Background
Over Thanksgiving break, a fellow Mechanical Engineer (Tom C. Wiesenberg) and I sought to create something new. We decided to design and build a 3D printed hovercraft based on spare drone parts left over from prior builds. We had the idea of modifying the 'Tiny Whoover' concept that I had read about a few years prior.
Tiny Whoover hovercrafts are a derivation of 'Tiny Whoops', which are micro drones that enable FPV (First Person View) flight within confined spaces. Typically, Tiny Whoovers require the destruction of the donor Tiny Whoop, which we sought to avoid.
Instead we kept the Tiny Whoop as is, and strapped it to a simple, 3D printed structure that achieves similar performance to that of the Tiny Whoover.
Execution
The design phase went through many iterations, as we slowly discovered the limitations of the drone's output power and control authority. The final model succeeded as we reduced the amount of plastic in the hull as well as the overall of volume. Seen evolution of concepts at right
Our hovercraft works in a very similar way to the Tiny Whoover. The front two ducts function exactly the same. They fill the cavity, creating positive pressure. The hovercraft then floats on the film of high pressure air.
The crafts differ in their forward propulsion and maneuverability. The Tiny Whoover uses differential thrust from the reorientation of fans into a vertical position, which then allow the hovercraft to turn and accelerate. This allows for simple yet effective control. Our model redirects the airflow within the 3D printed body, from the back set of downward facing ducts out the rear of the craft. Turning is done by the yaw control that would turn the drone in normal flight, as differential thrust couldn't provide the appropriate amount of torque. See image at right and functioning hovercraft in demo video below.
