Chief Delphi - Robots that float

Quote:

Originally Posted by 114ManualLabor (Post 555445)

The force needed to lift a robot should be simple to calculate, so I figure I'll try it out. Someone correct me if I make a mistake. We're going to start with a 120 pound robot. Now, assuming you choose to leave a bit of extra space, we'll go with a 26x36 robot base. the area is 936 square inches. So assuming you can have a fan put out a constant pressure output of 2 psi (shouldn't be too hard to do with CIM's...), and also assuming you can cover the entire base with the same pressure, my math tells me the hovercraft would be able to hold 1872 pounds. I may be way off here, but at least I'm trying. Lets assume that only 50% of the bottom will be lifted. This could happen by spreading out two lifting fan setups. The simple 2 psi system would be able to lift 936 pounds before going back down to the ground. Assuming that you are never pushed, this could actually be a viable system to drive a robot. You would be very manueverable, if you were careful and scientific in your maneuvering fan setup... Or you could steer it with another method, like a crab module or two in the center.

Again, please correct me if the math is off....

The math sounds correct but it wouldnt be viable with just 2 CIMs. YOu probably could get a constant 2psi but the flow would be very low. meaning it would take forever to fill the skirt to get the full 2psi needed to lift it.

For one a hoverbot that would at the end of the match be 4 inches off the ground is next to impossible. even if you could keep the motors running a hovercraft still always touches the ground. just at a very low ground pressure. I am building a Hovercraft this year for my advanced engineering class and from what we have done so far a hovercraft just seems completely useless