[thegathering]

I dont see why you couldnt. Whats the advantage though?

Hovercraft can be agile. They are very fast (capable of attaining speeds unlimited by the drive motors) but lack any kind of pushing power other than what is provided by the fans (which are designed to accumulate speed rather than accelerate rapidly).

We proposed that we could possibly use a three skirt design with a tough rubber/canvas armoring which would allow for great stability, maneuverability, and durability though increasing the friction on the ground somewhat.

However, a true pro to the hovercraft design is that the supports are deflatable, turning a robot into a mobile shooting platform and a three skirt design could also allow for ball pickup. A broad base at ground level provides the perfect base for an accurate shot into a goal (which would have complimented our two wheel automatic aiming system).

My Advanced Engineering class is building a hovercraft this year...as i side note

I wish I had you as a teacher

We proposed experimenting with a hovercraft last year during the design stages, or at least building a small test machine using cpu fans to determine if it would be a suitable design for a goal shooter.

While we were excited about the idea, our mentors were much more closed minded and decided to shoot the idea down as soon as it was proposed without much reason other than a "Well I don't want to make a hovercraft and I have a degree so I get to decide." attitude. I'm not sure some of our team mates ever got over that night when our ideas were dismissed as ludicrous.

Are there any rules against building a hovercraft robot?

I would advise you to be wary with the hovercraft design. You'd have to have some pretty open minded mentors to support such a radical design.