Here we have our final product. The rudders are not attached here, but they will be placed on top on the propulsion fan on the back. Hoover is ready for liftoff. 

Here we have the code for the hovercraft


//Code for the Fall 2014 Design Project
//Not Your Average Housecats' Hovercraft

//Libraries required for Motor Shield
#include <Wire.h>
#include <Adafruit_MotorShield.h>
#include "utility/Adafruit_PWMServoDriver.h"
#include <Servo.h>

Servo rudder;  // create servo object to control a servo

int buttonPin = 2;
int rudderPotPin = 0;  // analog pin used to connect the potentiometer
int val;    // variable to read the value from the analog pin
int buttonState;
int val2;

Adafruit_MotorShield AFMS = Adafruit_MotorShield();

Adafruit_DCMotor *liftMotor = AFMS.getMotor(1);//Assign the lift motor to M1 port on Motor Shield

Adafruit_DCMotor *propulsionMotor = AFMS.getMotor(2);//Assign the propulsion motor to M2 port on Motor Shield


//Where are we putting the steering motors? What do we call them (surely not Adafruit_DCMotor)


void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
  Serial.println("Hovercraft online.");
 
  rudder.attach(10);          //attaches rudder to pin 10
 
  AFMS.begin();
 
  //Turn on lift motor and set speed to maximum
  liftMotor->setSpeed(255);
  liftMotor->run(FORWARD);

 
  pinMode(buttonPin, INPUT);
  buttonState = digitalRead(buttonPin);

}

void loop(){
 
 
  val2 = digitalRead(buttonPin);
 
  if (val2 != buttonState) {
    if (val2 == LOW) {                   // the button is not pressed...
      Serial.println("Button just released");
      propulsionMotor->setSpeed(0);
      propulsionMotor->run(RELEASE);
     
    } else {                         // the button is pressed...
      Serial.println("Button just pressed");
      propulsionMotor->setSpeed(255);
      propulsionMotor->run(FORWARD);
    }
  }
 
  buttonState = val2;               // save new state in val2
 
  val = analogRead(rudderPotPin);            // reads the value of the potentiometer (value between 0 and 1023)
  val = map(val, 0, 1023, 0, 179);     // scale it to use it with the servo (value between 0 and 180)
  rudder.write(val);                  // sets the servo position according to the scaled value
  delay(15);                           // waits for the servo to get there


}

We finally got the servo motors working. We have one potentiometer controlling two rudders, which we are going to use to steer the hovercraft. For the propulsion fan, we are going to use a button (not pictured) to turn the fan on and off. So far, the code is working well and the hoovercraft is looking like it's ready to take flight.

Here we have the two versions of our hovercraft. On the Left with the black skirt was our first design, which we abandoned because it was too large and heavy. On the right is our current design. We cut a lot of weight off the body and made a brand new skirt. We hope that it will be able to lift higher than the previous build.

Laser Cutting and Arduino Challenges

Mike and I went to the lab yesterday with two goals: get our rudders laser-cut and determine how we could power the fans from our Arduino.

The first task went fairly smoothly. We had originally wanted nice aerodynamic 3D-printed rudders for the hovercraft, but in the interest of time we went with a laser-cut version instead. We might need to get some thin wooden or metal dowels to help mount the chunkier acrylic rudders on the final craft. For the time being, it's comforting to know that our hovercraft will have a means to steer itself as it drifts majestically through the presentation hall.

Unfortunately, our second goal eluded us for the time being. We installed the appropriate libraries for the motor shield and connected the fan, but the code would not execute properly. More troubleshooting was needed to find a solution.

--Eric

Construction Progress

Body Parts

We made a lot of progress cutting out each piece of the craft. 

On the far left is the main body, with a hole in the center cut

out for the fan. Next is the plate which is used to crate lift. It's

placed directly below the main plate. On the far right are the

pieces that will be glued to the lift plate. The function of these

are to keep more air underneath the craft, maximizing lift.

Skirt

The skirt was made of an old pool float, cut

down the middle, then cut in half. We thought

this would be a good material for the skirt because

it was strong, slightly rigid, and shaped nicely. If 

it does not work as well as we hope, we also have

a large black trash bag to use as a possible skirt 

as well. 

I found two computer fans today. One of the fans comes with a 300 watt power source, and the other is taken straight out of a computer. One will definitely be used as the downward facing fan, but we're not sure what we want to use as the propulsion fan yet. I also got a controller and a USB cable for controlling the hovercraft, but we may need a special shield to connect it to the Arduino in order to make it work. 

We have started outlining and drafting what we want our hovercraft to look like. We know we want to use only two fans, have two rudders, and make it as light as possible. Our biggest issue right now is figuring out what we want to make the skirt out of. We're going to experiment with a few different materials most likely.

I found a video of a hovercraft which looks similar to the one we are designing

November 15th Meeting Summary

Today we met up on November 15th. Our group decided on a hovercraft design for our project. The design for the project consists of a chassis (preferably made from a foam material), and a skirt for the bottom of the hovercraft to catch the lift air. Two fans will be used in the design, one for the hover aspect and another for the propulsion of the hover craft. obviously weight will be a very large factor when trying to lift the device. The second biggest challenge will be weight distribution of the craft to make it stay a float

The hovering portion of the aircraft will be the most complicated part of the design. A fan located in the middle of the chassis will preferably push air in a horizontal direction (this quality could possibly be obtained with a computer fan). This air will then be caught by skirts (possibly made from plastic or rubber) and provide the lift force needed to keep the hovercraft aloft.

Team Name: Not Your Average House Cats

Basic Premise of Our Project: Remote control flying or hovering robot. Ordinary house cats would be terrified by this, but we are not your average house cats.

We are thinking of looking into both quad-copter and hovercraft designs, since we are not yet sure which version we prefer.

Also shown are links to an LED cube and auto-balancing robot. We won't be building either of those this semester, but they are still awesome.

Intriguing Projects: