototype that will move with a speed of 2km/h and we can also be able to adjust the speed by controlling the speed of the back motor.

• Controlling hovercraft with remote

We will deliver the complete design of our wireless remote and will operate our model by using that remote. 

Final Deliverable of the Project HW/SW integrated systemCore Industry TransportationOther Industries Agriculture , Manufacturing , Media , Others , Security Core Technology RoboticsOther Technologies Internet of Things (IoT), 3D/4D Printing, Robotics, Others, Clean TechSustainable Development Goals Clean Water and Sanitation, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, Climate Action, Life Below Water, Life on Land, Partnerships to achieve the GoalRequired Resources

Item Name	Type	No. of Units	Per Unit Cost (in Rs)	Total (in Rs)
			Total in (Rs)	79950
BLDC Motor	Equipment	5	2000	10000
servo motor	Equipment	1	700	700
ESC	Equipment	5	1500	7500
Arduino UNO	Equipment	2	1000	2000
Propeller	Equipment	5	500	2500
Imported Plywood/ Balsa wood	Equipment	1	5000	5000
3D modelling	Miscellaneous	1	10000	10000
Battery	Equipment	2	15000	30000
Skirting	Equipment	1	5000	5000
Push Buttons	Equipment	10	25	250
HC11	Equipment	2	1000	2000
Connectors	Equipment	1	1000	1000
rudders/metal strips/nuts/bolts	Equipment	1	1000	1000
Thermopol	Equipment	1	3000	3000